How exactly do you put a coral on the live rock ??

[tinman01]

how do you place the coral on the live rock where you want it ? \

i tried t olook around for a video but cant find one ...

do you glue them to the rock in the place you want them ?
i thought its always wet so how would glue help ??


sorry if this is the dumbest question ever lol

[thegrun]

Not a dumb question, but the answer depends on the type of coral. Super Glue Gel works great for hard corals and some softies. Some soft corals like xenia can be "nailed" to a piece of rock with a toothpick until they attach themselves. Unattached mushrooms can be held in place with a piece of bridal veil using rubber bands or toothpicks.

[RtReef]

Depends on what/where you are mounting. If it's inside the tank they make certain glues and putty's for this, I believe one is called coralfix.

Small frags some people use gel superglue outside of the tank water. I even seen a person who sells frags locally, load up gel superglue and attach frags/coral to his rock inside the tank. I guess it can be done but I wouldn't do it that way..

[thegrun]

You can use Superglue (any brand) Gel to attach hard corals underwater. Simply place a glob of the glue on the base of the coral (outside the tank in the air), then dunk the coral and press it onto the desired location, giving it a little twisting motion. The glue forms a skin when it contacts water, but remains wet inside the glob for a few seconds. You often need to reapply the glue a second time to get it to form a good bond to the rock. It takes some practice, but you will get the hang of it with a little practice.

[Neogenocide]

You can easily mount in your tank with superglue gel. It will instantly skin over when it hits water, put it on your rocks where you want it, the skin will break exposing the uncured glue beneath it, hold the frag a minute while the glue cures....good to go. Best part is it's not on there so tight that it can't be moved. They are stuck good enough that snails and others can't knock them off, but if need be you can can pop them off with relative ease.

[tony53176]

I've heard of a couple different methods, super glue, epoxy, drilling holes in their LR to place frag plugs and rubberbands

I would probably use epoxy myself, I've already used some on my LR underwater even and it works really well

[Raggamuffin]

for hard corals I use the sammich method, super glue gel frag to epoxy then superglue epoxy to rock. The superglue gives an instant but fairly short term bond until the epoxy hardens which gives a permanent bond. Works first time every time.

[tamn3]

for hard corals I use the sammich method, super glue gel frag to epoxy then superglue epoxy to rock. The superglue gives an instant but fairly short term bond until the epoxy hardens which gives a permanent bond. Works first time every time.

I second this method. I find that the glue gel eventually loses its hold but if you sandwich he epoxy it fills in the gaps on the liverock and makes a better bond/hold.

[seapug]

how do you place the coral on the live rock where you want it ? \

i tried t olook around for a video but cant find one ...

do you glue them to the rock in the place you want them ?
i thought its always wet so how would glue help ??


sorry if this is the dumbest question ever lol

4 basic ways. 1 and 2 are often used together :

1. Superglue gel (must be gel, not regular) for small corals
2. 2 part expoxy (be sure to get one that does NOT contain any sort of barnacle inhibitor for patching boat hulls)
3. Jam it in a crack in a rock. SPS corals can be placed in a hole or crack in a rock and they will eventually fuse to it if it's a tight fit. I do this when I accidentally snap small pieces off my digitata colonies while working in the tank.
4. Gravity. If a coral sits on a rock in a calm area, it will eventually stick the rock. Submberged mason jars or shot glasses with rubble in the bottom can work well for this. This is a very good method to attach mushrooms and other soft corals that are difficult to glue. Some people will also use rubber bands to "strap" the frag to the rock until it attaches.

[sslak]

Using a ball of epoxy putty in combination with super glue gel works the best for me.


1. Glue the frag to the small ball of epoxy putty
2. Put a dab of glue on the other side of the epoxy ball
3. Squish the epoxy ball onto the live rock where you want it

The nice thing is the epoxy molds to the porus shape of the rock, while the super glue gel gives you that immediate "stick" for underwater gluing.

[f3honda4me]

How do you handle things that can sting you?

[muffe]

How do you handle things that can sting you?

With caution.:lol:

[DUPioneers]

Good thread....as I set up my tank, I find that I have all kinds of these "devil is in the details" type of newbie questions....

And here's another...

As far as the paste/putty epoxies, what brand(s) do you guys use in your tanks? Are there any indications or ingredients that mark a product as specifically "safe" or "unsafe"???

Thanks in advance!!!

[cjk76]

Gloves will help with stings. Just make sure you buy gloves that don't have powder on them.

[seapug]

Good thread....as I set up my tank, I find that I have all kinds of these "devil is in the details" type of newbie questions....

And here's another...

As far as the paste/putty epoxies, what brand(s) do you guys use in your tanks? Are there any indications or ingredients that mark a product as specifically "safe" or "unsafe"???

Thanks in advance!!!

You can eliminate all risks by using an epoxy made for reef aquarium use. 2 Little Fishies makes one, so does KZ and quite a few other aquarium accessory companies. Personally, I use a kind I pick up at Ace hardware called PC Marine.

http://ACE.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pACE2-1145448dt.jpg

[tinman01]

http://www.amazon.com/Krazy-Glue-KG92548R-Instant-0-18-Ounce/dp/B000BQSFSM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326494560&sr=8-1

is it something like this we are talking about when we say Super glue ??


Amazing info :) thanks guys

[Mark Bianco]

:strooper:I do mine the old fashioned way. I just buy then already on a rock.

[seapug]

http://www.amazon.com/Krazy-Glue-KG92548R-Instant-0-18-Ounce/dp/B000BQSFSM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326494560&sr=8-1

is it something like this we are talking about when we say Super glue ??


Amazing info :) thanks guys

No, that is not the gel type. It has to be gel to work properly:
http://www.supergluecorp.com/files/images/sgg2_l.preview.jpg

[tinman01]

thanks much everyone :)

[DUPioneers]

+1 to tinman's latest. Thanks a ton for everyone's help!!! :D

[Raggamuffin]

cyanoacrylate

^ look for this on the label of your super glues!

[cjk76]

cyanoacrylate

^ look for this on the label of your super glues!

+1

[gmate]

Great info, thanks for this.

[fire_06786]

Aquascape by DD is a pretty good epoxy I use.