What kind of glue is safe?

99SH

AC Members
Jan 1, 2003
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Lk. Hiawatha, NJ
Is Elmer's glue safe for a tank? I want to glue some rocks to a piece of plastic. I did a search but couldn't find anything on this particular type. Thanks.
 
Originally posted by 99SH
Is Elmer's glue safe for a tank? I want to glue some rocks to a piece of plastic. I did a search but couldn't find anything on this particular type. Thanks.
Don't know about Elmers and if it is safe, but Super Glue Gel worked in a saltwater tank to glue corals in place..
 
Stay away from any PVA or white glues. Even the ones that are solvent based will swell in water and then fail. This includes elmers. Cyanoacrylates will also fail as this is actually what they were designed to do. Some last much longer than others.

Marine Epoxies and aquarium safe silicone glues are your best bet.
 
Cyanoacrylates will also fail as this is actually what they were designed to do.
Learn something new every day. Not a problem with corals, as they grow onto the rock. Rocks and plastic grow so much more slowly that I guess it wouldn't work in this case.
 
silicone for long term, hot-melt will work for short term.

i had several pvc creations i made with hotmelt and some of the smaller ones fell apart after awhile. the failure might have also been due to no surface preparation/ lack of adhesion. with a porous material it would work alot better, pvc is naturally slick.

if needed you can also do small spots with hot melt to make the creation and then go over it all with silicone........... the hot melt sets quickly, the silicone takes forever.
 
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