Best product/method to bond rocks together?

[techhnyne]

I was using JB waterweld but its hit or miss if it actually sticks to the rock. superglue hasnt worked for me either

i used cement once long ago but im curious any strong fast cure methods out there?

 

[Thumbster]

Wet or dry rock?

 

[srobertb]

I was using JB waterweld but its hit or miss if it actually sticks to the rock. superglue hasnt worked for me either

i used cement once long ago but im curious any strong fast cure methods out there?

 

[srobertb]

JB water weld (and its reef-branded equivalents) conforms to rock and things but doesn’t bond rock well. I have had mixed results too. It can make stacking rocks form-fit to each other and you can wrap it around coral frags….but it’s easy to break off; that’s not always bad.

The product you want is E-Marco 400. But be careful. I used it to make 3, 100lbs islands in my last aquarium. Solid as a…rock. Then it sprang a leak and at 11:30 at night I was trying to frantically remove and rehome giant fused rocks. It is incredibly permanent. You will need a hammer to break it apart.

Even in my new tank I thought I was being clever and made some “light” 30-40lb structures (I’m a 6’7” guy who deadlifts 600-700lbs). The plan was to assemble them in-tank using acrylic rods and water weld to hide the rods. Even lifting the 30-40lb pieces into a 25” tall tank was a pain. Glass changes everything when you know a single drop could cost you $5k and months of time.

 

[Weasel1960]

Saw a demonstration of Sea Tak at Reefapalooza in Chicago. Stuff seemed to work pretty well whether rock was wet or dry. I have not done any rock work as yet but planning on using this once it goes on the market. It may have done so by now, not sure.

 

[techhnyne]

Wet or dry rock?

Dryrock

 

[FoolishWizard]

Superglue and accelerator has always made my dry rock structures as solid as can be.

 

[Thumbster]

I just (last month) started up a tank again after ten plus years away. I had kept all my rock from the last tank and reused it in this one. It was dry obviously.

I watched a bunch of videos on aquascaping and guys using super glue to make small rocks into big rocks. I had never used this method previously and it felt wrong smashing some of the rocks I had with a hammer.

I was kind of excited as this opened up a whole new realm of possibilities for aquascaping vs just stacking rocks.

I had everything laid out ready to go and put two rocks together with super glue. I held it for a few seconds, and it promptly fell apart. I was a bit discouraged because the vids made it look easy.

I watched a few more vids and saw people using super glue with baking soda. This did not seem logical to me as I have never thought of using those two substances together for any reason whatsoever. But I gave it a shot.

And it worked! Fantastically at that.

I used the cheapest, runniest super glue I could find and some generic brand of baking soda. I held two rocks together, sprinkled some baking soda where they touched, and gave that area a small squirt of super glue. It fused them together instantly. I repeated that process a couple times to the same area and any other place that the rocks touched and it held. Stronger than the rock itself.

To hide the glue joint, which you can see if you’re looking for it, I used some rock dust/bits from the aforementioned broken rock. I squirted some super glue on the glue/baking soda joint and sprinkled the rock dust onto it. It’s nearly invisible.

Edit: Forgot to mention that the rocks have been in my tank for a month now and haven’t fell apart.

 

[Gtinnel]

Like mentioned baking soda and thin superglue will do a great job. You can also use rock dust in the joint with thin superglue and it will hold together well also, and not be quite as obvious as the white baking soda.

I believe Tidal Gardens has a YouTube video about it.