attaching frags to the glass..

[skeletor]

subject says it all really... I'm getting some monti cap and monti didi frags in a weeks or so and space on the rocks is very limited so I was thinking of attaching some LR pieces to the glass (superglue ?) then gluing the frags to the rocks.

 

Or perhaps I could just superglue the frags directly to the glass or should I try and do something that is removable later ?

 

thanks,

-skeletor-

[MattGecko]

I've glued GSP to glass & used suction cups with air line clips to hold sps.

[Crakeur]

I like to glue frags onto removeable rocks if possible. you can always get plugs to mount the corals and then pop the plugs into the tank. the two part epoxies used for mounting plugs are pretty easy to break, should you need to remove the coral for fragging or other purposes.

[blk_g20]

where do you buy those reef plugs at? are they expensive?

[skeletor]

ok, I'm thinking of hitting some LR chunks with the dremel and cutting them in half, then gluing the two pieces to the glass, with a nice flat surface to attach with.

 

what about silicone ? would that dry underwater ?

 

thanks

-skeletor-

[harbingerofthefish]

if i'm not mistaken (which I usaually am), silicone is toxic until cured.

[skeletor]

well, the frags arrived yesterday and I got two of them to stick to the glass using a superglue gel and epoxy sandwitch. one fell off last night and the other one was on the sand this morning.

 

so, superglue (gel at least) sucks for attaching frags to the glass.

 

it seemed the glue formed a skin when it went into the water and it didn't really bond well with the glass.

 

anyone got any ideas on how to make this work ?

 

thanks,

-skeletor-

[Spencerx]

during your next water change when the water is lower than glue them. I dunno, maybe they will still be too high?

[skeletor]

thanks spencerx,

 

I might just try that, drain the tank to where I want to mount the frags, then dry the glass and glue, then fill the tank back up again. nothing should be out of the water for more than a few minutes.

 

thanks

[T?@7]

the superglue should work? You just might have to hold it there for a while , 1 minute +

Im surprised it didnt work. What are you attaching? I think it would be AWESOME to have SPS grown in from the side glass...

[skeletor]

nope, no go with the superglue gel. I tried 5 or 6 times with one frag and gave up when I ran out of glue...

 

they were both monti cap frags, an orange and a green, which I wanted on the right side glass near the front of the tank about half way down. oh well..

 

-skeletor-

[Korbin]

I've seriously thought about putting frags on my powerheads. I'll do it if you do it.

[skeletor]

sorry Korbin, I've taken all the powerheads out of my tank...

 

and my two returns have a serious macro algae problem...

 

-skeletor-

[T?@7]

Originally posted by Korbin

I've seriously thought about putting frags on my powerheads.  I'll do it if you do it.

Ok. You provide me a frag and im gung-ho!

But seriously, when I have money again some-day, Ill do it.

I think id go for the glass before the ph though

[nanoman]

I am also trying to glue frags to the glass. Superglue works great on acrylic but not glass. Does anyone else have suggestions. I am trying to glue mushrooms to the back of my tank. I put them in a cup full of shell pieces and let them attatch then I want to glue them to the glass.

[nanoman]

I found this on WWM

 

"Mr. Sticky's® Underwater Glue

Dear Robert,

I noticed your website through a search at yahoo and would like to let

you know about a new epoxy which is stunning most experts. Mr. Sticky's®

Underwater glue has three major breakthroughs:

1. It is very sticky underwater (salt or fresh)

2. It has very strong bonds to Plastic as well as glass, metal, ceramic

etc.

3. It is not rigid, so resists bond failure due to

shrinkage/expansion/vibration etc.

Duke University has tested it in conjunction with Coral and found that

it caused no tissue degradation. It is also currently being tested by

scientists at the Florida Keys Sanctuary, Mole, Cheju Island in Korea

and Eilat in Israel. It has also passed the bioassay for fish safety.

You may want to check our website at http://www.underwaterglue.com, we

would also be pleased to send you a sample for testing.

Most of our customers love the glue because there are so few failures

after initial bonding. You can fix very small parts, wet or dry."

 

Has anyone tried it?

[skeletor]

hey nanoman, that stuff looks cool but I couldn't find any place to buy it.. any ideas where you get that stuff from.

 

-skeletor-

[nanoman]

I don't know. I am going to check home depot or just email them to see if they have a distributer in your area.

[skeletor]

just got a message back from Mr Sticky.... seems that it's stocked by pool / spa type suppliers. guess I'll have to go get some and try it now...

 

-skeletor-

[mattie]

i have some epoxy that hardens under water and is non toxic fish or corals or inverts and it came with instructions on how to mount coral on the glass

the expoxy is little stick that you tear of a piece of and mend in your finger's for 30seconds

first prep the area my removing all algea from the area there is no need to scrach the glass. make an appropraite size cone put the wide end on the frag and press the pointy end on the glass hold it there for a minute. ( be mindful it dries fast 2-4 minutes firm 20 min hard and cured in 24 hours.) use a magnet glass cleaner and put it under the frag for support so that it wont fall. remove excess epoxy while you still can. leave the magnet there for 24 hours and it will be mounted when the frag grows over the exopy it will be very secure.

I have used the epoxy in my tank to mount a frag and to make some interesting rock work with positve results

[MattGecko]

I tried the Underwater glue & it was crap!! Found it at OSH.

Best cheap glue is "Lock tite gel". Thats what I used to glue GSP to glass & plexi.

[mattie]

the name of the epoxy is Aqua Stik.

[skeletor]

I tried a test on the aqua stik last night. I put a piece of glass in some salt water then attached some epoxy in and out of the water on the piece of glass.

 

I checked back an hour or two later and the one attached under water was held but it just took a little push to remove it. this method may work for fast growing corals like m.cap.

 

I checked again this morning and the epoxy which was out of the water had attached quite well to the glass.. however, this is of little value since I want to stick something underwater

 

so, I had this idea while sitting here staring at the tank about gluing the frag/rock to a cleaner magnet and leave it stuck to the glass. I've seen some people who leave the cleaner magnet in the tank all the time so how bad could it be. this way allows me to move the frag as well. I'm thinking this would work ok for the back glass but not the sides.

 

-skeletor-

[mattie]

I've never heard any thing bad about leaving the magnet in the tank all the time I've been doing it for over 10 years now. but some brands rust.

I kind of like your idea!!! post the result if wosks with a pic

[Korbin]

Genius! I'm buying a magnet just for that purpose.

 

Mattie - do you know which brands tend to rust? Now I'm sceered.