Loctite Superglue gel question

[vic622]

So I read a few posts about using Loctite Superglue gel to mount frags to live rock. Picked some up today, put a big glob on the bottom of the frag plug and right away put it in the water and before I could place it on the rock (2" below the waterline), it had gone white and hard and wouldn't mold or stick to the rock.
Help! What am I doing wrong?
Vic

[subman]

the glue dries instantly under water! You have to mount out of the water then place it in.

[vic622]

I thought I had read that you could go frag>gel>epoxy>gel>rock, so this way you didn't need to have the epoxy curing in the tank.
My wrecking crew - Turbos - have already bulldozed 2 frags off their perches last night, so I need something to hold them in place until they're established.
On this frag, I didn't need the epoxy, so I thought I'd go direct, frag>gel>rock.
How do you affix to the rock if you can't use gel glue?
Use Epoxy & let it cure in the tank?
Vic

[intarsiabox]

I have only used it to directly attach a coral to a plug or a small rock piece out of the water. I think you need to use epoxy attach the plug to a rock already inside the tank as you found out it cures super fast under water. If the rock can be removed from the tank for a minute you could attach it that way with CA glue. By the way, if buy a little spray bottle of kicker (accelerant) it will instantly cure your glue out of the water as well so the coral spends as little time out of the water as possible.

[subman]

I use epoxy to attach under the water.... but it doesn't work all that well as it still takes along time to fully cure.

[vic622]

What brand of epoxy?
Vic
I use epoxy to attach under the water.... but it doesn't work all that well as it still takes along time to fully cure.

[subman]

D-D nothing wrong with it just takes a while to cure.

[conix67]

I thought I had read that you could go frag>gel>epoxy>gel>rock, so this way you didn't need to have the epoxy curing in the tank.
My wrecking crew - Turbos - have already bulldozed 2 frags off their perches last night, so I need something to hold them in place until they're established.
On this frag, I didn't need the epoxy, so I thought I'd go direct, frag>gel>rock.
How do you affix to the rock if you can't use gel glue?
Use Epoxy & let it cure in the tank?
Vic

If you go frag>gel>rock directly under water, it won't stick well. I've used frag>gel>epoxyPUTTY>gel>rock and it has worked very well.

What I do is -

* turn off power heads, or anything that moves water
* get epoxy putty mixed and ready, small amount
* add a drop or few of superglue gel on the frag mount (flat bottom, not those frag rack mount)
* put the putty on the frag where the glue is
* put drops of superglue gel on the putty
* mount the frag>gel>putty>gel onto a rock, firmly press it down
* give it few minutes for gel and epoxy putty to cure

The aquarium safe epoxy putty cures within minutes after mixing, so you want to do this fairly quickly, and one frag at a time.

The idea is to provide best possible contact surface for superglue gel by using still soft epoxy putty. If you use the superglue gel only, it will be very difficult to achieve the same amount of bonding..

[vic622]

I'll give that a try, today.
The wrecking crew was out again last night, so I really need to get the frags secured.
Last night, using a flashlight, I discovered another hitchhiker, some sort of crab that was hiding in a crevice in the live rock. All I saw were some ~1" legs backing into the rock - add one more member to the bulldozer dept. :doh:
Vic

If you go frag>gel>rock directly under water, it won't stick well. I've used frag>gel>epoxyPUTTY>gel>rock and it has worked very well.

What I do is -

* turn off power heads, or anything that moves water
* get epoxy putty mixed and ready, small amount
* add a drop or few of superglue gel on the frag mount (flat bottom, not those frag rack mount)
* put the putty on the frag where the glue is
* put drops of superglue gel on the putty
* mount the frag>gel>putty>gel onto a rock, firmly press it down
* give it few minutes for gel and epoxy putty to cure

The aquarium safe epoxy putty cures within minutes after mixing, so you want to do this fairly quickly, and one frag at a time.

The idea is to provide best possible contact surface for superglue gel by using still soft epoxy putty. If you use the superglue gel only, it will be very difficult to achieve the same amount of bonding..

[rayjay]

I put a large blob on the frag and when it is placed in the water it hardens the outside but not the inside.
I put the frag where I want it and give it a few twists which breaks the skimmed seal, and hold it in place about 3 minutes. It almost always takes the first time.

[bhazard1]

I put a large blob on the frag and when it is placed in the water it hardens the outside but not the inside.
I put the frag where I want it and give it a few twists which breaks the skimmed seal, and hold it in place about 3 minutes. It almost always takes the first time.

I agree. Sometimes I use the frag to paste glue onto the rock and then bring the frag back up and put more glue on the frag. Then glue the frag back on where you pasted the glue around on the rock. The frags stick great that way as the glue you pasted on the rock gives a good bonding surface.

[vic622]

I'm going to have to try a bigger blob.
The one I did was only about two widths/thicknesses of the string that came out of the bottle - maybe more is better!
Vic
I agree. Sometimes I use the frag to paste glue onto the rock and then bring the frag back up and put more glue on the frag. Then glue the frag back on where you pasted the glue around on the rock. The frags stick great that way as the glue you pasted on the rock gives a good bonding surface.

[vic622]

This time it worked :biggrin:
I used the frag>gel>epoxy>gel>rock method - not a single problem!!!!
One of the Candy Canes I forgot to put the glue on the epoxy and it still stuck to the rock.
Thanks all for the help!
The frags (except the little ones on the staghorn) all came from Chris at Interior Reef - They were cool & in super condition, even started to open when they were in the bucket getting acclimated :thumb:
Vic
PS: I'm still having problems uploading pics, I'll post 'em as soon as I can get it figured out :sad:

[conix67]

If you want to upload picks, just open an account at photobucket.com and use that one instead. It's two step approach but it's a lot more flexible that way, they allow you to just past link into your message, besides guests can also see your pictures.

[vic622]

Okay, here's the pics as promised :biggrin:
Vic
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/Frags%20Attached/IRcoralattached6sept2009-11.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/Frags%20Attached/IRcoralattached6sept2009-12.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/Frags%20Attached/IRcoralattached6sept2009-13-Copy.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/Frags%20Attached/IRcoralattached6sept2009-14.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/Frags%20Attached/IRcoralattached6sept2009-15.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/Frags%20Attached/IRcoralattached6sept2009-16-Copy.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/Frags%20Attached/IRcoralattached6sept2009-07.jpg