What's your favorite rock bonding material?

Discussion in 'General Reef Topics' started by s76rick, May 5, 2011.

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  1. s76rick

    s76rick Flamingo Tongue

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    New to this and I was wondering what everyones favorite rock-scaping bonding agent is. What are the pros and cons of different cements and epoxies? i.e. ease of use, least impact on water chemistry and curing times and ability to cure in water etc.
     
    s76rick, May 5, 2011
    s76rick, May 5, 2011
    #1

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  2. saltyfresh

    saltyfresh Corkscrew Tentacle Anemone

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    Wow I forgot the name if I remember tommarrow I will let you know. This stuff is the best! It is a little pricy but well worth it as you don't need a lot if I don't remember shoot me a email as I am glade to help. P.s. Is that a gas RC boat


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    saltyfresh, May 5, 2011
    saltyfresh, May 5, 2011
    #2
  3. saltyfresh

    saltyfresh Corkscrew Tentacle Anemone

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    Never mind it is a helicopter I think


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    saltyfresh, May 5, 2011
    saltyfresh, May 5, 2011
    #3
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  4. gabbagabbawill

    gabbagabbawill Pajama Cardinal

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    gravity and live coral... hehe.

    the smartest thing I've seen people do is drill holes in the rock and push acrylic rods through it. Too much effort for me though, I just stack mine very carefully.
     
    gabbagabbawill, May 5, 2011
    gabbagabbawill, May 5, 2011
    #4
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  5. s76rick

    s76rick Flamingo Tongue

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    Thanks saltyfresh.


    Nope. It's a real helicopter.

    Thanks gabbagabbawill.
     
    s76rick, May 6, 2011
    s76rick, May 6, 2011
    #5
  6. antole

    antole Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

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    I did the acrylic rod thru the rock, after several attempts of other types of glue. The rods work great and make great caves and aquascapes.
     
    antole, May 6, 2011
    antole, May 6, 2011
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  7. rocketmandb

    rocketmandb Ocellaris Clown

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    I prefer threaded nylon rods. Easier to deal with and you can tighten them down with fender washers and nylon nuts. I also supplement with epoxy.
     
    rocketmandb, May 6, 2011
    rocketmandb, May 6, 2011
    #7
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  8. saints fan 420

    saints fan 420 Expensive Colorful Sticks

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    weld 16 i think is the best epoxy to use in a reef tank.. this is what people use to make their sumps, and will easily bond any rock to another rock if u use enough of it...but it is a little pricey for how much u need to really do your rock scape..i think around 5$ a tube
     
    saints fan 420, May 6, 2011
    saints fan 420, May 6, 2011
    #8
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  9. m2434

    m2434 Giant Squid

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    I like zip-ties and epoxy. For me, acrylic rods didn't work well, I used macro rock and it was so porous drilling it just caused it to shatter. Pushing some zip-ties through the holes worked really well though. I don't really have a brand preference for either. For my last build I think I used loctite epoxy for the main structure, but it needs to fully dry before being submerged. For the visible sections, I used the pink two-little fishes epoxy. This can cure underwater.
     
    m2434, May 6, 2011
    m2434, May 6, 2011
    #9
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  10. stepho

    stepho Panda Puffer

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    What?? You really use that to bond your rocks? It dissolves the acrylic which is why its strong for sump but it isn't going to dissolve the rocks. Also it won't cure under water or be safe would it?

    I've used several epoxies and none I have found so far are a good substitute to securely stacking the rock.



    posted with tapatalk please ignore bad spelling and grammar
     
    stepho, May 6, 2011
    stepho, May 6, 2011
    #10
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