# Pics of superglued anubias



## seadreamer (May 6, 2007)

Yesterday I superglued 20 anubias nanas to some rock and wood. I couldn't find any pics of this technique so figured I'd post some. Unless these things suddenly start detaching I strongly recommend this technique as it's so much quicker than tying. It took me about 20 minutes to glue these and that's only because I was slow at first while I figured things out.

I went through two tubes of cheapo dollar store gel superglue. Half of that ended up on my fingers.

*Hint: Put the glue on your wood or rock THEN press plant to that. Gluing the plant first didn't work for me. *

First pic is a close-up of the glue under water after it turned milky white. I circled it using Paint. Second is a wide shot of all 20 plants along the front of my 40b (coffeefolia is on rock on right, painstakingly tied with lots of cursing).


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

Looks great!


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## seadreamer (May 6, 2007)

Thanks.  One of my reasons for posting this was to show the "white" glue. I'd read about it and was picturing glow-in-the-dark, supernova WHITE so this was a pleasant surprise. It's hardly noticeable.


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

Still I would go EASY on that stuff and use as little as possible. 
I took a plant off and there was a little spot of super glue left over - about the size of a grain of rice. When the bright aquarium light hits it it's sticks out like a sore thumb!


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## gordonrichards (Jun 20, 2009)

Next time tie them down with thread. Allows for easy removal of the rhizomes.

-Gordon


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## mrchach (Sep 8, 2010)

im wondering if the superglue will affect the growth of the plant... i know plants are strong but superglue don't play


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## Navigarden (Jun 25, 2010)

anubias' roots are sensitive... I've heard some people have die off when using this method.


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## neilshieh (Sep 6, 2010)

i use that method with my anubias. PITA at first until it solidfies because you have to keep it in position. it breaks down over time and i've not noticed any ill effects or stunted growth.


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## offpath (Jan 18, 2009)

I use this on anubias as well. Looks ugly at first, but the superglue dissolves away over a few weeks or a month. I use quite a bit of superglue and have not noticed any ill effects on health or growth of the rhizome or roots.


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## Larry Grenier (Apr 19, 2005)

Reefers have been using superglue for years with no problems and I believe corals are more sensitive than plants to contaminants.


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## Gatekeeper (Feb 20, 2007)

Very nice. You certainly could tie some moss around those glue spots to hide them.


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## seadreamer (May 6, 2007)

Thanks everyone. I did research this prior to doing it as I didn't want to kill off my fish with glue residue. After reading they use it on corals in reef tanks I knew it was okay. 

Gatekeeper, or I could GLUE some moss around that glue, hehe. Yeah, I'm a little glue-happy at the moment.


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## feral13 (Jan 17, 2006)

Because I used it in my reef tanks, I had no problem using it in my planted tank. However, at least with the coral I had, there was no actual glue on the coral itself. The glue was only on the baserock plug the coral was in and the base rock shelf I was putting it on.

I wold use it sparingly as possible if your putting directly on roots. I glued plastic hoops and netting on the back of my driftwood and placed the roots in them. After the plant was attached, I would break the hoops off.

Also...because you know someone will do it. Make sure you glue the stuff outside the tank.


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## Jim Miller (Dec 24, 2002)

I've done a lot of model airplane work with cyanoacrylate glue and various means of accelerating the setting for various reasons.

First thing to note is that when it penetrates cellulose fiber it plasticizes it. Second is that moisture is a pretty good accelerant for hardening.

So if you put it on an otherwise living piece of plant material it is going to be a foot race between it plasticizing the material and hardening off before it makes it all the way through. If it manages to penetrate before hardening off it will then turn the piece into plastic, effectively rendering it lifeless. If it doesn't penetrate all the way it will just kill some of the tissue.

Doesn't sound like a great thing to do to a plant you care about. "But reefers use it" doesn't sound like a great rationalization either unless you can state where and how they use it.

CA also breaks down with water but that won't revive the affected tissue.

I'd go with thread, either clear fishing line for stuff that needs to be held "forever" or cotton thread that rots away as the plants do the adhering themselves.

Jim


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