OK, ready to take the plunge, just a bit nervous and need to be sure I am going to do thids right,
glue:o
Ive been told that its strange doing it for the first time.


I have zoas that arent attached to anything but eachother, about 8 polyps. I canr get them to stay anywhere long enough to attach, and a couple days ago during a water change, I thought that they fell into my anemone:shout:
I jjust found them, enough is enough, Im ready to glue!!!!!

I have been told that gel super glue is best, will regular work fine?

I would like to glue them to a rock that has a colt coal on it, can they be friends?

It just seems so strange to put glue on the fleshy bottom of polyps:wow:

If so, I guess I must work rather quickly out of water, pat dry surface... OK, please fill in the blanks!!!

super glue gel is the way to go, regular super glue is to runny for our use. the glue HAS to be a cyanoacrylate based glue, be careful because some are not.

the colt and the zoas should be fine on the same rock.

ALWAYS put the glue on the rock and NOT on the polyp base. i like to dip mine into the water very quickly after adding the polyps to the rock so i lower the risk of burning the polyps with the glue. it gets a little hot for a few minutes if you do not dip it in the water.

pull the rock with the colt, add a few DROPS of glue, press the polyps to the glue, and quickly try to get the rock back into the water to keep from burning the polyps. HTH

Welcome to PROPAGATION !! it is as addicting as the hobby itself !!

Truth be told, you don't have to work THAT fast. Especially with zoanthids. There are times, in the wild, when they are exposed to full sun and air at low tide.

Dave

:o EXPOSED???

just the people I hoped I would hear from- "I glue animals to rocks" kinda leads me to believe you may know what youre talking about, and Dave being from Marlborough just HAS to be smart!! (Framingham here!)

dryness of the rock is in question, pat dry? Let zoas drip dry? My LSF doesnt sell anything for this purpose, so I will be looking tomorrow for this gel glue (I hope we havent created a monster here) and I TOO Will be gluing animals to rocks!!

just pat the rock dry (i leave the polyps wet) and add the glue and polyps to it. zoanthids are really a pretty easy coral to start on, they are very forgiving. i have accidentally glued the skirt to the rock and a few days later you would have never even known it.

HA! I cant wait to get started, I have one large rock with WAY too many polyps on it, this could be fun, once I get over the weirdness of the first time!

Lots of corals get exposed during low tide (Clams too) Lookie this:

http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=65300&rendTypeId=4

Framingham huh? Now in Florida.. I'm jealous :)

Dave

BTW ... ALWAYS wear gloves AND eye protection when playing with zoanthids and Palys !! the toxins that they release are EXTREMELY dangerous to humans.

but on a good note ... scientists are using paly toxins to battle cancer cells !!

Heck yeah... I got squirted in the eye when cutting a colony and was swollen shut for two days. Wasn't fun.

D

WHAT???

I am constantly picking those guys back up and moving them around. I really AM a newb!!

How could I not know this????

I would just rubberband them to a rock personally but I havent played with glue yet, I am sure it is faster.

Super glue gel, Home Depot, Lowes, your grocery store, drug store, just about anywhere. I dry the spot on the rock with paper towel, drop the glue, pick up the zoos, touch the bottom of the zoos to the paper towel (to get most of the water) and put in place. Holding them upright for ten to fifteen seconds (with steady hands, Laura) and then get the rock back in water. I use a deep enough Pyrex dish to hold the water/rock/zoos/coral/whatever, do my gluing, put the fraged piece back in the bowl before putting back in the DT. Watch out, zoos can squirt water. Not very far but could get into eyes if not careful. After you do it once, Laura, your an expert.

Dick

OK, I THOUGHT it was you, Dick, who I had discussed this with briefly (at the show). You said it would be a little wierd the first time. Doing it in a pyrex dish first is a great idea. and this newb thanks for zoa warnings, I had no idea!

No harm in just holding them in the water Laura. Unless you have a bad cut or something. It's when cutting, and they instinctively close up and squirt, or you cut a polyp and make them burst. That's when it could get ugly.

Have fun.

Dave

I buy superglue gel at home depot they sell a 12 pack of fairly small tubes for $5. they work perfect for gluing a couple little frags then throw the tube out no fighting with dried shut lids on the bigger ones

cutting:eek: yeah, I guess I'd better get by gluing first. Once I get gluing, I do have some other ideas in mind for a rock overgrown with polys. Thanx for the heads up:up: I'll be looking for that advice before long! I best get to home depot (walmart?) b-cause the polyps are missing again!!

either store sells SG gel. wal mart is probably a little cheaper though.

Hey Laura, how'd it go?

I'm scared:D kidding (sort of...). I am glad you asked though cause I am wondering about the colt coral being out of water. Not so worried about the polys being out after that recent picture that david posted! What about the colt?

it will be fine for a while. i have left leathers out for up to an hour and they bounce right back. they get a little angry, but they will forgive you.

It IS scary the first time. They are pretty tough and resilient though.

i wouldn't worry about the colt i frag mine every few months and keep it out for 10 or 15 minutes and it opens back up within an hour after returning it . the frags usually take a day or 2 to open back up though

well, I want to get over my fear because I have read some posts (reefbaby?) talking about gluing stuff to the overflow. Im sure thats just a but more challenging!! its funny, though, I was trying to figure out a way to affix something there and/or the back glass!

OOOHHH what about macro:w000t:

One time I was fragging my Larry Jackson Acropora, and had an "oopsie". I was fragging right on the center brace of the 75G and all of a sudden I hear my youngest boy scream like he was hurt. He ended up falling and putting his tooth through his lip. I spent hours at the emergency room and came home to "stench". I had forgotten and left the fragged acros on the center brace, directly under the 2X75W MH lights. They slimed EVERYWHERE, and stunk!

I put them in the tank figuring, "we shall see". Guess what... I didn't lose one. They had to have been baking for 2+ hours under the lights and all of the frags survived.

Dave

thats an amazing story!

One of the survivor fraglets :)

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3d705b3127cce9b5f733c2b6a00000025108DcuHDZi10

D

well, THAT could sure give one confidence! Its done! I felt like fumble fingers with the zoas, but in all, it only took a couple of minutes! Zoas are just beginning to look like they will come back out! Thanx guys!

no problem ... welcome to our world !!

Whoooo hoooo.. we gots us another one Bobby.. The newest TR t-shirt "We glue animals to rocks"

D

ha ha ha !! i like it ... i like it alot !!

Go Laura! Go Laura!

I didn't read the entire thread so I apologize in advance if these have already been mentioned.

I never glue soft tissues on rocks. If a soft tissue is involved, I simply tie it to a rubble with fishing line and it'll attach - THEN I will glue the rubble to a bigger rock.

When gluing SPS frags, I use a combination of Aquamend putty and Super Glue Gel. This is the BEST combo I've ever used. Very workable and sticks hard when cured.

Whoooo hoooo.. we gots us another one Bobby.. The newest TR t-shirt "We glue animals to rocks"

I dig it!

they look ok:D Not bad after the first day. A bit wilted, but really not bad! I am still working on my photography, but here they are! I actually meant to glue them on the higher level of the colt frag, by the larger one, but in my haste... Oh well! Do you think its too close to the smaller colt? I could always move that colt and glue it elsewhere!!!:mrgreen:

Everything will grow into the available lighting. I'm thinking the colt may shade it some and it will then start traversing in the other direction.

Dave

Is colt friendly enough to be this close?

yes, the colt is not going to bother the zoas. you did a great job ... i cant even see the glue !!

When gluing SPS frags, I use a combination of Aquamend putty and Super Glue Gel. This is the BEST combo I've ever used. Very workable and sticks hard when cured.

How do you do this, just knead the super glue into the putty?

Is colt friendly enough to be this close?

Colts and Zoas will butt up somewhat nicely with each other. Again, the Zoas closest to the softy will end up smaller in polyp diameter, have longer stems or necks, reaching for the sun, and may not fill in every centimeter betwixt...but they will fill in nicely around that coral.

The mix is much better than SPS and colts. Mushrooms will sometimes irritate softies like leathers, but the zoas should be just fine.

Best of luck... with that tank, and it's "charges", you'll be fragging, and passing along corals to others in no time. You'll soon be wall to wall with these specimens :)

D