Sticking Frags to Live Rock.

itz frank · 01/30/2015, 01:42 PM

I've done a search on this already and maybe I'm just missing something.

I purchased JB Waterweld. Mixed a small ball until it became tacky. Used superglue to stick it to the frag and to the liverock.

Now, my question is how do I attach it to the liverock while it is under water. I ended up having to pull the liverock out after breaking down some of my aquascape and it finally stuck using super glue on both ends...

I don't want to break down my aquascape everytime I add coral.

FraggledRock · 01/30/2015, 01:43 PM

Use IC Gel

Sk8r · 01/30/2015, 02:04 PM

^^^ sets underwater. Apply to frag, stick frag in water, stick to rock, hold it without tremor (rock steady) for about a minute, (longer, if trying to stick it sideways) and it should be ok. Also true of Reef Putty. Smells awful, but reef safe. Make ball, stick to rock and it will ooze for a while, but will set up: good for making sockets though the color is awful until it gets algaed-up.

dkeller_nc · 01/30/2015, 02:15 PM

The problem you had might've been related to the type of superglue you were using. JB Waterweld is, of course, an epoxy putty, and it's common for folks to make a moldable "mount" out of epoxy putty, and then use superglue to stick the mount to both the coral frag and the piece of rock they want to attach it to.

But what they're using is superglue gel, not "superglue original", which is water-thin. The cyanoacrylate gel products (of which "superglue" is one brand) work much better. You should be able to get cyanoacrylate gel glue at most home stores, and it's definitely available at any Woodcraft store, or you can order the PaleoBond or Ecotech Marine brands from Bulk Reef Supply.

NTP66 · 01/30/2015, 05:12 PM

Loctite superglue gel (gray bottle, ridged sides and blue cap) works great for me. Just add some glue and hold the frag in place for 10-20 seconds. You can the stuff anywhere, and it's dirt cheap.

snorvich · 01/30/2015, 05:23 PM

I use IC-gel to stick the frag to live rock rubble and let it set out of water. I then use epoxy putty to clue the rock rubble in place.

kmbyrnes · 01/31/2015, 08:46 AM

$ Store for Super Glue Gel, seems to be the best cost/weight ratio.

itz frank · 01/31/2015, 08:50 AM

I'll have to try these out. I'm not thrilled with the idea of moving the rocks once they have a few different corals attached to them.

dkeller_nc · 01/31/2015, 09:15 AM

If you use cyanoacrylate gel glue (synonyms are superglue gel, IC gel, etc...), you won't have to take the rock out of the tank. The gel property of the glue will keep it in place for the few seconds you have to stick the frag in the location that you want it. Simply make your epoxy mount by mixing up a glob of it, press the frag into it, remove the frag and apply the cyanoacrylate gel between the frag and the epoxy mount, and wait 15 seconds or so for the CA glue to set.

Then put the assembly onto the rock to mold the bottom of the epoxy to the shape of the rock, remove it, add a glob of CA gel glue to the bottom of the epoxy, and put it back in the same exact place on the rock. Hold it still for about 15 seconds underwater, and turn off any pump that's blowing on the frag for 3-4 hours to let the epoxy and CA glue fully set.

BTW - if you're doing a lot of coral gluing with epoxy, your skimmer may go crazy from the epoxy curing by-products. Simply turn it off for 4-6 hours, by which time the epoxy by-products will have dissipated.

phenom5 · 01/31/2015, 09:23 AM

I use super glue gel & epoxy (water weld works fine, but not great).

I glue the epoxy ball to the frag plug out of the tank, then I put a good sized glob of super glue on the under side of the epoxy. I hold it in the water for 2 or 3 second so a skin forms on the super glue. Then I position the frag and give it a little twist or wiggle to break the skin on the glue. I hold it in place for a few.

If a frag is unmounted, I usually go straight to the super glue gel, and skip the epoxy.

Lmax8rn · 01/31/2015, 09:26 AM

I also use super glue gel. Two tubes for $1 at the dollar store.

tmz · 01/31/2015, 11:09 AM

I use Two Little Fishes epoxy putty. Knead it out of the tank ,add superglue gel to the rock side and gently push it down it ; add the gel to the coral and place it. Carefull not to bury coral flesh into the epoxy. It's exothemic and the heat from curing can harm some corals.

For attachments to frag plugs out of tank a drop of gel itself is usually sufficient. It will set faster when dipped in slat water for 20 seconds or so before attaching the coral.

mmark · 01/31/2015, 11:28 AM

Agree with dkeller nc. Don't go crazy with too much of that water weld at one time. I made the mistake of trying to mount too many frags at one time and I couldn't get my skimmer to calm down for days.

GT350pwns · 01/31/2015, 02:52 PM

I use gorilla super glue gel

sticky polyps · 01/31/2015, 03:05 PM

any super glue gel is what I use. I havnt needed to use any kind of putty. I could understand why the puddy would be nessasary to kind of "build up" a section of a rock so that you could get a frag disc to stick.

01/30/2015, 01:42 PM	#1
itz frank Gives Bad Advice. Join Date: May 2006 Location: Ft Lauderdale, FL Posts: 2,168	Sticking Frags to Live Rock. I've done a search on this already and maybe I'm just missing something. I purchased JB Waterweld. Mixed a small ball until it became tacky. Used superglue to stick it to the frag and to the liverock. Now, my question is how do I attach it to the liverock while it is under water. I ended up having to pull the liverock out after breaking down some of my aquascape and it finally stuck using super glue on both ends... I don't want to break down my aquascape everytime I add coral.

01/30/2015, 01:43 PM	#2
FraggledRock Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: New York, New York Posts: 2,185	Use IC Gel __________________ “For most of history, man has had to fight nature to survive; in this century he is beginning to realize that, in order to survive, he must protect it.”― Jacques-Yves Cousteau MarineBio.org Current Tank Info: 40 Gallon Breeder w/ Bean Animal Overflow 20G Sump, Mixed Reef.

01/30/2015, 02:04 PM	#3
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	^^^ sets underwater. Apply to frag, stick frag in water, stick to rock, hold it without tremor (rock steady) for about a minute, (longer, if trying to stick it sideways) and it should be ok. Also true of Reef Putty. Smells awful, but reef safe. Make ball, stick to rock and it will ooze for a while, but will set up: good for making sockets though the color is awful until it gets algaed-up. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

01/30/2015, 05:12 PM	#5
NTP66 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: PA Posts: 975	Loctite superglue gel (gray bottle, ridged sides and blue cap) works great for me. Just add some glue and hold the frag in place for 10-20 seconds. You can the stuff anywhere, and it's dirt cheap. __________________ Nick Current Tank Info: 90g FOWLR, Reef Octopus NWB-150 skimmer, MP40wES x2, Eheim 1260 return, BuildMyLED 20,000k XB LEDs, Apex Jr.

01/30/2015, 05:23 PM	#6
snorvich Team RC member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Outlander Posts: 40,953 Blog Entries: 46	I use IC-gel to stick the frag to live rock rubble and let it set out of water. I then use epoxy putty to clue the rock rubble in place. __________________ Warmest regards, ~Steve~

01/30/2015, 02:15 PM	#4
dkeller_nc Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Central NC Posts: 5,062	The problem you had might've been related to the type of superglue you were using. JB Waterweld is, of course, an epoxy putty, and it's common for folks to make a moldable "mount" out of epoxy putty, and then use superglue to stick the mount to both the coral frag and the piece of rock they want to attach it to. But what they're using is superglue gel, not "superglue original", which is water-thin. The cyanoacrylate gel products (of which "superglue" is one brand) work much better. You should be able to get cyanoacrylate gel glue at most home stores, and it's definitely available at any Woodcraft store, or you can order the PaleoBond or Ecotech Marine brands from Bulk Reef Supply.

01/31/2015, 08:46 AM	#7
kmbyrnes Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Mesa AZ Posts: 2,055	$ Store for Super Glue Gel, seems to be the best cost/weight ratio. __________________ 125g Mixed Reef 5/26/2015; 350 Butterfly Dominated FOWLR 11/26/2015 - 11/17/20217 & 07/31/18 to ??? ; 100g Mixed Reef 11/16/2013 to 06/16/2017 Current Tank Info: Too small

01/31/2015, 08:50 AM	#8
itz frank Gives Bad Advice. Join Date: May 2006 Location: Ft Lauderdale, FL Posts: 2,168	I'll have to try these out. I'm not thrilled with the idea of moving the rocks once they have a few different corals attached to them.

01/31/2015, 09:15 AM	#9
dkeller_nc Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Central NC Posts: 5,062	If you use cyanoacrylate gel glue (synonyms are superglue gel, IC gel, etc...), you won't have to take the rock out of the tank. The gel property of the glue will keep it in place for the few seconds you have to stick the frag in the location that you want it. Simply make your epoxy mount by mixing up a glob of it, press the frag into it, remove the frag and apply the cyanoacrylate gel between the frag and the epoxy mount, and wait 15 seconds or so for the CA glue to set. Then put the assembly onto the rock to mold the bottom of the epoxy to the shape of the rock, remove it, add a glob of CA gel glue to the bottom of the epoxy, and put it back in the same exact place on the rock. Hold it still for about 15 seconds underwater, and turn off any pump that's blowing on the frag for 3-4 hours to let the epoxy and CA glue fully set. BTW - if you're doing a lot of coral gluing with epoxy, your skimmer may go crazy from the epoxy curing by-products. Simply turn it off for 4-6 hours, by which time the epoxy by-products will have dissipated.

01/31/2015, 09:23 AM	#10
phenom5 Unregistered Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Arizona Posts: 5,096	I use super glue gel & epoxy (water weld works fine, but not great). I glue the epoxy ball to the frag plug out of the tank, then I put a good sized glob of super glue on the under side of the epoxy. I hold it in the water for 2 or 3 second so a skin forms on the super glue. Then I position the frag and give it a little twist or wiggle to break the skin on the glue. I hold it in place for a few. If a frag is unmounted, I usually go straight to the super glue gel, and skip the epoxy. __________________ Rob Current Tank Info: DSA 155 Pro \| ATI Sunpower \| ATB 840 v2 \| Apex \| Wav

01/31/2015, 09:26 AM	#11
Lmax8rn Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 286	I also use super glue gel. Two tubes for $1 at the dollar store.

01/31/2015, 11:09 AM	#12
tmz ReefKeeping Mag staff Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: West Seneca NY Posts: 27,691	I use Two Little Fishes epoxy putty. Knead it out of the tank ,add superglue gel to the rock side and gently push it down it ; add the gel to the coral and place it. Carefull not to bury coral flesh into the epoxy. It's exothemic and the heat from curing can harm some corals. For attachments to frag plugs out of tank a drop of gel itself is usually sufficient. It will set faster when dipped in slat water for 20 seconds or so before attaching the coral. __________________ Tom Current Tank Info: Tank of the Month , November 2011 : 600gal integrated system: 3 display tanks (120 g, 90g, 89g),several frag/grow out tanks, macroalgae refugia, cryptic zones. 40+ fish, seahorses, sps,lps,leathers, zoanthidae and non photosynthetic corals.

01/31/2015, 11:28 AM	#13
mmark Registered Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: Scranton Pa. Posts: 71	Agree with dkeller nc. Don't go crazy with too much of that water weld at one time. I made the mistake of trying to mount too many frags at one time and I couldn't get my skimmer to calm down for days. __________________ Learn something new everyday. 29 gallon.in wall viewable from 2 sides two clowns-Ban card-royal gram Reef octopus bh90- OR Artic S026 LED- Vortech MP10- cuc snails -crabs. Lps sps.

01/31/2015, 02:52 PM	#14
GT350pwns Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 600	I use gorilla super glue gel

01/31/2015, 03:05 PM	#15
sticky polyps Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Sarasota FL Posts: 195	any super glue gel is what I use. I havnt needed to use any kind of putty. I could understand why the puddy would be nessasary to kind of "build up" a section of a rock so that you could get a frag disc to stick.