[blackandyellow]

Question for people who use the super glue to attach java fern to driftwood. The glue kind of burns when first applied. Won´t it burn my fern´s rizhomes when I glue them?

How is it done? I have a large fern on a driftwood piece but I want to break it into small plants and cover a large piece of wood instead. Right now the driftwood is dry. So from what I understand, I cut pieces of fern from the rizhome including some roots, rizhome and leaves, then glue it to the wood directly? How long should I leave it to dry? Does it matter that the fern is all wet?

Thanks a lot

 

[DragonFish71]

I just use cotton thread to tie it to the log. I'd be worried about adding any chemical to my tanks that isn't made for aquarium use. I've never done any research about using super glue, so I wouldn't know if it is safe.

 

[dthb4438]

I super glued all my rizhomes on the driftwood, let it dry for an hour or so. I put as little as possible on the rizhome, held it down for a few seconds for it to set, dried and all was perfect. At first the leaves died, but after two months, they came back beautifully. Check out my 29 gallon, the narrow leaf java fern. I have to start selling them off it is growing so fast.

 

[smp]

I tied mine with dark gray cotton thread onto a dark gray rock. 2 months later you can't find the thread at all. Simple, easy and "Eco" friendly.

 

[dthb4438]

That's a good way, but sometimes you just don't have enough hands to hold, tie and hold some more while winding the thread. I used to do it that way until I found out that I didn't have 5 hands.

 

[Alpinist]

I've superglued Java fern to some rocks during a water change when the rocks were above water. Just took a paper towel, dried off the spot on the rock as best as I could, blew off as much water as I could off the plant, dropped a drop or two of cyanoacrylate on the rock, placed the plant, held it for about 10 seconds or so, then finished my water change. Less than 5 minutes after the plant was glued it was underwater again with no problems.

I think one important thing to note is to make sure you're gluing the rhizome rather than just some of the roots. You may need to trim some roots back to get at the rhizome.

 

[sewingalot]

Superglue has saved me in several instances! It's fantastic. I do the same as Alpinist. I just tap a towel on the driftwood so it isn't sopping wet, drop a bit of glue on the plant or wood and drop it back in the tank. If it is safe enough for saltwater where they spend sometimes thousands on fish and coral, it is safe enough for me. So far in my tank, no fish or shrimp has ever been harmed by superglue.

 

[londonloco]

Reefers use superglue daily. Check out Reef Central, it's a way of life for them. Superglue WILL NOT hurt your tank, fish or plants. Go to ANY LFS that has a frag tank, you'll see 100's of frags, all superglued to disc's, in the same tank.

 

[blackandyellow]

Thanks for the input. The problem of using cotton thread (last time I used surgery thread) is that the wood piece is enormous (it´s the centerpiece of the aquarium). I would have to pass the thread all over the wood and that would definitely stand out. I´m planning to pretty much fill the top section of the wood.

Will take some pics of the woods for you guys to share your opinions, and thanks a lot.

 

[DavidZ]

you can drill a hole in the dw.

 

[F22]

use monofilament fishing line. Power Pro makes a green line, you won't see it

 

[GTR]

I've glued 1,000's of corals with superglue gel. The 99¢ would always give me funny looks when I bought 20 3-packs at a time. lol

When used in SW after the initial set time either the carbonates or bicarbonates actually accelerated the cure time.

SteveU

 

[blackandyellow]

I ended up glueing them with the super glue. so far they seem to be doing fine and nothing has died yet. I just used a little bit on the edges of the rizhomes. let`s hope it stays there