Superglue problems

[Steve W]

I have been trying to use superglue to attach some of my frags, but while it will stick initially, after a few hours or a couple of days, they fall off. I thought that stuff was supposed to work underwater.

I am using a generous amount and it usually sticks to the frags but turns loose from the rock.

Any suggestions.

Steve W.

24 gallon nano with 150 w MH and 28 w of T5 actinic

 

[cee]

The sure-fire way to do it is as follows. Mount the coral (for soft corals this won't work) to a small piece of rubble outside the tank with Superglue gel. Dry both surfaces off first, place the glue on one surface, and bond. Hold for 30s to a minute and then submerge under water for a few minutes until the glue sets up a bit more. Then use a small ball of underwater epoxy to mount the rubble to your LR. Dry off the rubble the frag is on, put SG gel on it, then the epoxy, and finally another layer of SG gel. Press it into your rockwork and it will usually hold until the frag encrusts over.

 

[shirley386]

Cee's description is almost exactly the way I do it. I use a big "blob" of underwater epoxy so when I press down on the rock some of it squeezes out and I can fold that back over the edges of the plug. This kinda hides the plug and it will soon become encrusted and won't be noticed.

BTW, many people including myself have been using AquaMend from Home Depot. This works well but sometimes they don't have it. I have tried several of the other epoxy puttys and while they all seem to work some have drawbacks such as irritating the base of the coral (if you use it to mount bird's nest and certain thin branched acros), generating a heat while mixing (which I doubt does any harm if you put it in water immediately), or being messy like RectorSeal. The one I like best is Oatey from Lowe's. It is in the plumbing department and comes in a tube almost twice as long as AquaMend for just a little more.

 

[Engloid]

.BTW, many people including myself have been using AquaMend from Home Depot. This works well but sometimes they don't have it. I have tried several of the other epoxy puttys and while they all seem to work some have drawbacks such as irritating the base of the coral (if you use it to mount bird's nest and certain thin branched acros), generating a heat while mixing (which I doubt does any harm if you put it in water immediately), or being messy like RectorSeal. The one I like best is Oatey from Lowe's. It is in the plumbing department and comes in a tube almost twice as long as AquaMend for just a little more.

Are you talking about plumbers putty? The stuff that practically never hardens?

 

[shirley386]

No, it hardens. The name is Oatey Fix-it Stick.

Check this:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=13760148

 

[holdyourlight]

You can get "aquamend" from home depot, its the same stuff for a couple bucks, next to the superglue

 

[GPhiAce]

It also depends on the superglue gel. The one that I get from the dollar store almost always comes "undone" when I am using it to attach frag disks to rock under water. I only use that stuff for glueing frags to frag plugs/disks. The Duro (or Dura) and loctite brand super glue gel works great for glueing underwater. I hate using the epoxy/putty (preference) and I just use superglue gel. I would guess I am around 95% for frags staying attached (unless I pull them off) when using "enough" of the Duro or loctite brand super glue gel. Not sure if anyone said it, but the gel is what to use and not regular super glue. Good luck.

I simply dry off the disk, put "enough" glue on it (outside the water of course) place on the rock, rotate to break the "film" that is made, hold for a few seconds, then release. This is how Chris showed me. Cee's method is also pretty standard, and works well.

 

[Engloid]

No, it hardens. The name is Oatey Fix-it Stick.

Check this:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=13760148

Cool. Thanks. I have pretty good luck with superglue, but putty seems to be good on stuff like candy canes that have more height and mass than zoanthids.