Best Putty/Glue for Dry Rock

[Wandering Albatross]

Good morning all, I'm getting ready to order my rock and live sand for my new 75g build, and was wondering what you all recommend for aquascaping adhesive. I've heard good things about Two Little Fishies Reef Putty.

I want an urchin and maybe a star in this tank at some point, and I don't mind giving him pebbles or other small things to carry, but I read that urchins will knock over rocks, so I'm worried lock-stacking as I did for my reef won't be enough. This will be FOWLR first, with the potential for a few soft or lps corals if everyone behaves, which will be securely attached, and as a semi-aggressive tank, I want extensive rockwork for territories. 75-80lbs of rock, and low to medium flow. I don't want a lot of huge arches, or tons of really unbalanced looking overhangs, nothing super creative and gravity-defying, just a nice solid couple chunks of rockwork with lots of caves and crevasses, that a 4-6" urchin won't bulldoze. I don't think a linkia or sand sifter star would be much of an issue for tipping larger rocks, but I've never kept one so could be wrong.

Thoughts?

 

[D.WhiteShark]

I'm a big fan of E-Marco 400 Aquascaping mortar. There have been a lot of people recently talking about using superglue and baking soda with good results. There are a bunch of threads about it here. It's supposed to be super strong although I've never personally used it.

I can tell you that I used E-Marco multiple times and when I broke my tank down, I couldn't break it apart with a hammer and chisel without breaking the rock itself before the mortar bond failed.

 

[Areseebee]

I went the liquid super glue + sand route worked really well to make very solid structures.

 

[Wandering Albatross]

I'm a big fan of E-Marco 400 Aquascaping mortar. There have been a lot of people recently talking about using superglue and baking soda with good results. There are a bunch of threads about it here. It's supposed to be super strong although I've never personally used it.

I can tell you that I used E-Marco multiple times and when I broke my tank down, I couldn't break it apart with a hammer and chisel without breaking the rock itself before the mortar bond failed.

Does it bond underwater too for holding frags, or is it best cured out of the tank? The main structures will be cured dry, But if it can work directly in a stocked/matured tank without harm that’s even better for any future additions.

 

[D.WhiteShark]

Does it bond underwater too for holding frags, or is it best cured out of the tank? The main structures will be cured dry, But if it can work directly in a stocked/matured tank without harm that’s even better for any future additions.

I believe it "can" cure wet but I don't think it's ideal in frag placement underwater as it would get pretty messy. I actually really like the Tunze Coral gum for placing frags. There are plently of otions for that but most of those aren't awesome for holding aquascape IME.

 

[twentyleagues]

Use thin to ultra thin super glue and sand/ marco powder for the main structure and if you feel the need marco cement to insure the bond but you really dont need the cement. Work in a ventilated area as the super glue, rock and marco powder release fumes. As said above the bond is actually stronger than the rock itself. Use thick super glue gel to place frags in the tank with water.

 

[twentyleagues]

Some of my rock structures built with superglue and marco powder.

 

[Wandering Albatross]

Some of my rock structures built with superglue and marco powder.

Are some of those glued to the back glass, or are there magnets I can't see?

 

[twentyleagues]

Are some of those glued to the back glass, or are there magnets I can't see?

Its a reef wall from Reefeco. They used to be (might still be) a vendor here. I have not seen much from them in a while though, website is still functional. I won the majority of it in one of the contests here (well about half the cost). Its pretty cool but I am uncertain exactly what I want out of it now that I have it installed...lol. Ill see if I have a close up pic.

 

[MikeReefs]

Epoxy. Built my whole scape with it. Super strong

 

[twentyleagues]

I guess this is all I have. Its basically a vertical frag rack. What you see here is the structure that the racks attach to. These are siliconed to the glass. Each of the legs have 2 sections of glass in them and they get siliconed to the back glass. The frag racks attach using the horizontal pieces.

 

[Bear22]

Does it bond underwater too for holding frags, or is it best cured out of the tank? The main structures will be cured dry, But if it can work directly in a stocked/matured tank without harm that’s even better for any future additions.

I have yet to find a glue or epoxy that bonds well underwater, at least when it comes to bonding things horizontally. Bonding a frag plug in the vertical axis with gravity working in your favor, would probably be ok.

 

[JumboShrimp]

E-Marco is what I like for rock-work. Then to glue a frag (underwater), cheap few-cents-each tubes of "gel" superglue from Harbor Freight. (I hate buying large sizes of expensive gel because the tube is always clogged when you try to use it a second or third time, and ends up getting thrown away).

 

[Wandering Albatross]

I have yet to find a glue or epoxy that bonds well underwater, at least when it comes to bonding things horizontally. Bonding a frag plug in the vertical axis with gravity working in your favor, would probably be ok.

Most frags would be vertical or at a slight angle. I’ll have to test some to find a good underwater binding agent later I guess. For the moment, I need it to hold shape and be too heavy to be moved by an urchin or fish.

 

[Bear22]

Most frags would be vertical or at a slight angle. I’ll have to test some to find a good underwater binding agent later I guess. For the moment, I need it to hold shape and be too heavy to be moved by an urchin or fish.

Tunze Epoxy and/or Bob Smith's thick gel CA glue should be fine for this in the manner you described.

 

[Wandering Albatross]

E-Marco is what I like for rock-work. Then to glue a frag (underwater), cheap few-cents-each tubes of "gel" superglue from Harbor Freight. (I hate buying large sizes of expensive gel because the tube is always clogged when you try to use it a second or third time, and ends up getting thrown away).

That’s a couple votes for E-Macro. I’m looking at the 5lb kit through BRS. Would that be enough for 75-80 lbs of rock, assuming the rock is stacked snug already?

 

[malacoda]

A side note/suggestion — make sure you keep the structures you build modular.

In other words, don't glue together a single piece of structure so large and heavy that it's hard to remove from your tank if you need to catch a fish, do tank maintenance, etc...

...or too big to temporarily take out without damaging a lot of coral on it, or neighboring structures.

 

[JumboShrimp]

My rocks are 100% 'gravity snugged' in there-- but I don't have any powerful fish. If I were to use E-Marco (as I have in the past), I would only cement about 2 or 3-rocks in groups that fit together. More than that get really heavy to lift out of the tank.

 

[JumboShrimp]

(Second tank re-do currently under construction... most all rocks 'gravity sung-fit', except a couple structures that I had previously E-Marco cemented.)

 

[Wandering Albatross]

A side note/suggestion — make sure you keep the structures you build modular.

In other words, don't glue together a single piece of structure so large and heavy that it's hard to remove from your tank if you need to catch a fish, do tank maintenance, etc...

...or too big to temporarily take out without damaging a lot of coral on it, or neighboring structures.

Oh of course, the tank has a center brace to work around. I’m thinking 4-5 structures that can be set close together, and moved if needed.