HELP! Putty side effects?

[Aurortpa]

So I was trying to aquascape some rock today and in the process knocked over 3 corals, another rock, and glued my fingers together. Moreover, I was frustrated I had to remove more corals than anticipated, in order to try to aquascape. Needless to say I ran out of energy hours later despite my efforts. I was sweaty and stiff, bending myself in odd positions to try to see to glue things and pretty unintentionally high from the glue itself tbh. I pretty much ended things with putting all the frags, even the new miami orchid and gomezi frag i got today, on a substrate rock and covered with a coke bottle shield (otherwise urchin might come along).  I didn’t want to make sloppy mistakes, so here I stare at hundreds of dollars in a coke bottle. 🙄

 

I had stayed away from putty as I hear it makes skimmers go bonkers.  Yet I am pretty much over seeing any glue tomorrow if I can help it.  If I get putty, how long should my skimmer go crazy. Will adding carbon help reduce water chemistry impact?  Anybody have any ill experiences with putty or was it just temporary—how long? 

[banasophia]

Happen to have been looking at the same thing a few minutes ago. Says to turn off skimmer for 36 hours after use. 

 

[Patrick17]

In the past when using putty I have left the skimmer on but removed the collection cup to aerate the water. If the putty is overworked, the tank can become cloudy. I believe this is just talc but can reduce the oxygen levels in the water. 

[MainelyReefer]

I don't use the putty ever since it made my pygmy white spotted filefish die, when I first started reefing rather than superglue the putty was my go to methodology of affixing a coral, except my filefish would act like he had swim bladder issues moments after adding the putty, and then he would mellow out by the next day.  One day I puttied up a lot of corals and he just went bonkers and died.  Never seen anything like it again and haven't used that gross putty either.  Completely unscientific I know but it's definitely something you should keep an eye on

[ReefGoat]

Why is the glue giving you so much trouble? Which type are you using? I use the Loctite gel from the Dollar Store. I've never had a problem with it. The main reason I like it is because it holds tight. But not so tight that you can't remove them and re-scape if your heart desires. You just pop the coral right off. I have had the fingers glued together incident happen recently though......Like a week ago lol. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

I use normal glue which contains cyanoacrylate. It sticks fast so you have to glue your frags on your desired spot (on the rock) fairly quickly. I use normal, transparent, plastic gloves while I work and haven't had any problems. The gloves are also very thin, so I get full dexterity of my fingers. What type of glue did you use? I heard people use epoxy putty to stick rocks together to form structures like arches, but I personally have never used it. 

[Clown79]

I like the aquastik epoxy, it doesn't make a mess in the tank like some other brands.

 

My favourite has been reef welder- totally different type of epoxy

 

I use typical dollar store crazy glue as well

 

 

[Aurortpa]

@ReefGoat & @Snow_Phoenix, I either use a brand called ICB gel I think or ME.  It seems to start set before I even get it on the rock—like the surface of the glue blob becomes not sticky almost right away especially underwater.  Then I am forced to smear it with a paperclip or in awkward situations my finger lol.  I do like it for corals as said, I can remove it easily if the right pressure is applied but I want my rockwork more permanent.  I definitely don’t want an entire section of rock with corals on it knocked over.  

 

I am going to try the putty recommendations—will definitely use sparingly.  I got to get those corals back up today.

[Snow_Phoenix]

9 hours ago, Aurortpa said:

@ReefGoat & @Snow_Phoenix, I either use a brand called ICB gel I think or ME.  It seems to start set before I even get it on the rock—like the surface of the glue blob becomes not sticky almost right away especially underwater.  Then I am forced to smear it with a paperclip or in awkward situations my finger lol.  I do like it for corals as said, I can remove it easily if the right pressure is applied but I want my rockwork more permanent.  I definitely don’t want an entire section of rock with corals on it knocked over.  

 

I am going to try the putty recommendations—will definitely use sparingly.  I got to get those corals back up today.

I understand - I used to use a cheaper brand of glue, but the glue hardens instantly it touches the water, so I couldn't *stick* anything on the rocks. BSI is supposed to be good and strong - it's offered on sale at my LFS. You can try the epoxy - hope you can stick everything down this time. Use gloves at all times. Even thin plastic gloves are better than no gloves.