I’ve tried the superglue gel for an adhesive with NO successes it turns whit as soon as it hits the water, what am I doing wrong? Also all my LR is stacked and wants to shift is there anything that the group can recommend that they have used and is safe for life in bonding the LR together?

for the rock, there are two common approaches that i am aware of
1.) bond the rocks using underwater epoxy, available in hardware stores and your LFS
2.) drill holes and set them with arcylic dowels

for the superglue gel, what are you trying to glue? it turning white is liker a "instant cure" its a good thing usually

These are the epoxies that you will find at your local hardware store that are safe to use in our saltwater applications. I contacted each of the manufacturers to confirm.

Plug-N-Patch Plumbers epoxy adhesive.... made by POWER POXY.

SAFE! (after cure. Do NOT add to aquarium with inhabitants until 24 hours after the putty was mixed.)

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y248/seahorsedreams/PowerPoxyPlugnpatchplumbersepoxy.jpg




PC Marine

SAFE! (after cure. Do NOT add to aquarium with inhabitants until 24 hours after the putty was mixed.)

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y248/seahorsedreams/PCMarine.jpg




Waterweld... by JB WELD

Safe! (These folks felt you didn't have to wait the 24 hours)

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y248/seahorsedreams/JBWeldWaterweld.jpg



Aquamend.... by Polymetric Systems

SAFE! (after cure. Do NOT add to aquarium with inhabitants until 24 hours after the putty was mixed.)

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y248/seahorsedreams/polymericsystemsAquamend.jpg

WOW!!!! thanks Renee I dont want to pull the rock out so i will try the waterweld in my Qtine tank first.

great info Renee, thanks

FWIW... superglue gel is good for frags, but not for large Live Rock. Also, even as it is turning white, you can still make a good bond. Just force it onto the rock, even better in a hole or nook/cranny, and hold for a few seconds.

Dave

There is atleast one which is commonly used for attaching frags. I assume this would mean that it doesnt need to be cured first. Wish I could remember the name.

David,

I'm sure what you are referring to are the epoxies that are developed and marketed for the aquarium community. There are a few. I think what Renee was getting at was the Home Improvement, Off the Shelf products that, like anything else, are a little bit cheaper, as they are not "niche marketed".

If I'm wrong, and you are, in fact, referring to another off the shelf product, please do post here. This (thanks to Renee) is turning into a great source of information on these epoxies.

Dave

superglue gel is probably the safest and most widely used adhesive for frags.

I belive it is an off the shelf product which can be purchased at most Home Improvement. I'm having alittle trouble finding the specific reference but I'm sure its probably one of the ones Renee posted now. Her info seems far superior to what I can dig up. One suggestion with the "off the shelf ones" is to allow them to setup in a seperate container for 10 - 15 mins prior to adding them to the tank. One of the complaints is that if added too soon it causes the skimmer to go nuts and overflow, also some corals seem to show an adverse reation if its added too soon. I think the manufacturers statements to wait 24 hours is probably a liablility thing, but without extensive testing who knows. Probably best to err on the safe side until more experince is gained.

I went around to all the stores (home depot's, lowe's, Ace Hardware) and got all the different names and brands and contacted the companies. The top one you see here was actually from Big Lots (if y'all know what that chain is). These are the only 4 that would say it was okay. And one of the four I got from Home depot... I forget which one. It would be cool if you listed a different one. I would have to contact the company first before I put my recommendation on it though. I trust the companies opinion on their own product over the word of mouth of aquarists. It just makes more sense to me to go that route than assume everything is okay because someone else said so.

I had a list of all the companies that said no, and I probably could remember who I contacted if I saw the product... but when I moved in October and changed internet providers... Yup, I lost all my communications. Didn't even think about it until after the move.

So, throw up a item and I'll tell ya if I have the 411 or not. If not I'll contact them.

The stuff you are talking about is Harvey's Plumber's Putty Epoxy. I have used it several times myself. The thing I don't like is it makes your hands stink for a day. So now I just use it to make frag plugs. I know of several people on another site that have used it in their tanks also. It will make your skimmer go crazy till it cures.

Any of the glue/epoxy methods will make your skimmer go crazy for some time. This is true of any additives, and some oily foods. Pretty much anything that changes the surface tension of the water will cause the bubbles to be stronger, and therefore, they don't burst in the collection cup as designed. Instead, they go back through the system. This pretty much clears itself up in little time. If it is a real problem (lets say you mount like MUCHO coral at one time) you could do a partial water change to help the process along.

D

The stuff you are talking about is Harvey's Plumber's Putty Epoxy.

Harvey's Plumber's Putty? Never heard of it. What store is it bought at? I'll have to contact the company.

The stuff you are talking about is Harvey's Plumber's Putty Epoxy. I have used it several times myself. I know of several people on another site that have used it in their tanks also. It will make your skimmer go crazy till it cures.

I don't mean any disrespect when I say this..... Someone saying they used it and they know of people that used it, is not mind settling enough for me to use a non-aquatic product in my tank.... not when there are so many other products out there that we know are safe and are just as available. How do we know the epoxy is not leaching "something". Hobbyist can't test for such things. And every tank environment is different. What if it is fine in the parameters of your friends tanks but in my high calcium environment.... or maybe my Mag is way different than yours... what if the differences in environment changes the properties?

And you can't say something is safe unless unless it's been in there for YEARS. Like peeling lead paid ain't gonna kill ya in the first year.... same idea.

JMO... I'll check on the Harvey's. Thanks for the name.

I've spent a bunch more time searching, and the one that comes up more consistently than any other is the Aqua Mend.

Comes up consistently for what David... just to be sure we are on the same page?

Keeps coming up as the recommended epoxy for use in our saltwater tanks. I would guess that 90% of the posts I read where "what is a reef safe epoxy" was asked Aqua Mend was the product recommended.

Ah. It's the one I use most frequently because it's what I find here at Home Depot.

Renee just to clear something up I never said it was safe. I said I and others have used the product in our tanks. In the same thought process I have seen several people suggest using super glue gel for attaching frags yet I am not aware of any scientific study saying it won't harm my reef tank 10 years from now. I am just a risk taker. My screwdriver says "Do not use to pry" and I just used it to open a paint can. :wow:

Renee just to clear something up I never said it was safe.

Harvey's plumbing putty?

K, the Harvey peeps are asking if I'm sure the discussion was about the Plumber's Putty. Are we talking about the one part stuff that you find in a little container? They stated that it is most definately not safe but that they have a 2 part epoxy that is. Not sure that I've seen their two part epoxy in the stores around here.