Tried to glue mushrooms

[as40]

Hello all,

Well, wanted to add to the variety of 'shrooms in my tank, so picked up two free floaters from the mushroom tank at the LFS today (not attached to anything, just sitting in the sand).

To make a long story shorter, I wanted to glue them to two small rubble rocks which I could fit into crevaces in the main "mushroom" rock area of the tank. Was told and had read that any glue would be fine, that it was basically just to hold the mushroom long enough until it attached itself more firmly to the base. Well, only thing I had on hand was some old aquarium silicone sealant. Think I made a mistake in using that here.

What happened was as follows. I dried off the two small rubble rocks, put a dab of glue on them, patted dry the base of the mushrooms, and stuck the two together, held for a minute or so. Seemed they stuck together okay, so placed them back in the tank. They held for all of ten minutes, at which time I saw the 'shrooms off the rocks and a tiny stream of the glue waving in the current. Removed the two small rubble rocks and tossed (had the majority of the sealant on them still), cleaned up as much of the little glue I found in the area, and just placed the mushrooms in some lower-current recesses on a larger rock.

I like where they're at. Don't know if they'll stay there, but have been there for a good several hours now. Not sure if there's much glue left on the bottom of them, but does anyone think it'll hurt them if there is? Also, how long typically before they anchor themselves in place?

Thanks for any thoughts/feedback in advance.

 

[M-pire]

I know Oriongirl always recommends using superglue to glue corals to rocks. I think I saw her mention that super glue was developed for eye surgery or something, so it is safe for the corals.

 

[JesseJ]

Silicone needs at the very minimum 24 hours to set. For most brands it's more like 2-4 days. Letting it dry for 10 min then adding it to the tank will not work.

 

[johnnyxxl]

not sure about the mushrroms but super glue was made for military emergency surgery triage, it "dries" due to moisture contact ie not going to take long in the water, thats why when you blow on it, it dries. They say you learn nothing watching tv.

Tidbit taking from the history channel.

 

[mogurnda]

Oops! That sounds like an experiment that didn't go very well.

Silicone sealant is a bad idea for a couple of reasons. First, it doesn't adhere to slimy surfaces like coral very well. Second, if it did stick, it would take too long to set. Third, depending on the formula, it will release either ammonia or acetic acid as it cures. It should not be in the tank if it's not fully cured.

Super glue gel is the glue of choice. It's cheap and works quite well.

Another method is to put a piece of wedding veil, or similar mesh, over the mushrooms where you want them to stay. Once they're stuck, just pull it off.

If the mushrooms have survived, then they will probably stay put. They usually stick down in less than a week.

 

[as40]

Doh! :argh

Well, now I know better, and knowing is half the battle. Thanks for the better info, guys! :bowing:

Now I'm a bit worried about the acetic acid. Like I said in the beginning, I took the two little rubble rocks with the bulk of the glue and chucked them, and cleaned up as best as possible, so hopefully there wasn't enough silicone left in the tank to cause any harm. I've got pretty good circulation and a good skimmer on the tank, so I'll keep an eye out for anything that looks out of the ordinary, but hopefully all goes well.

The poor little shrooms look a bit harried, however, when I turned the lights on this morning before leaving for work they were still where I left them, and they still looked alive, so cross your fingers for them!

Thanks again for the help everyone!

 

[as40]

Well, just to update things...

Both the mushrooms are still alive, everything in the tank seems to be okay (knock on wood), so I think I didn't mess things up too bad. One of the mushrooms stayed put in the same place; one of them migrated onto the sand and in the shade when I got home from work yesterday. I put it back onto a rock, and will wait and see what happens.