glueing coral

[mycat99]

i have a question about glueing live rock /coral .i have some of the putty stuff and want how if its useable right in tank if your glueing coral to live rock? i am afraid if i did it outside tank coral would die?

[Aquattro]

yup, use it right in the tank. Keep in mind putty is not glue, it doesn't stick. You use it by forcing the putty into a crack or hole in your rock, then once it hardens, the coral is wedged into place.

[Navarchus]

Usually it is safe to use tem underwater; but remember you have to close flow pumps for few hours in order to let the putty harden

[danny zubot]

You should be able to get away with taking the coral out for a very short period of time without killing it. I usually put the frag in a tupperware container, glue it, then cure it for a while before I put the frag back. I hate getting that milky residue in the tank, I don't think the other corals like it.

[Myka]

I just remove corals when epoxying them. Be aware that the epoxy heats up as it hardens, so don't put it too close to the fleshy part of the coral.

[landshark]

I find the putty works okay for live rock to live rock. For coral to liverock I use Boston Aquatics C.A. Works great on zoas, xenia, monti and mushrooms. Dental cement works well too.

[shrimpchips]

The putty doesn't bond particularly well to rock or coral.

For the best bond use a sandwich of cyanoacrylate glue and the putty. I use this method for gluing everything wet (putty works fin on two dry surfaces): frag - cyanoacrylate glue - putty - CA glue - rock.

Don't worry about the heat. I've used it with SPS corals, and as long as it cures in the tank, it'll be fine. I also leave all my pumps on while doing this - using the glue enables you to have a stronger bond. Essentially what you're doing is creating a better surface for the glue to bond together, as CA glue does best with little or no gap to bond.