Adhesive products?

[jfreeman]

What is the best way to get a soft coral to stick to a live rock?

 

[StevenBell]

There are a couple of methods used to do this.Primary being the use of super glue (gel or water type) containing cyanoacryliate.You can buy it almost anywhere.The second method I like to use for things like leathers or those really meaty corals is a rubber band.

 

[jfreeman]

Thx. Any rule of thumb regarding how long the rubber band typically need to stay on?

 

[extremecoral]

super glue will only work if you put little glue to it. and no flow, med to high flow will give you a result of softies flying around the tank.

tight it w/ rubber band until you see it attached to the frag disk or rock whatever you want it to grow. It should be attached to the substrate in about a week or so, I glued my to frag disks and give a good success but you gotta be careful though, again too much glue they're gonna melt. Good luck!

 

[NanaReefer]

Best to use a piece of 100% cotton thread. It is totally bio-degradable and will dissolve over time. Leaving you with nothing to remove and no need to disturb the coral again. :)
This is how I attached my toad stool to a disc and it worked great!

 

[StevenBell]

+1 to the melting of the coral!When you bond the flesh of the coral to the stone or plug you get a thermogenic reaction (ever glue your fingers together and feel it heat up?) Its the same thing with coral.So if you do glue it,make sure immediately after sticking the coral on the plug or rock you dunk it in the water.It will help disperse that reaction!

 

[jfreeman]

Thx. The cotton thread idea is a good one!

 

[cimmorine]

I'm interested in hearing more info regarding the cotton thread method...

 

[revhtree]

You can also use netting like panty hose or wedding veil stretched over the frag and then secured with a rubber band. Just remove once attached.

 

[redfishbluefish]

For softies like leathers, mushrooms and xenia, I lightly wrap dental floss around the coral and plug/small rock. I do not tie it....just left loose. It usually takes about a week and then I carefully unwrap the dental floss.

 

[nly04]

Try this for softy and some LPS. it work for me.
Atlas Miracle Thread - Dick's Sporting Goods

 

[NanaReefer]

I'm interested in hearing more info regarding the cotton thread method...

Believe it or not I actually got the idea from watching Alaska State Troopers :) Where crab fisherman are required to use a cotton twine on their crab traps doors. It dissolves over time thus allowing the crabs to escape if the traps go unattended for to long time :) Although the twine they use is much thicker, I used thread. It works wonderfully and was gone within 2 weeks.


Sent from my iPhone 4s via Tapatalk.

 

[Mike P]

I've done both glue and rubber band and either way works pretty well. One thing I've found out that whatever way you choose to attach your coral I like to keep them on a small frag rack away from the bottom. I've probably lost a good $100 in coral just because of pesky crabs detaching them and knocking them over.