Your thoughts and suggestions

[bguile]

Hey all,

I hope I'm posting in the right place now since I no longer have fish only in my tank. Quick description...12g Nano, LR, 2 true Percs, 2 Emerald crabs, 2 hermit crabs, 4 mex. blue leg crabs and 1 turbo snail. I've just added small "frags" of zoo's (3), two different types, a mushroom and a Ricordia. They all came with little rocks or SHELLS that they were attached to..(some of you already know where Im going with this). The problem is, when I come back a few hours later my corals have been moved somewhere else. I suspect that they've been moved by the hermit crabs interested in the shells that they came attached to so they drag them off around the tank...at least I caught one doing just that to the one the mushroom was connected to.

Would you suggest I remove the crabs to another location until they've had a chance to attach themselves to the LR? Or would you suggest glueing the rocks/shells they came with to my LR?

[Reefland]

I would glue them down to the liverock where you want them to be permanently placed. The fact that the crabs are interested in them may be a sign to get rid of them though.

[Sueet]

The fact that the crabs are interested probably means you need to put some other shells that will be easier for them to get into in your tank..... They should always have new shells to grow into, otherwise they will die.

[bguile]

I figured they'd need more shells to chose from since I saw a couple of them harassing each other, so when I added the corals I added the shells. They seem to just play around with them a little bit, then go about their business and I have different sized shells. I may look into gluing the stuff down cause I dont want to intentionally kill anything I've put in the tank. Any recommendations on what I should use that wont harm the tank?

[Sueet]

I figured they'd need more shells to chose from since I saw a couple of them harassing each other, so when I added the corals I added the shells. They seem to just play around with them a little bit, then go about their business and I have different sized shells. I may look into gluing the stuff down cause I dont want to intentionally kill anything I've put in the tank. Any recommendations on what I should use that wont harm the tank?

I use superglue gel .... any kind except the "krazy glue" brand should work just fine.

[Reefland]

Any Cyanoacrylate Super Glue will work, find something that is thick gel or labled as "No-Run" for the best results. Michelle picks us up several tubes at Wal-Mart.

[bguile]

Thanks.

[bguile]

I just located a bottle of Loctite that I happened to have. This is safe to use???? Or do I need one specifically for aquariums?

[Reefland]

You need to find a Cyanoacrylate super glue gel. Loctite makes some but you need to make sure what you have is Cyanoacrylate, it will say so specifically on the back. Anything that is watery is going to be difficult to apply as well which is why the gel has been mentioned.

[bguile]

It does. First line says "Warning: Contains cyanoacrylate". The front says QuickTite Super Glue Gel. Well, I came home and again my ricordia, mushroom and zoo's aren't where I left them. So i guess I'll see about gluing them down to the rock. I take it that since it's in a gel I can glue them to the rock without taking them out the water? Sorry for the unsure questions but I just want to be careful that Im not ruining the whole thing.

[Sueet]

I take it that since it's in a gel I can glue them to the rock without taking them out the water?

Yes, you can, but it might be easier to be sure the gel goes where you want it, if you pick up the frag and put the glue on it just above the water, and then place it where you want it.

As for the questions... Do not apologize for asking questions. Ever. Asking shows that you care enough to find out the right way to do something BEFORE it ends up being a problem. Only a fool will not ask questions.

[bguile]

Thanks Sueet.

[bguile]

Hey...I started to "attempt" to glue everything down but it seems that the glue turns white and loses its stickyness almost as soon as it hits the water. And of course a few hours later, my ricordia (which I think is about to split...I noticed what looks like a new mouth) is dragged in the CC again. I happened to get lucky with gluing the mushroom down. Am I using too thin a bead of glue or just the wrong kind. Mine is the Loctite in the blue bottle. If I dont get this right the crabs are in the doghouse tonight...actually it'll be a plastic bowl sitting outside the tank.

[Reefland]

When I glue a frag to a rock that is in the tank and unremoveable, I take out the frag and dab it dry where the glue is going to be applied, apply a good amount of glue (a ball between the size of a pea to a grape depending on the frag size) and then quickly put it in the spot to be glue. As soon as the glue hits the water it will glaze up so you have to move the frag around a bit to bust the glaze and make sure the glue is adhereing.

[bguile]

Thanks for the description Scott. I ended up putting about that much to "try" to glue down my zoos and was thinking that I was doing it wrong. So I pulled my crazed ball out. I'll give it another shot.