Building Aquascapes: Glue, Mortar, Putty or Other?

[Bob Weigant]

Im still old school , stack and wedge them together

 

[design.maddie]

I am a stack and pray kind of person. I will be moving to a new house before April 29th and I am going to be using glue. I'll judge this thread as what I use. Great timing.

 

[Richsoar]

In my current project, a rebuild in a 72gal bowfront, because it sprung a leak, I decided to try to "build" a rock scape. I started out trying to use Super Glue, regular house hold stuff and thicker stuff garunteed to work underwater. I found I could never get enough surface area at the contact points to hold the rocks together. I finally achieved success using both epoxy putties and liquid epoxies.

 

[KYnewbee42103]

I love reef welder epoxy from aqua maxx but can’t find it anymore. I heard BRS bought them out but no new branding. I used it to do a overflow insert as a novice it was super easy to use and almost instant as well as super strong!

 

[Eldritch_blast]

Spent like 75 hours blending BRS’s and Tidal Gardens methods using superglue and mortar. These are 3 large structures, I’ve been stacking a bit on them while trying to find a good home for frags.

They are solid af. Can pick any of them up from just about anywhere although I only stress tested them enough to know they’re not gonna crash. Didn’t want to find out what would actually break it.

Also, please ignore that ugly wire going up wall in back it’s an Ethernet cable running upstairs when it’s time to get good download speeds. Is not to be associated with the work I put into tank cord management

 

[Alenya]

I use vandex plug, which is an almost instant setting cement mortar. I can build extremely quickly with it. Your mmv as its too easy to add too much water which gives you weak cement. It takes a bit to get the hang of it, but I can literally build as fast as I can go with it.

 

[Timfish]

I realized a long time ago reef systems should live a long, long time and aquascaping needs to be changed/adapted for the animals as they grow. I might use soem kind of adhesive for small applications but for overall aquascaping I'm going to drill the rock with diamond bits and pin it together with PVC or fiberglass rods so the aquascaping can be dissasembled and adjusted when necessary.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

I have used Cheap Wire Ties that don’t have the metal locking tab. After a several months the rocks are fused together. I cut the wire tie and remove it, if it’s not too buried.

 

[ATC]

I use super glue gel to get them locked together then I spread a thin layer of glue at the joint and put dry rock I turned into powder with a coffee grinder at the joint the joints completely disappear. Makes for an epic scape.

 

[LeBon]

various consistencies of cyanoacrylate. Usually 'not reef branded' and economical.
Small amount of mortar. Usually aquaforest which dries super fast and is pale in colour.I dont like purple-painted rock.
I use carbon rods which I prefer to 'plastic' and can be relatively thinner

 

[Aquanic]

In my most recent tank i used clear acrylic rods and super glue to form my aquascape. So far the acrylic rods has been super strong, so i feel more comfortable relying on a mechanical structure rather than an adhesive. The super glue helps keep some more precarious rocks balanced right. Although some of the rods are visible rn, them being clear helps and I'm thinking that eventually it'll all be covered in coraline or coral. To make it, I drilled a hole through the rock and stacked them on one another with the rod going through it and then glued a small rock on top to cover the hole and top of the rod. It made some interesting ledges and caves in the rocks

 

[mattybecks]

Cable ties

 

[lucyretz]

ecotech glue. i live and die by it. so many people have told me it’s a money grab but it’s the only glue i’ve ever used that sets almost instantly and adheres like concrete. i’ve tried so many different ones from dollar store gel super glue, gorilla glue, all sorts of puttys. nothing like it

 

[umlang]

I have a narrow 55 gal. I used thick-gel glue, and reinforced the joints with 2-part epoxy. I then used thin glue and rock dust to cover the joints.

 

[FishReefer]

Since I tried the thin super glue and sand method, I will use that. It holds so well and can be done on live rock easily and quickly.
I have used the marco stuff, and many of the putties. None work as well and as quickly. Otherwise, I stack.

Have you ever used super glue to adhere live rock to the back wall?

 

[FishReefer]

Sorry, I should have been more clear. I wasn't doubting the effectiveness of the glue method. I have used it myself with great success. I was specifically challenging the idea that putty is only good when it's wet, when in fact the opposite seems to be true. I would only use putty on fresh dry rock. For anything that's already wet I've had much better results with super glue.

Have you ever used super glue to adhere live rock to the back wall?

 

[juarec0201]

Anyone use harbor freights epoxy stick?

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

Made in China, no quality control, no thanks. Why not use the Epoxy Sticks, sold by an Aquarium Company?

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

“Have you ever used super glue to adhere live rock to the back wall?”

It Works on the Plastic, on the Overflow, but not so well on the Glass. This after throughly cleaning the glass with a pad, razor Blade, and back to the pad. My 120 build, I took some large Frag Plugs, snapped the stem off, using a deep well socket. Used a Course File to flatten the underside. Glued them on in a Dry Aquarium. With Aquarium Silicone. Used Blue Masking Tape, to keep them from sliding down.

 

[juarec0201]

Made in China, no quality control, no thanks. Why not use the Epoxy Sticks, sold by an Aquarium Company?

I had to order online and came across their super glue gel and epoxy stick. Weird thing is the super glue gel looks decent but says made in China. The epoxy stick says made in the US. But your correct, I can’t find any manufacturer info on it.