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Silicone or hot glue?


daveb056
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Early in my career I tried using hot glue to attach anubias to things. It didn't hold very well, maybe 1 in 10 kept their hold for over a week. It was an attempt to save money and hot glue was easy to work with. Unfortunately back then I went back to working with super glue gel.  Silicone should work, just takes a longer time to dry.

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One thing to watch for if you go with silicone. The tube in your pic is "mold free". I can't see any details, but I think that refers to their Silicone II product, which I've always read is not aquarium safe. As I understand it, you need their Silicone I product, which has blue and white package. 

[edit... reading closer, and checking online, your tube says "7 years mold free", which appears to align with their silicone 1 or I line. If that's the case, you're good]

Edited by TOtrees
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I often rubber band them to lava rock. Looks not so great, but I find it easier than thread, and once the anubias grabs hold you just snip off the rubber band. 

I hate using super glue, but that works decently as well.

Edited by tolstoy21
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On 11/2/2022 at 1:58 PM, TOtrees said:

One thing to watch for if you go with silicone. The tube in your pic is "mold free". I can't see any details, but I think that refers to their Silicone II product, which I've always read is not aquarium safe. As I understand it, you need their Silicone I product, which has blue and white package. 

[edit... reading closer, and checking online, your tube says "7 years mold free", which appears to align with their silicone 1 or I line. If that's the case, you're good]

Good eye.

I also wanted to note, some others have reported issues with hot glue and some experiences over time.  It might be worth a search on the forums for "hot glue" and see what sticks out.  Based on what I've read it's not something you'd want to use in an aquarium scenario, especially submerged.

On 11/2/2022 at 2:23 PM, daveb056 said:

The product in the tube is GE Silicone II: not sure if it's fish/shrimp safe or not.

It might be.  The MSDS / Ingredients should say 100% Silicone, this one says it at the top on the tube.  If it is the mold resistant one, then no.
 

Quote

What's the difference between GE Silicone 1 sealant and GE Silicone 2® sealant? GE Silicone 2® sealant is what's called a “neutral cure” silicone, which means no acids are released during the curing process (as there are in GE Silicone 1 sealant).

 

Edited by nabokovfan87
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Perfect! That video was exactly what I needed. I began using the GE Silicone I, believing it was fish safe, then started to doubt that halfway thru my build. So glad to know I don't have to start over, or pay for the aquarium branded products. Thanx!!

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Hot glue and  lava rock should work well together due to the porosity of the lava rock.  I hot glued antenna cables to the side of my brick house to avoid drilling holes, and it held for years.

I have used silicone to build decorations, but wasn't happy with the results, or the time required. 

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On 11/2/2022 at 6:14 PM, daveb056 said:

Which would you recommend? Want to build a cave feature out of lava rock. 

s or hg.jpg

Rubber bands work great, but for glueing stuff together my go-to is silicone and the feature is held in place with rubber bands while it dries.

Edited by TheSwissAquarist
Spelingg
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