epoxy on live rock

[10gnano]

Has anybody used epoxy to piece together live rock? I've searched the world wide web and haven't found a whole lot besides it can be done. I really want to know how sturdy it will be. I've seen it done with dry rock a bunch of times and it holds up fine, but i'm questioning live rock. Will the dampness or bacteria on the rock reduce how well the epoxy will stick the rocks together? What about the epoxy curing in the tank will this have any affect on durability or the tank itself?

 

[N1Husker]

I have used it, I got the kind that has a green outer layer and a white inner core, it looks like putty in a tube. You have to knead it together until it is well mixed into a gray color then you clean off the area of the surface of both rocks your going to stick together with and old clean toothbrush(best to use a cheap new one). I bought it at my LFS. Works good.

 

[jrgilles]

Tagging along. Was thinking about attaching some of my rocks together.

Currently, I was thinking of maybe getting a long drill bit (2-3 foot) and drilling a hole through many rocks right in the tank. Then putting some superglue on a plastic dowel and sticking it through the hole. Thought if I put a few rods through the rockwork like that it would secure it all and allow me to make the rockwork extend higher

rob

 

[user 2204]

I've used a couple of different underwater reef safe epoxy putties and have found that for the most part they don't hold to wet LR all that well. The Aquastik stuff works good for the most part. It did stick 2 pieces of LR together and seemed to hold okay... up until I had to move the rock work and then it came apart from one end. It did hold its shape so I was able to jigsaw puzzle the two lr pieces back together.

Cheers,
Alex

 

[user 2204]

Rob has the best idea and from what I've seen is the safest by far. I would recommend checking out Tap Plastics and get some acrylic doweling. Then take your lr and set it up how you'd like and then try and look for areas where you might be able to drill a hole or two to insert the acrylic dowel for support into the lr.

If your ever over in Bellevue you should swing by Saltwater City as I know they have used acrylic dowels for lr structural use.

 

[user 26995]

The doweling is IMO a better way to connect the rock together. I have often thought about using the epoxy but the more rock you attach to each other, the harder it would be to take it out if you need to remove a piece. You end up with one 50 lb rock instead of 4 or 5 lighter rocks. I wouldnt drill the rocks while in the tank though. I can see that becoming a disaster. You can remove live rock and leave it out of the water long enough to drill it. Have a bucket of saltwater available to put them in after you have drilled it. And again, Tap plastics is a good place to get doweling.

 

[akunochi]

I use great foam to attach rocks. It holds them together, but the rocks can be separated as needed.

 

[10gnano]

I use great foam to attach rocks. It holds them together, but the rocks can be separated as needed.

can this be done on wet rock and then be put back into the tank before it cures?

It looks like most of you would drill versus using the epoxy. The rock work is going to be in a 30 cube so nothing to heavy (plan on doing an open look). I just don't want the rock to break apart if I accidentally bump it during maintenance. I think i'm going to try epoxying a couple pieces together in my 10 gal and see how things hold up.

 

[akunochi]

umm nope sorry I thought you were dry.