Slate to hold wood down?

[Nanci B]

Someone in another thread mentioned wood in their new tank would not stay in the bottom of the tank. 
Can you use slate tiles from the flooring department from Home Depot/Lows to screw the wood to? 
 

TIA
 

 

[Flumpweesel]

Yes you can. Make sure the screws are stainless.

 

[Nanci B]

@Flumpweesel Thanks for the clarification! 

[Rusty Sprinkler]

Also, nylon screws are available at hardware / home improvement stores and work very good.

[Nanci B]

@Flumpweesel, @Rusty Sprinkler 

 

thanks for the screw warning. I also saw another video from a well know aquascaper, and he used superglue. Anyone use superglue? 

[Goosedub]

I have done it using stainless screws. Never tried superglue. The screws work well. You can buy a tile bit at the hardware store and screwing the wood to the slate is really easy after that. 

[Nanci B]

On 8/3/2022 at 8:19 AM, Goosedub said:

I have done it using stainless screws. Never tried superglue. The screws work well. You can buy a tile bit at the hardware store and screwing the wood to the slate is really easy after that. 

I am considering superglue because some of my manzanita branches have a small diameter and I am afraid it would crack if drilled.  

[Brandxn]

I’d buy special super glue from a pet store, Petsmart/Petco, I don’t know how safe normal super glue will be for your fish. 

[Nanci B]

@Brandxn yes I know the proper type of superglue that is fish/aquarium safe. Thanks! 

[Flumpweesel]

I think glue can be limited against the pull of larger pieces and often just gives up over time the trick is if it will last long enough for wood to get water logged 

certainly no harm in trying 

 

[lefty o]

i think the stainless or nylon screws are a great idea, but to be perfectly honest, i just use drywall screws, and ive had some in a tank for 10+ years before taking out and breaking it down, and the screws looked like new, no rust  etc. if your tank strays far from 7ph, it may become more important.

[Nanci B]

On 8/3/2022 at 9:24 AM, Flumpweesel said:

I think glue can be limited against the pull of larger pieces and often just gives up over time the trick is if it will last long enough for wood to get water logged 

certainly no harm in trying 

 

Good point. These are exceptional light dry branches.  I am going to take one to Home Depot to show a staff member and get opinions on what size screws would be a good fit. Also, on the superglue video, the author was also putting in other branches into the mix horizontally, so by those might be a good choice for the superglue particularly if the wood pieces are kind of woven and stuck between other pieces that are screwed in. 

On 8/3/2022 at 9:26 AM, lefty o said:

i think the stainless or nylon screws are a great idea, but to be perfectly honest, i just use drywall screws, and ive had some in a tank for 10+ years before taking out and breaking it down, and the screws looked like new, no rust  etc. if your tank strays far from 7ph, it may become more important.

My pH sometimes reaches 8. So I am not sure if drywall screws are better in acidic water or alkaline water. Which one would be problematic? Alkaline? 

[lefty o]

On 8/3/2022 at 10:30 AM, Nanci B said:

Good point. These are exceptional light dry branches.  I am going to take one to Home Depot to show a staff member and get opinions on what size screws would be a good fit. Also, on the superglue video, the author was also putting in other branches into the mix horizontally, so by those might be a good choice for the superglue particularly if the wood pieces are kind of woven and stuck between other pieces that are screwed in. 

My pH sometimes reaches 8. So I am not sure if drywall screws are better in acidic water or alkaline water. Which one would be problematic? Alkaline? 

idk, if not near 7ph, id opt for one of the other choices, even a blob of pure silicone sealant would hold wood to slate.

[Brandon p]

On 8/3/2022 at 11:17 AM, Brandxn said:

I’d buy special super glue from a pet store, Petsmart/Petco, I don’t know how safe normal super glue will be for your fish. 

Regular super glue is fine it the same as at the pet store. Use the the gel type super glue then using because it drys different but perfectly safe

[Nanci B]

@Brandon p Yep I have the correct kind. I actually just heard a hack from another YouTuber (won’t mention name because I can’t remember if that’s allowed). She recently heard about an aquascaping tip she learned at a big conference. There is a product that is a 2 step process with a regular gel superglue and then a second product that sets the superglue much quicker than normal. 
 

so I will use that after using the gel superglue. I will try and remember to take pictures before I put it in the tank. Due to the massive algae attack (all my fault of course) I took all hardscape out of tank and will be trying the RR protocol. So once again I am aquascaping backwards with fish (but not very many nano fish in the tank. 😂 

Maybe now is the time to start a tank journal. 75 gallon 2.0 

[lefty o]

On 8/3/2022 at 4:16 PM, Nanci B said:

@Brandon p Yep I have the correct kind. I actually just heard a hack from another YouTuber (won’t mention name because I can’t remember if that’s allowed). She recently heard about an aquascaping tip she learned at a big conference. There is a product that is a 2 step process with a regular gel superglue and then a second product that sets the superglue much quicker than normal. 
 

so I will use that after using the gel superglue. I will try and remember to take pictures before I put it in the tank. Due to the massive algae attack (all my fault of course) I took all hardscape out of tank and will be trying the RR protocol. So once again I am aquascaping backwards with fish (but not very many nano fish in the tank. 😂 

Maybe now is the time to start a tank journal. 75 gallon 2.0 

you want to know the secret of making superglue set fast?.... get it wet. thats right, water will speed the cure time up to almost instant.

[Brandon p]

On 8/3/2022 at 9:32 PM, lefty o said:

you want to know the secret of making superglue set fast?.... get it wet. thats right, water will speed the cure time up to almost instant.

I’m in sure if I have ever glued anything dry for my tanks. I like to normally to se how things look in the water first and then take it out and glue. 

[Nanci B]

@lefty o That’s a good idea. 

[Nanci B]

@Brandon pI do understand that, but because the wood hasn’t been up in any water for months it’s not going to stay anywhere. Normally I set up all the hardscape outside with a fake background, some substrate and set it all up and rearrange it several times. But the tank has fish in it. So I am going to have to do a version of this but it will definitely be weird

 

 

[evilgenius]

Best of luck on your project. Getting hardscape to stay where you want it to can be super frustrating. All of the 5 big upright pieces of wood in the image below are attached to ceramic tiles with stainless steel screws. I tried glue and silicone but they didn't work for me. In the end I had to drill the tiles twice because the first hole was too small for the screws I was using, of course.

 

[Brandon p]

On 8/4/2022 at 5:37 PM, Nanci B said:

@Brandon pI do understand that, but because the wood hasn’t been up in any water for months it’s not going to stay anywhere. Normally I set up all the hardscape outside with a fake background, some substrate and set it all up and rearrange it several times. But the tank has fish in it. So I am going to have to do a version of this but it will definitely be weird

 

 

Sorry I should have said I was replying to lefty o. It works if you glue dry and then pul water on it it sets faster. I did it today. I had the u that goes over the edge of the tank for a canister filter so I glued it and dunked it in water for a few minutes.

[Nanci B]

@evilgenius I love your tank! It reminds me of a primordial world with those massive “trees” spread throughout the tank and that beautiful anubias on the far left in the back! What did you use for the background? That is where the word primordial popped into my head as if dawn was coming over the horizon and the viewer is treated to a sight that very few get to see. Nice! 🤩

[evilgenius]

On 8/7/2022 at 12:47 AM, Nanci B said:

@evilgenius I love your tank! It reminds me of a primordial world with those massive “trees” spread throughout the tank and that beautiful anubias on the far left in the back! What did you use for the background? That is where the word primordial popped into my head as if dawn was coming over the horizon and the viewer is treated to a sight that very few get to see. Nice! 🤩

Thanks a lot. It's my favorite tank right now. I'm using the Background Kit from CurrentUSA. It was a birthday gift from my wife.

[ACW]

I'm surprised this got such a discussion going--Super Glue Gel (cyanoacrylate) is sold at AquariumCoop.com in the aquascaping section, so yeah, fish-safe.

I've used it for sticking wood to rocks and sticking plants to wood or rocks, and it works great. For small sticks, it really only takes a small dab to hold them down until they waterlog. It doesn't dry clear, so try to hide the glue points as best you can.

[Odd Duck]

It’s perfectly safe to use superglue.  For me, the concern is how fast the wood will rot away from the glue (or screws).  Some woods rot so fast that the piece comes away from the slate before the center gets waterlogged, then it’s right back to floating.  Most will hold until the piece is waterlogged but can still separate at a later date. Which is why I recommend screwing the wood to the slate/tile to keep it in place longer and more permanently.