Hot glue, super glue or other suggestions

[Guppysnail]

My new adventure I’m starting requires I have a cave off floor level. I’m doing a chunk of mopani that a terra cotta can sort of sit on top but not secure enough. How to affix the pot to the top. My screw driver won’t fit inside the pot it to small so I can’t drill it. 
 

Suggestions or which would hold better long term. Super glue does tend to hold l more than a few months on terra cotta but maybe if I sit it just so?  
 

Thank you for your brainstorming help. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Can you put an upside down pot on the bottom, then put your cave pot on that.  Zip tie them together through the little holes, then turn the ziptie part to the back of the tank so the tie is not visible?

I also saw this for ghost knives, but I don't know if there are any other colors.

https://www.chewy.com/lees-aquarium-pets-ghost-house/dp/551142?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign={campaignid}&utm_content=Lee's Aquarium %26 Pets&utm_term={keyword}

[Guppysnail]

On 9/1/2022 at 9:19 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Can you put an upside down pot on the bottom, then put your cave pot on that.  Zip tie them together through the little holes, then turn the ziptie part to the back of the tank so the tie is not visible?

I could but the wood is essential and must be there. I won’t have the floor space

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

How about fishing line?

[Guppysnail]

On 9/1/2022 at 9:24 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

How about fishing line?

No. I’ve had critters get caught so I quit using fishing line. It was a hard lesson. I’m looking for and adhesive or clip. But thank you. Your creative ideas are great. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

How about if you put some larger rocks around it so it props it up into position?

Or try silicone.  Longer cure time, as we know..

Edited September 1, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Or ziptie.  

Or airline tubing.  Fit one end into the other (may require a little bit of heat on the end to become pliable).

[Odd Duck]

The aquascapers (salt and fresh) use pieces of new cigarette filters (apparently you can buy them on Amazon), and use liquid superglue, to add more surface area to where pieces of wood or rock are joined together.  The filter is stuffed in there, the pieces held where they are wanted, then the glue dripped into place to join everything.  They then use color matching dust - crushed aqua soil, sand, powdery sawdust, crushed coral, etc, to match the color of whatever they’re bonding, and sprinkle it over the filter/glue to stick to the glue and match it so the glue disappears.  Sometimes they add more glue just to make more dust stick to cover the filter part better.

If you used a combination of techniques - rock or wood pieces around the cave/hide to stabilize it, and glued it all together using the filter bits for greater contact surface area, then your superglue should hold better.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 9/1/2022 at 9:46 AM, Odd Duck said:

The aquascapers (salt and fresh) use pieces of new cigarette filters (apparently you can buy them on Amazon), and use liquid superglue, to add more surface area to where pieces of wood or rock are joined together.  The filter is stuffed in there, the pieces held where they are wanted, then the glue dripped into place to join everything.  They then use color matching dust - crushed aqua soil, sand, powdery sawdust, crushed coral, etc, to match the color of whatever they’re bonding, and sprinkle it over the filter/glue to stick to the glue and match it so the glue disappears.  Sometimes they add more glue just to make more dust stick to cover the filter part better.

If you used a combination of techniques - rock or wood pieces around the cave/hide to stabilize it, and glued it all together using the filter bits for greater contact surface area, then your superglue should hold better.

If no cigarette filters available, I wonder if filter floss can be used instead?

[Guppysnail]

On 9/1/2022 at 9:46 AM, Odd Duck said:

The aquascapers (salt and fresh) use pieces of new cigarette filters (apparently you can buy them on Amazon), and use liquid superglue, to add more surface area to where pieces of wood or rock are joined together.  The filter is stuffed in there, the pieces held where they are wanted, then the glue dripped into place to join everything.  They then use color matching dust - crushed aqua soil, sand, powdery sawdust, crushed coral, etc, to match the color of whatever they’re bonding, and sprinkle it over the filter/glue to stick to the glue and match it so the glue disappears.  Sometimes they add more glue just to make more dust stick to cover the filter part better.

If you used a combination of techniques - rock or wood pieces around the cave/hide to stabilize it, and glued it all together using the filter bits for greater contact surface area, then your superglue should hold better.

Now I remember seeing a thread with a link to the cigarette trick. This hopefully will work just right. I have the dust from my coconut coir worm culture media to color it. Do you remember the name of the how to video?

On 9/1/2022 at 9:50 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

If no cigarette filters available, I wonder if filter floss can be used instead?

Filter floss does not melt.  I super glue it to worm lids. 

On 9/1/2022 at 9:36 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Or try silicone.  Longer cure time, as we know..

This will be a go to if the filters don’t work. Thanks. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

 

 

cigarette filters @ 6:33

 

[Guppysnail]

On 9/1/2022 at 10:06 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

 

 

cigarette filters @ 6:33

 

You rock!  Thank you 🤗

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Also you can put that video on a slower speed if you click settings.  She goes a bit fast with it.

[Odd Duck]

On 9/1/2022 at 8:51 AM, Guppysnail said:

Now I remember seeing a thread with a link to the cigarette trick. This hopefully will work just right. I have the dust from my coconut coir worm culture media to color it. Do you remember the name of the how to video?

I’ve seen it on a few.  Aquashella Dallas had a livestream that was recorded so that’s probably still up.  It was showing a contest between 2 that were doing saltwater scapes.  I know I’ve seen it with freshwater scapes, too, using crushed aquasoil.  I can’t remember exactly who it was since I’ve watched several.  Might have been George Farmer, or on ADA’s vid list, or one of Buce Plants’ videos.  I don’t even know how many vids I’ve watched on aquascaping. There’s a couple Josh Sims vids that are fantastic, but I don’t remember if I’ve seen him do the filter trick.  I’m sure I’ve seen it at least a few times on ADA vids.

[rockfisher]

Underwater 2 part epoxy should hold for many years.

[nabokovfan87]

I would use silicone and let it cure.  I can't say it's permanent, but I've seen some reports of chemical issues with hot glue and I don't think superglue will hold that long term. The wood itself gets the film on it and it's slightly easy to break off the outer layer / glue.  I would try to anchor something into the wood to adhere it to.  The other option is 3d printed items and suction cups on the glass.

[rockfisher]

J-B Weld 8277 WaterWeld Epoxy Putty Stick - 2 oz. https://a.co/d/06q8cPR

[Guppysnail]

On 9/1/2022 at 4:39 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I would use silicone and let it cure.  I can't say it's permanent, but I've seen some reports of chemical issues with hot glue and I don't think superglue will hold that long term. The wood itself gets the film on it and it's slightly easy to break off the outer layer / glue.  I would try to anchor something into the wood to adhere it to.  The other option is 3d printed items and suction cups on the glass.

I actually tried the silicone last year. It holds even less time than superglue. 

On 9/1/2022 at 4:53 PM, rockfisher said:

J-B Weld 8277 WaterWeld Epoxy Putty Stick - 2 oz. https://a.co/d/06q8cPR

Oh this sounds like good stuff. Does it turn white or look funny on messy spots. I’m VERY messy and things usually involve me glued to it in several spots. 🤣

[rockfisher]

On 9/1/2022 at 5:12 PM, Guppysnail said:

I actually tried the silicone last year. It holds even less time than superglue. 

Oh this sounds like good stuff. Does it turn white or look funny on messy spots. I’m VERY messy and things usually involve me glued to it in several spots. 🤣

It is white. A little goes a long way. There are some that are clear like this one but is way more expensive.

Aquarium Safe Epoxy Resin - MAX ACR A/B for Coating Casting Strong Glue Fiberglassing Resin, for Making Plywood Aquarium & Terrarium, Concrete Coating & Sealant for Koi Ponds, Fresh Or Saltwater Use https://a.co/d/6DsEfVE 

superglue would but much less expensive. As for the clear epoxy you can probably find it in smaller sizes other Amazon.

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/1/2022 at 2:12 PM, Guppysnail said:

I actually tried the silicone last year. It holds even less time than superglue.

Makes sense. I had a similar issue with the tidal. I posted in there on prepping the surface / adhesion holes, etc.  I would use Stainless hooks or something (very small) to thread into the wood and then use those as your anchor for whatever adhesive you use.  You could try L-brackets as well. For attachment on the wood it's underwater, rotting, so it's difficult to keep stuff attached.

I can't really find a good example of bracket / epoxy method, but here's one that shows off the epoxy holes design.  This is from an undersink mounting epoxy attachment bracket design.

[BlueLineAquaticsSC]

You could use expanding foam to hold it in place. You could even ditch the pot and make a cave out of the foam.

[Guppysnail]

It’s non toxic and won’t break down in tank water?

[BlueLineAquaticsSC]

On 9/1/2022 at 6:15 PM, Guppysnail said:

It’s non toxic and won’t break down in tank water?

Im not sure if all of it is, you’d have to check. I’ve used “Great Stuff” expanding foam from Lowes without any issue, Serpae Design uses this a lot. They is even expanding foam for ponds if you want to play it safe.

Here is a link form one of Tazawa’s videos of using it to make a background