kriswaters Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Ok... I suck at this! Is it something that just takes practice? I have tried a million and one things...a bit of glue, a medium amount of glue, a lot of glue, gel-cyanoacrylic, liquid cyanoacrylic...(scratch) I have tried glueing them to small plugs of "mighty putty" then glueing those to the rock while it is still soft...and yet..... BAM!!! A slight bump and off they go! Next disscussion...how to get a frag out of a tight spot! ARRRRRGGGGGGG! (flame) I have heard a lot about IC gel...and then I have seen a bunch on dollar store stuff. What I really, really, really want? Someone who's a pro to come glue my FRAGS! No JK...I guess input and information would be good. Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Try a little glue on the 'rubble'. Then dip it in tank water to get a 'film' on it. Then do the same with the frag you want glued. Then put the two glued spots together and give a small twist and hold for a few seconds. That works for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 I prefer frag disks to plugs. What I do is: 1: Mix up a gumball-sized lump of aquamend epoxy 2: Put a squirt of gel cyanoacrylate glue onto the bottom of the frag disk 3: Put the ball of epoxy onto the CA glue 4: Put another squirt of CA onto the top of the epoxy ball 5: Push the disk down onto the live rock and hold it there for a minute or so 6: All done The CA glue holds everything together nicely until the epoxy sets up. One extra nice thing about this is if the frag doesn't live, you can just pop the frag disk off and the epoxy stays behind as a nice platform for a new frag. Just CA the new frag down onto it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krux Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 years ago rick sr. showed me how to put a bit of superglue inside a ball of putty. you put the putty on the rock, and then jam the frag into that, once dry you have double adhesion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krux Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 aah andy beat me to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 I do the same as Andy, it works great! It doesn't take a lot either the super glue or epoxy if done right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smann Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 I use the IC-GEL, put the tube in the tank, squeeze a ball it will turn into a balloon. best to find a hole in the rock, get it to stick to the rock. then do the same with the coral, push them together and twist. if it doesnt work the first time you can uasually scrape it and try again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdadof2 Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 I have said many a bad thing while trying to attach frags to the rocks. I love 99.9% of the things about this hobby, but attaching frags is NOT one of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smann Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 Its really not that hard especially if you have pieces of rock that you can take out. Perhaps this would be a good meeting or workshop topic at someones home. I could provide plenty of small pieces for people to try Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdadof2 Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 oh, if I could take rock OUT of the tank then it would be easy. Unfortunately it is not easy to take any rock out of my current setup. It would be a good topic to cover! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smann Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 I agree I also cannot take out rock, but you can always add smaller pieces. another way is to take old rock, break it into small pieces or rubble and attach your frags to that then glue or wedge the rocks into place. it looks more natural and rock is easier glued into place than frags Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriswaters Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share Posted March 8, 2009 I agree with you 100% Mark. I need to kick the kids out when I try to glue frags! I do think that the most success I have had is to glue the frag to a soft piece of putty then glue the putty to the rock. I still find that they knock over easy as well! To bad encrustation doesn't happen overnight! If everything could be like the clam and just wrap its filaments around the rock in 15 minutes....then the turbos and urchins could go happily about their business! It would be fun to have a group practice session...trying different types of glue and such. I guess will need a good supply of acetone to remove left over glue! Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquaticus Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 BSI IC-Gel is great stuff! (I assume you are only gluing frags. Large pieces need epoxy.) A few things that will help- 1. Look for a rough spot where you can glue the frag. If you try to glue to a smooth area, like on coraline the glue has a harder time of staying. The rough areas allow the glue something to gain purchase on. 2. Take a tooth brush to the area of rock you are gluing to scrub away the slime and detritus. 3. Use large globs of glue. As you have noticed, when you place the glue in the water it forms a film around glob. So, once you place the piece down, work it around on the rock for a moment to break the film bubble that formed around the glue. This allows some of the fresh glue to release onto the rock. Good luck, hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCR Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 I am going to bring sbout 20 tubes of BSI IC-GEL to the meeting on the 15th to sell if anyone is interested. It's all I have ever used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCR Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 BSI IC-Gel is great stuff! (I assume you are only gluing frags. Large pieces need epoxy.) A few things that will help- 1. Look for a rough spot where you can glue the frag. If you try to glue to a smooth area, like on coraline the glue has a harder time of staying. The rough areas allow the glue something to gain purchase on. 2. Take a tooth brush to the area of rock you are gluing to scrub away the slime and detritus. 3. Use large globs of glue. As you have noticed, when you place the glue in the water it forms a film around glob. So, once you place the piece down, work it around on the rock for a moment to break the film bubble that formed around the glue. This allows some of the fresh glue to release onto the rock. Good luck, hope this helps! PERFECT (clap) (clap) (clap) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriswaters Posted March 8, 2009 Author Share Posted March 8, 2009 Blaine, I will take a tube or two! PS, hows the tank coming along? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 I picked up some aquamend from HD over the weekend and tried gluing down a few frags over the weekend. Works well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCR Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Blaine' date=' I will take a tube or two! PS, hows the tank coming along?[/quote'] I'm still working on it. Rock has been cooking 3 months now bringing it back from dead to live. Getting my 75gal all glass drilled for the sump next week. Have any updated pic's of yours??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriswaters Posted March 10, 2009 Author Share Posted March 10, 2009 I still only have the point and shoot camera that takes awful pics. I will probably make another short video...I like doing that! Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 I myself am a little disappointed with the glue's. I have more success glueing my fingers together then the frags. And not just fingers together, shirt to hand, glue on arm, and so on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
undrtkr_00 Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 I myself am a little disappointed with the glue's. I have more success glueing my fingers together then the frags. And not just fingers together' date=' shirt to hand, glue on arm, and so on.[/quote'] LOL! - You need to get yourself some acetone! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriswaters Posted March 11, 2009 Author Share Posted March 11, 2009 Trust me Eric...I have glued the wrong thing to the wrong thing many a time! Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 I have even tried just asking nicely, that doesn't work either. Was thinking duck tape. Works for everything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdadof2 Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 At least you guys have not dripped super glue all over the dog's back. I got in a bit of trouble for that one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted March 11, 2009 Share Posted March 11, 2009 LOL....got me there, but I did manage to glue almost a thousand dollars to my table not paying attention to drip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.