Using superglue...

[Martin]

Hey gang,

Had a couple questions about using superglue to attach plants.  I did it once before but had to go back and chip away the excess due to that bright white look...

1.  Does that white look only occur when it is exposed to water before drying completely or does it dry like that regardless?

2.  Assuming it only dries white when exposed to water, how long does it need to dry before being "safe" to submerse, thereby avoiding it turning white?

I had wanted to attach the plants to the wood and let it sit out until it was safe to submerse, but I don't know how long that would be and didn't want to risk drying out the plants.  Thank you all in advance!

Martin

[Tihshho]

Water acts as a catalyst for most cyanoacrylate based super glues. It will turn white when exposed to water more often then not, I believe there a few brands that wont.

The thing about it is, give it time and it will fade away with algae growth as well as when your plants grow, the white will end up hidden. 

[Ragnarok12]

In my experience, it always turns white no matter what. I did just find this article though, so maybe take a look and try some of these techniques if you really care about it not showing the white residue.

[Patrick_G]

It always turns white for me when I’m attaching wet plants. I give it a few min before submersing it. For dry hardscape I give 30-60 min and then test it to make sure it’s a good bond. 

[lefty o]

pretty much always going to turn white. use it sparingly when gluing plants to items, and over time you wont see it any more.

[Odd Duck]

What @lefty o said, use sparingly since more glue doesn’t necessarily hold better.  Place tiny dots in carefully selected places.  I try to find a spot on the wood or rock where the rhizome fits without pressure, place a couple careful dots, and stop.

It doesn’t always work, but there’s usually minimal glue visible.  Sometimes they just won’t freaking stick no matter what.  I usually resort to picking off the glue and trying a different spot.

[lefty o]

On 9/3/2021 at 9:04 PM, Odd Duck said:

What @lefty o said, use sparingly since more glue doesn’t necessarily hold better.  Place tiny dots in carefully selected places.  I try to find a spot on the wood or rock where the rhizome fits without pressure, place a couple careful dots, and stop.

It doesn’t always work, but there’s usually minimal glue visible.  Sometimes they just won’t freaking stick no matter what.  I usually resort to picking off the glue and trying a different spot.

there are always those plants that defy every effort to glue.

[Odd Duck]

On 9/3/2021 at 9:15 PM, lefty o said:

there are always those plants that defy every effort to glue.

Truth!

[Jungle Fan]

On 9/3/2021 at 1:56 PM, Patrick_G said:

It always turns white for me when I’m attaching wet plants. I give it a few min before submersing it. For dry hardscape I give 30-60 min and then test it to make sure it’s a good bond. 

For dry hardscape it's best to use some small bits of filter wool soaked with superglue in between the hardscape pieces that are to be fused, the resulting bond is much stronger than as if it were done with just superglue. The trick is to apply it so the white color doesn't show once the superglue hardens. Of course you can always apply some moss to the bond and cover it up that way.

 

[Jungle Fan]

On 9/3/2021 at 8:15 PM, lefty o said:

there are always those plants that defy every effort to glue.

Where there is superglue, there is a way! If you are applying the new plant to an already immersed piece of rock, or wood I always dry it off a bit with a paper towel and then apply the glue and add the plant which I also first patted dry with a piece of paper towel, followed by a quick squirt of water from a spray bottle to help the glue set faster. It might be frustrating at first but once you get the hang of it there really is no easier aquarium plant planting than this.