glueing coral
 

i have a question about glueing live rock /coral .i have some of the putty stuff and want how if its useable right in tank if your glueing coral to live rock? i am afraid if i did it outside tank coral would die?

yup, use it right in the tank. Keep in mind putty is not glue, it doesn't stick. You use it by forcing the putty into a crack or hole in your rock, then once it hardens, the coral is wedged into place.

Usually it is safe to use tem underwater; but remember you have to close flow pumps for few hours in order to let the putty harden

reply
 

You should be able to get away with taking the coral out for a very short period of time without killing it. I usually put the frag in a tupperware container, glue it, then cure it for a while before I put the frag back. I hate getting that milky residue in the tank, I don't think the other corals like it.

I just remove corals when epoxying them. Be aware that the epoxy heats up as it hardens, so don't put it too close to the fleshy part of the coral.

glueing
 

I find the putty works okay for live rock to live rock. For coral to liverock I use Boston Aquatics C.A. Works great on zoas, xenia, monti and mushrooms. Dental cement works well too.

The putty doesn't bond particularly well to rock or coral.

For the best bond use a sandwich of cyanoacrylate glue and the putty. I use this method for gluing everything wet (putty works fin on two dry surfaces): frag - cyanoacrylate glue - putty - CA glue - rock.

Don't worry about the heat. I've used it with SPS corals, and as long as it cures in the tank, it'll be fine. I also leave all my pumps on while doing this - using the glue enables you to have a stronger bond. Essentially what you're doing is creating a better surface for the glue to bond together, as CA glue does best with little or no gap to bond.