Epoxy Problems

[Marinus]

Hello,

I'm setting up my first real reef aquarium but I'm having some trouble with the epoxy. I'm using AquaStik Stone Grey epoxy. I'm building my aquascape outside on the patio to try to keep the rock dust and superglue fumes out of the house. The other day when I was working on it the temperature was only around 55-60°F outside. I have let the epoxy cure for a few days but unfortunately it's still soft and brittle. Was the epoxy too cold to mix or cure properly? Does anyone know if my future inverts or rock picking fish will ingest these particles of epoxy or if this can leach chemicals into the aquarium? Should I buy some new rocks and start over?

Thanks for your help!

 

[shakacuz]

did you use the sandwich method? super glue, epoxy, superglue? as in, super glue the spot on the rock, place the epoxy over, then dab super glue on the epoxy and stick to other rock. you can also try putting baking soda over to help harden the glue once in place.

edit: also, welcome aboard the r2r board. hello from PA!

 

[Marinus]

I built most of the structure using super glue only, then about an hour later I went over the joints with epoxy to reinforce them. I used insta-set on the super glue.

 

[Uncle99]

That stuff never seems to hard set for me.
Now I use Gorilla Glue Gel and rockwork contact points. Super strong.

Fish not going to eat that, keep those rocks.

 

[Marinus]

Thanks for your replies! So the superglue gel is plenty strong enough without additional epoxy? (I'm using BRS superglue gel) I'm glad I can keep the rocks, I'll just chip off the epoxy.

 

[DanyL]

When gluing rocks - the cyanoacrylate (thin/gel) is used solely so you could stick the rocks together temporarily, while applying the epoxy over it as the final connection.

So, it’s an optional step, and I wouldn’t rely on it alone.

As for the epoxy itself, I always used AquaMend, which is both cheap, reef safe and hard as rock when cured.

 

[Marinus]

That's good advice DanyL, and I'll look up that brand of Epoxy

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Putty is very brittle, more for holding frags than for holding rocks together. Reef cement is much stronger for large jobs, super glue gel for small jobs.

 

[Marinus]

Thanks Mr. Mojo Rising, can you please recommend a brand of Reef cement so I can compare?