Glue in tank- What kind?

[Lance M.]

I wanted to know what kind of glue you can use in a tank. I've heard it has to be like silicone or something? Asking this because my neighbor was thinking about setting up a freshwater tank (he already has three SW) and he was talking to my dad about it and when my dad talked to me about it, my dad told me my neighbor was thinking about hot-gun glueing driftwood together (great sentence).

 

[QTOFFER]

Only use aquarium safe silicone. That means it has no fungicides or colorants added. I've used AllGlass brand, but it's a bit expensive. You can try getting clear silicone sealant at the hardware store, but read the label carefully to make sure it has no additives - just 100% silicone.

 

[Toirtis]

Or epoxy putty made for aquariums (usually used in marine aquaria)...available at most LFSes that stock marine.

 

[Frank_the_Tank]

not recommending it or saying it's safe, but I used hot glue to attach a piece of driftwood that I could not get to sink, and I haven't seen any problems or had fish die.

 

[Lance M.]

So does anyone else think that the hot glue would be ok?

 

[Toirtis]

High-temp hot glue would probably be safe, but would not hold as well or as log as the others mentioned.

 

[Gordinho80]

what do u all suggest for coverring large PVC pipe? I am looking to make some custom caves for the Cichlid tank i'm setting up and am using a sand substrate...i want to do large pvc caves and i want them coverred so u dont see the pipe...

what can you all suggest?

thanks in advance...
Mario

 

[Lance M.]

Ok. So I'll tell my neighbor to get some 100% silicone with no additives.

 

[Frank_the_Tank]

not recommending it or saying it's safe, but I used hot glue to attach a piece of driftwood that I could not get to sink, and I haven't seen any problems or had fish die.

update: I was just reorganizing my decorations and the driftwood had come loose from the rock, but it has also sunk so no problems

 

[PatM]

I do agree, I've used it before, but it's holding properties are a little weak. If you have the patience for the silicone to dry it's the way to go.

 

[ramfan]

what do u all suggest for coverring large PVC pipe? I am looking to make some custom caves for the Cichlid tank i'm setting up and am using a sand substrate...i want to do large pvc caves and i want them coverred so u dont see the pipe...

what can you all suggest?

thanks in advance...
Mario

I don't know if you're still checking this post but...
I glued gravel to all the outside surfaces of the PVC with silicone. It's an awesome effect.

 

[TomK2]

what do u all suggest for coverring large PVC pipe? I am looking to make some custom caves for the Cichlid tank i'm setting up and am using a sand substrate...i want to do large pvc caves and i want them coverred so u dont see the pipe...
Mario

There are some pics of DIY caves using PVC in the DIY forum. Usually they are gravel covered by sticking the gravel on the pipe with silicone. When the gravel covering the pvc is the same substrate as the tank they look great. I don't know how sand would work. You can even silicone a fake plant or two to it to breakup the outlines. How about some pebbles or rocks that compliments your sand, you can cover the pvc in the rocks, then You can then scatter some of the rocks/pebbles in the sand around near the cave making it look like the cave and scattered stones formed from the same rock breaking up?

 

[jgc8fan]

Silicone is the best... The kind that you use in a tank will smell like vinegar which is okay, but if it smells of petrolium type chemicals then it is not tank safe. You're better off paying a little more for the stuff from a pet shop which you at least are guaranteed it will be safe.

Two part epoxy can be used if the items can be removed from the tank, or if the tank is still empty (no water), but he would have to be sure the epoxy has completely cured before adding any fish. This is how they glue rock backgrounds to the back of tanks.

 

[ramfan]

Hardware store bought silicone

Hi!
The Silicone I just bought from the hardware store (in an attempt to avoid the overpriced lfs brands which I usually buy) is "DAP" Household Adhesive 100% silicone. HOWEVER, the directions state: "Not recommended for continuous underwater use." Advice?

 

[brndfrb]

i know that in my reef tank i use super glue gell to glue frags to rock

 

[dr_girlfriend]

Ive used aquamend epoxy. you can get it at homedepot, and its cheap. (and best of all, it works on wet surfaces!) I would recommend not letting it cure underwater with your fish though as a precaution. I tried looking for something else besides silicone, because its not really that strong of an adhesive in some applications. This stuff is like cement.

 

[cJw]

Can we get a confirmation of brndfrb's suggestion of super glue gel


I saw that somewher else recently also, and was planning on using it to create some lace rock caves sometime in the near future. . .

 

[jgc8fan]

Can we get a confirmation of brndfrb's suggestion of super glue gel


I saw that somewher else recently also, and was planning on using it to create some lace rock caves sometime in the near future. . .

Lots of people use it in reefs to attach coral frags to live rock. If you go to a lfs that sells reef supplies they would have something called Hold Fast or the like which is just cyanoacrylate ie: superglue. Once people have figured that out they usually just buy regular super glue. I never used it myself, but I believe it's safe once it is set (20-30 seconds). The toxic chemicals in it evaporate quickly and then it's tank safe.

 

[czcz]

I've used super glue gel. Its great when attaching plasic to plastic. I use DAP's Aquarium silicone product (bought from HD and ACE) on everything else, inluding caves. My oldest seal is 5 months and still no issues, fwiw.

 

[cJw]

I'm in the planning stages of a grandiose (as grand as it could be in a 30 long tank : ) slate cave structure : DAP silicone or Super Glue Gel?