Attaching Coral to Live Rock

[Dbroncos]

Is it ok to have the coral out of the water for a short period of time while I apply the epoxy? or do you have to do this underwater?

[fcmatt]

It is not a problem to take coral out of the water for a very short amount of time to
put the glue or epoxy on. As always be prepared and quick. Better to hold the coral somewhat
firmly so you do not drop it. Basically I am trying to say be efficient and handle the coral
gently but not so gently you risk messing up.

What you will find out though is getting it to stick and correctly positioned is where all
the rough handling comes into play. Super glue tends to get a skin around it as soon as
it hits the water making it tough to get good contact to the rock. If you are using an
epoxy you may want to test that by dipping some in the tank on a plastic stick to see
how it reacts and how much effort you have to use to get that skin to break and contact
the rock.

good luck. i always find this frustrating to do myself. I tend to do one or two pieces when
I am in the mood as a lot of patience is needed. I never rush it even though my snails
will knock over frags once in a while causing me to reach in and set them back up.

[2Addicted]

You can have it out for a while.

[Dbroncos]

Thanks for the responses do you wear gloves or not necessary?

[fatdaddy]

Thanks for the responses do you wear gloves or not necessary?

Generally not necessary.

[gweston]

I tried to use putty and wasn't very happy with it. I went the superglue route. Worked much better. I think putty works well for attacking rocks to rocks or for building stable rockwork.

The corals can be out for a bit. I usually have a couple plastic cups handy with tank water. I bring the coral to a work table in one cup. I then do my work, gluing etc. I then rinse the coral in the first cup and transport it back in the second cup. I then place the coral in the tank and dump the water from the two cups down the drain. Probably not necessary but if I get something on the coral I don't want, doing that will basically help rinse the newly glued coral before it goes back in the tank.

[Gary Majchrzak]

what coral are you attaching? (be specific)

how large is it... how much does it weigh?

large-ish corals are best attached using a combo of Aquamend (or similar) putty AND superglue GEL.

smaller SPS frags use superglue GEL only.

softies don't use either!

[fcmatt]

As for wearing gloves or not... I do not. But i wash my hands/arms thoroughly with
soap and hot water AND THEN MAKE SURE MY HANDS/ARMS ARE COMPLETELY FREE
OF SOAP RESIDUE. Keep in mind I wash up my arms quite a ways too as they
end up in the tank also. After I am done washing I tend to rinse one more time
and dry with paper towels instead of a bathroom towel which may contain something
i do not want in the tank.

pretty anal i suppose but I do not want to risk something i got on my arm at work getting
into the tank by accident.

I like the poster above asking you what kind of coral and how large. Pretty relevant question
that I wish I would have thought of ;-)

[Dbroncos]

The first coral is about 2" it is Evergreen Starburst Polyp the second is a zoa about 2"

[Gary Majchrzak]

The first coral is about 2" it is Evergreen Starburst Polyp the second is a zoa about 2"
unless these are already growing on rubble I wouldn't use epoxy/putty.

These are extremely resilient corals and they'll be fine out of the water for an extended period of time while you prepare to attach them.

[ultreef]

How do you guys attach SPS frags onto rocks with superglue gel? Everytime i tried that, the superglue will skin over once it hits the water and not stick to the rock.

[evsalty]

As for wearing gloves or not... I do not. But i wash my hands/arms thoroughly with
soap and hot water AND THEN MAKE SURE MY HANDS/ARMS ARE COMPLETELY FREE
OF SOAP RESIDUE. Keep in mind I wash up my arms quite a ways too as they
end up in the tank also. After I am done washing I tend to rinse one more time
and dry with paper towels instead of a bathroom towel which may contain something
i do not want in the tank.

pretty anal i suppose but I do not want to risk something i got on my arm at work getting
into the tank by accident.

I like the poster above asking you what kind of coral and how large. Pretty relevant question
that I wish I would have thought of ;-)

I use tank specific towels only to dry off with if I am going into a specific tank. QT and DT have their own set of towels lol. I am like you on the not wanting to use the regular bathroom towel for the same reason.

The first coral is about 2" it is Evergreen Starburst Polyp the second is a zoa about 2"

Use superglue gel for polyps.

How do you guys attach SPS frags onto rocks with superglue gel? Everytime i tried that, the superglue will skin over once it hits the water and not stick to the rock.

When you get the frag to the rock in the water twist the coral as you press down to break the skin on the glue. This will get some of the none skinned glue to attach to the mounting surface.

[jeepguy242]

How do you guys attach SPS frags onto rocks with superglue gel? Everytime i tried that, the superglue will skin over once it hits the water and not stick to the rock.

i use about a whole 4oz tube of the superglue gell per small frag, it is easiest to do it out of the water tho.

[SDguy]

How do you guys attach SPS frags onto rocks with superglue gel? Everytime i tried that, the superglue will skin over once it hits the water and not stick to the rock.

Like was mentioned, twist slightly to break the "skin", but honestly, a small ball of epoxy in addition to the superglue goes a LONG way here...so much easier, IME.

Think of it this way: The epoxy is REALLY good at filling in the gaps between two surfaces, while the superglue is REALLY good at adhering to the surfaces. The combination is what works best because, unless you are lucky enough to have two perfectly matching surfaces, you'll need both adhering and filling properties. HTH.

[evsalty]

i use about a whole 4oz tube of the superglue gell per small frag, it is easiest to do it out of the water tho.

I have found smaller amounts drys/sets quicker both in and out of water. Infact when I mount colored sticks to frag plugs I put only a dab of the gel (about the same width of the frag base) on the plug then let that sit for a min then dry off the base of the frag and stick it to the plug. I usually only have to prop it for a few seconds. I feel this has several side benifits as well. First no glue goes up the skin/flesh of the coral so encrusting actually starts faster and second it does not look so ugly compaired to seeing globs of unused superglue surrounding the frag. I use this same method for lps and polyps.

I ordered some frags from an online vendor that most of us probably have and when they came in some had superglue all the way up one or more of the sides and on to the branches killing those areas of those corals. I later found out that he was under the impression that all corals could not be exposed to air and thus was globbing the majority of his 2" tiles with glue and the attaching under water.

[Ethan_W]

How do you guys attach SPS frags onto rocks with superglue gel? Everytime i tried that, the superglue will skin over once it hits the water and not stick to the rock.

when i attached my frags i pulled the rock out of the water and wiped the spot on the rock where i was attaching it with a towel. then put the super glue gel on the spot and on the base of the coral and held it out of the water for about 15 seconds to dry. worked great for my zoas and xenia. i'd like to think it would work for a small frag of an sps