Live rock/Coral Glue?

[SleepyPirate]

Ok so I have 50lbs of Live rock with some coral, I had it proped up nicly till I spotted this lil black crab thats been hiding, needless to say the tank is in disaray in my venture to catch this SOB. So my question is how can I semi/perm glue my rock together so I dont have landslides, do I use silicon if so what kind and whats the best way to setup the rock (pattern?)

[jostafew]

Best stuff to use (may be permanent depending on how you apply) is the 2-part epoxy putty you get at the LFS. Mash it together like playdough then apply between the rocks and spread out. It's a mechanical bond (not sticky like glue) so if you want a permanent connection be sure to cast it around some good features in the rock. I also use it to position stony corals in the same way. The epoxy may be used underwater, but i'd suggest doing the bulk of the work outside the tank as the putty tends to cloud the water as you work with it. Non-toxic, but doesn't bad until it clears.

For softies I like to use CA glue from the modeling world. Small puddle of CA on the rock, then just put the coral's base into the CA puddle, give it 10 seconds or so to cure up (moisture kicks it off) and then place the new assembly into the aquarium, preferably in a low-current area until the glue sets and/or the coral begins to attach itself to the rock.

[Magma]

I have some rock that I got from a local reefer that used the 2-part epoxy to hold some SPS corals down, im sure if the corals were still there it would be fine as they would encrust over that but now I have a rock which has a few blue blobs of silly putty on it and IMO it looks ugly, I use Loctite super glue and it works fine for most things.

http://www.homedepot.ca/product/loct...control/973098

[jostafew]

Yeah, I wouldn't recommend blue for putty, but you can nice purple colored stuff that just looks like coraline algae, and given time the cream colored stuff (which I prefer) gets covered in algae etc. too so not such a big deal in my experience.

[Magma]

Yah I have the blue, grey, white, pink, purple they all stick out but then again in a younger tank it will, Im hoping once the rocks start to colour up and the zoa's start to spreed then it wont be an issue.

I dunno everyone has different needs and preferences and I can see why the putty is better for SPS corals but for softies I use the tried and true glue.

[jostafew]

Oh yeah, Epoxy Putty wouldn't work on softies at all!

[SleepyPirate]

Thanks for replys guys!

[Lampshade]

I've been using some stuff i got at OC out here called speed glue. It's a powder you add a bit of water to. took a few times of making it into peanut butter, and it would fall apart in the tank, i found out that adding a bit less water, letting it semi harden, it works GREAT. Corals that i've mounted on this stuff actually encrust on it nearly right away, it doesn't burn the coral stems like epoxy does. I've used it for holding rocks, once it's ahrd it won't break, seems great.

anyways, just another option for you. I've started to love this stuff.

[reefwars]

if its just the rocks your looking to secure many people have used small acrylic rods or zip ties, just drill some holes and away you go, works good for weird rock scaping and over hangs with large rocks smaller ones ive always used epoxy .for corals you will have to look at other means like mentioned above

[mrtaylor]

with the Acrylic rod, you mean to use it as a dowel? Drill a hole in each of the peices of LR, then stick the rod into each hole? Anything more to it than that?

QT