super glueing plants???

[Magnum Man45 159]

I’ve never done this, A) it just doesn’t seem right to add something like this to a fish tank, and B) I don’t understand how to do it… don’t all the surfaces have to be dry??? so, do you paper towel dry the rhyzome of the plant to a dry ornament??? it would seem that the rhyzome’s “skin” wouldn’t hold the plant in place very well… I typically wrap some lead free solder around the rhyzome for weight, or a small clear zip tie, to attach…

I have some ceramic cichlid caves , I would like to try to attach some java fern to, if I thought they would stay on the cave, and neither of my normal attaching methods would work on those…

thoughts on the glueing???

 

[Tomsfish3 2]

Super glue cures faster in water.
The chemistry works in your favour: cyanoacrylate cures via moisture polymerisation, meaning water actually accelerates the bond. A gel bead applied to a dry piece of driftwood or stone will cure almost instantly when the piece is submerged. The resulting polymer is inert, non-toxic, and stable across the pH and temperature ranges of virtually all freshwater and marine aquariums
You want the right kind of super glue.
Cyanoacrylate adhesive — sold under dozens of brand names as super glue or Krazy Glue.
No need to buy overpriced 'plant' glues.
Look for gel.

 

[Rusty_Shackleford44 159]

Yep I've done it. The cyanoacrylate gel is what you're looking for. It's totally safe and your plants should stay attached for a year plus which gives them plenty of time to attach themselves.
When it comes to rhizomes like Anubias, you want to glue the little root "hairs" rather than the rhizome itself.

 

[FattyFish]

I've stuck loads of plants to wood, rocks, etc. I also used it when keeping Marine corals to stick corals to rocks, etc.
I do find the gel version is a little easier to use for sticking plants.

 

[Ed Pursell24 29]

Agree with all the above, used it for years, get Gorilla Glue Gel, the Gel is easier to use..And when I used it, run some water over it to start the curing process, the plop it into the tank. Never had any issues, the thread is ok, but I found it was easier with a dab of the glue.
Ed

 

[Back in the fold2 1]

Not a fan of gluing plants at all . It’s just weird .

 

[fishthatfit]

Depends whether those caves are glazed. Unglazed ceramic is porous like rock and the gel will hold to it fine. On a glaze there's nothing for it to key into, which is where you get a bead letting go with the plant still stuck to it.

If they are glazed, scuff the patch with coarse sandpaper first. Cotton thread is the other way round it, and it doesn't care what the surface is: it rots off in a month or two and the fern has rooted on by then.

 

[Magnum Man45 159]

I assume, it’s some sort of aquarium safe “paint” , it’s definitely not a glaze… they have the feel of 1st fired ( unglazed ) pottery

 

[seangee16 1]

Just be aware that it dries white - so use sparingly and think about what will be on display

 

[TwoTankAmin38]

I do not glue plants and have never tried doing so. It took me a while to figure out what, for me, proved to be the best method for attaching rhisome plants to things. I have now been using nylon wire ties always black, to attack these plants to anything including caves.

Wire ties come om all sizes and colors. Since most of my plants get attached to Malaysian wood which is a very dark brown, the ties are hard to spot. They acan also be ganged together to make loner ones. I always prune of the excess when using them.

Of course like everything we do in tanks they also have a downside. For the wire ties is that over time they can get brittle and break. But other methods I used failed faster and looked uglier. As my plants grow I often have to prune them which means removing and then reattaching them. Every plant in the 150 gal. picture below is attached to the wood using wire ties.

The same is true for all the anubias and ferns in this 75 gal.

 

[fishthatfit]

If it is paint rather than glaze then the glue is bonding to the paint, not the pot, so the thing that lets go first is the paint layer. Scuffing still helps, you just want to go through the paint to the clay underneath rather than only roughing the surface.

 

[Magnum Man45 159]

so with rhizome plants, I typically do a loose ( snug, but not tight enough to damage the rhizome on the plant ) wrap of lead free solder, and plunk the plants in place, and let the roots do their thing… I have 2 ceramic tree stump pots, that I’ll be placing on the black sand patch, that I’ll be doing the plant weight thing… but my 6 plants are in route, to deliver Monday, before the 1st fish arrive…