Ok, I give up... What is the top secret super glue gel trick?

[lefty o]

On 12/8/2022 at 5:34 AM, Odd Duck said:

Gluing underwater is definitely tricky. By far easier to do over the tank or over the sink, usually with my wood pieces and plants in a sink full of water so the wood stays soaked.

I pick my plant, pick the wood piece that it fits into best, place it, fiddle it until it settles in a spot I like plus it has enough contact surface, then apply tiny dots of glue where the plant should have good contact and press wet plant to wet wood and hold for 10-20 seconds and pray I didn’t get glue on my fingers because that plant will ALWAYS come back off the wood stuck to your fingers. 😆 

I use a worn out thumb forcep (surgical tweezers) to hold the plant sometimes instead of fingers or the glue cap (sometimes both).

Then if I’m holding with fingers, I dunk the whole affair in the water and hold another 10 seconds. Then try to release it and hope you’re not glued on. Tiny dots, tiny dots, tiny dots (I keep telling myself). 😂 If they don’t stick the first time the dots get bigger and bigger and . . .

If you want to tackle underwater gluing, pick your spot carefully.  Be particular about how the rhizome fits against the spot on the piece to receive it, make sure it lays against it with with minimal pressure or flexing of the rhizome.  Make sure there’s nothing in your way, you’re not going to knock something off the tank with your elbow as you make the speed dive, not going to knock great aunt Martha’s picture into the tank, etc, hold the plant exactly how it needs to fit into the spot (a trial run or two on the fit and angle is good), apply glue (NO EXTRA), and dive right in, apply plant, hold 10-20 seconds, very carefully remove fingers, and done.  Or not. 🤣 Partially draining is good. 😆 

no one liked martha anyways!!

[jwcarlson]

To follow-up on this.  I just redid some of my large anubias as they were too close to the light.  And put new higher light plants in their place hygro p-something. 

100% of super gluing done underwater in a full tank and it was SO SO SO much better/easier. 

First one I used a little too much glue, but after that realized it took so much less.  Bigger plants were tougher, but still worked fine. 

Edited January 2, 2023 by jwcarlson

[Odd Duck]

Hygrophila pinnatifida is the name you’re looking for and you’ve done an excellent job gluing them!

They’ll reorient quickly and look terrific!

[Schuyler]

On 12/6/2022 at 7:14 PM, Guppysnail said:

She glued underwater. I’m not that fast. 🤣

Wait... Are you serious? That's something you can do?

On 12/8/2022 at 3:34 AM, Odd Duck said:

If you want to tackle underwater gluing, pick your spot carefully

Oh wow you were serious! Seems pretty brave to even try that in the first place. How did that happen?

[jwcarlson]

Put glue on the plant and bee-line it to where you want it.  Press it to wood/rock for 5-10 seconds.  Voila.  Meanwhile I spent like 90 minutes trying to get eight anubias to stick to the piece of driftwood a month ago when I first made this post. 🤣

And more than half of the dang things still fell off within a week.  I had a super glue tube sitting on top of my discus tank because it was happening so frequently 😄

Edited January 3, 2023 by jwcarlson

[Sphynxfish81]

You should be using gorilla glue gel.  It’s amazing. 

[Odd Duck]

On 1/2/2023 at 9:30 PM, Schuyler said:

Wait... Are you serious? That's something you can do?

Oh wow you were serious! Seems pretty brave to even try that in the first place. How did that happen?

I read about it someplace, then searched for more mentions about it.  Found several discussions about it and gave it a try.  It works just fine but you have to pick your spot carefully and move fairly quickly, be definitive in your placement, and not give up if it doesn’t work well the first time.

[OnlyGenusCaps]

Just saw this thread.  Glad it's been working for you, @jwcarlson! 

If I could make one further suggestion, I would suggest using thick types of superglue, not liquid ones.  BRS has a number of videos on gluing corals to rocks, even underwater.  They also include an epoxy layer in some, but I wouldn't suggest that for plants.  The thick glue should solve a number or problems that have been mentioned here including soaking into dry wood, setting too quickly, etc. 

Lastly, if you are gluing away from your tank, they sell a quick set solution for superglue that is magical!  You add the glue to your surface, put your next thing against the glue, spritz, and in like 3 seconds the glue is as hard as it will get.  Large rocks hold together solidly!  One caution is that I don't know what this wonder elixir is, so were I to use it on plants, I would then rinse the piece off to make sure little to none of it ends up in the tank.  That said, it's clearly safe enough to use on things going in tanks with sensitive corals.  Anyhow, reefer trick I thought might make this all even easier.

And I fully agree that @FlyingFishKeeper's substrate cover suggestion makes things look way, way better!  That's in fact where I use the runny superglue.  Once the thick stuff is set, I add the liquidy stuff back over the top and sprinkle with fine substrate.  Totally hides the shiny glue lines! 

[jwcarlson]

@OnlyGenusCaps I am using gel, I believe the root of the issue was trying to make sure everything was dry based on my initial experience, which was with regular, liquid super glue.  But even with the gel, trying to glue dry is absolutely depressing.  I'm OK with little white spots where the plants are held, it doesn't take too long before the plants cover most things up.  

Sounds like you might be talking about activator.  I could see that being helpful if doing something big.