Attaching Corals

[saltaddict]

Just bought my fisrt coral (Colt) I am having dificulty getting it to stay inside a crevise in my LR . I thought about using rubber bands but fear that they might put too much preasure on the stalk or that it too could become attach after sometime to the coral. Looking for others idea on how best to attch softcoral to the LR?

 

[jonthefb]

is the bas of it on any type of rock at all? if not i would reccommend supergluing it to a rock, then you can just place the rocke whereever you like!
good luck
jon

 

[slick]

I think some people use a special epoxy type putty. I think they make some for aquarium use.

 

[saltaddict]

No no base Are you talking about normal everyday super glue? If so does the chemicals present any danger to the water chemistry?

 

[jonthefb]

no and it is actually the easiest way to attatch soft corals. many reefers on this board use normal super glue with great success. the epoxy puty that salt addict suggested works great as well however it wont work with your softies. usually good to glue rocks together, and stony corals to the lr. ive used both in the past with great success!
good luck
jon

 

[saltaddict]

Thanks on my way to CVS right now.

 

[slowest is fastest]

Regular super glue can/does work but if you pick up the gel version I think you will have better luck IME.
Just make sure you get Ethl Cyanoacrylate (gel)
SiF

 

[jrb384]

I agree wth the above post, if you use Gel, its much better. Also, it works great if at all posssible, u can dry off the area where you want to apply it, and the area your going to be glueing the item on. Sometimes you cant if its a big piece of rock or something. The putty also works well, it comes in sticks, and u just break off a piece and mix it togther, then after time the putty grows over with coral line algae, its pretty neat.

 

[eng50]

Use the gel...put some on the spot you want it to be placed (underwater) and put some on the piece you want to place, it will become "stringy" within 15 sec or so, then place the two glue areas together, and hold for 30 sec or so an whala!! Works great!!

 

[benj420]

How long can you have it out of water before it starts to be bad for the coral?
eng50,
It sounds like your method is an underwater approach at all times(right?). Would you do it in the tank, or in a bucket and then move to the tank?

 

[jonthefb]

you can have your coral out of the water for several minutes (as long as it should take to glue it) as long as your not leaveing it out for like half an hour. that would be bad!
benj, if you can get the rock that you are glueing it to out of the water, and even dry the area off a little you will get much better adhesion by the gel. however if the rock is on the bottom of your reef, its kinda hard to do so and thus youd have to do it all underwater!
good luck
jon

 

[turbo21]

we fragged our colt and then we got a sea shell and we put a rubber band around it not really tight though and i filled the sea shell up with sand and put it a place in my tank where there wasnt alot of curent and after a week and a half he attached himself in the sea shell it looks pretty cool

 

[fishlovr]

I tried everything with my colt frag.....including super glue. Nothing worked for more than a day or two. The colt always came loose. Finally I read somewhere that you could just sew it with a needle and thread through the base of the coral and attach it to a rock that way. I tried it and it worked great. After a week or two you can just cut the thread pull it out, and remove it. If all else fails for you, may want to try this......

 

[eng50]

Yes, working underwater, or if you want like John said, apply the glue to the coral out of water, no problem either way, You will see that it is quite easy once you do it the first time. I was quite hesitant until I actually tried it, now no more worries, I take pieces of gorgonian and put them all over, no more looking for holes, drilling etc..Hope this helps...
Bill

 

[10k]

Eng50 is on the right track. If you are glueing frags with super glue, definately try to do it under water. Super glue, as it dries, heats up tremendously, which I have found it kills the area that came in direct contact. The heat from the curing super glue actually burns the coral tissue, killing that section, making it (most of the time ) seperate from whatever you are attaching it to. Then you have to glue it again, risking the same delima. If at all possible, try to glue under water, and save yourself the headaches...HTH

 

[slowest is fastest]

Heat from the super glue can be a problem if you leave the frag out of water to long >20 sec. IME using the gel I can usually get the frag glue it and replace it in the tank in under that amount of time. If you need a few more seconds(minutes) get a shallow bowl and fill it with enough tank water to cover the glued area. Immediately after glueing put the rock,shell etc (holding the newly mounted frag) into the bowl. The glue will form a "skin" immediately and heat from the glue will no longer be a problem.
This is especially useful when instead of dealing with a 1-2"+ piece you are trying to glue individual polyps.
SiF