Superglue, safe with fish?

[djxtreme504]

I have been reading that it's safe to use superglue gel to attach coral frags, pieces of rock, etc., but was wondering if it ok to do with animals in the tank? None of the articles I read said anything about fish being in the tanks. I have two gorgonians that are attached to small pieces of rock that I want to glue to a bigger piece. Can I do this with fish in the tank?

 

[loganj]

The best way is to take a bowl of water from the tank. Glue the rocks together and dip them in the bowl of water. You'll see a tiny bit of residue on the surface of the water in the bowl. Once the glue has been dipped for about a minute, it has started to set up and is safe to put in the main tank. I would use a liberal amount of glue and put it on both pieces of rock.

 

[djxtreme504]

What if taking the rock out is not an option? I want to attach it to a part of the giant of structure of live rock that is already there.

 

[astride13]

Do you mean doing the gluing underwater?

 

[micaheli]

superglu GEL?

By superglue gel, not sure what you mean. If you mean just normal superglu, then I'm sure its okay. I have cut my lip, arm, fingers, face, etc.. and used superglu instead of bandaids.. My father taught it to me after he found out that they use cayaniocrilliate (spelling!?!) in surgury at all hospitals to heal internal wounds that need to be sealed wet/bloody (you know what I mean). So, if its good enough to be inside the human body and sewed up inside, I would imagine it would be okay to put in an aquarium.

I would, however, do like mentioned and put it in a bucket first to make sure no residue gets thrown around at all.. You can clean it up before you place it in the tank permanently.

I am not a pro.. I'm quite the beginner.. don't even have my tank set up yet and have never done salt-water.. HOWEVER, I know a pretty good deal about adhesives.

--Micah

 

[djxtreme504]

Do you mean doing the gluing underwater?

Yes, that's exactly what I mean. And with fish in the tank. The other posts on this subject seem to have only different corals in the tank when the glueing is done underwater and the corals are ok with this. I need to know if it's ok to use plain old household use superglue gel with fish in the tank. I have a surface skimmer so if the only concern is surface residue, I'm sure it won't be a big deal.

 

[toddwess]

Re: superglu GEL?

I have cut my lip, arm, fingers, face, etc.. and used superglu instead of bandaids.. My father taught it to me after he found out that they use cayaniocrilliate (spelling!?!) in surgury at all hospitals to heal internal wounds that need to be sealed wet/bloody (you know what I mean).

Are you serious?? I never knew!

Todd

 

[HoopsGuru]

I would not be concerned with any residue (although removing to a bowl is great for precautions and to make it easier to apply) since you can't remove the rock. Superglue gel should still be cyanoacrylate.

 

[daveNandi]

Our LFS suggested that for attaching larger things underwater we use something they called holdfast or eopxy putty. It comes in a cylinder shape, with two layers that you knead together until it has the consistency of playdough. It then hardens in 7 minutes. Dries grayish white. Made by Marineland. I threw out the package already or I'd give you the trade name. We used it and it worked, though it's unsightly (mostly due to our poor application and planning).

 

[reefrunner69]

I have used superglue gel in my tank...many many many times, never had an issue and it works just fine. The bond is not as strong and takes a little more time to set...but it works well. It will make your skimmer go berserk for an hour or so