# Glue gun and driftwood?



## HUNTER (Sep 4, 2012)

Can I use glue gun to attace driftwood to a slate or tile? Also, are the tiles used for flooring safe and will not change water chemistry? thanks


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## Sake (Mar 30, 2012)

HUNTER said:


> Can I use glue gun to attace driftwood to a slate or tile? Also, are the tiles used for flooring safe and will not change water chemistry? thanks


You can use super glue gel to attach plants, it works well. I'm not sure what chemicals a glue gun would have.

As far as flooring tiles, depends on what type you get. There are really soft tiles like marble that won't work, then there are things like quarry tile, which is made of clay basically a terra cotta pot, you've got porcelain which shouldn't alter anything. Then there is 4 1/2 wall tile, that stuff is so soft I would worry about using it. If you let me know what your tile looks like, I can tell you better. BTW I'm a tile setter.


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## HUNTER (Sep 4, 2012)

I haven't got one yet but these are pieces of driftwood zip ties together but I need to anchor them to a slate or tile. Should I get a slate instead and should I look for particular ones that doesn't affect the water?


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## Michael T (Jan 1, 2013)

Personally I would use slate. Just get a nice flat piece from your LFS its super cheap. I have always used the Super glue GEL it holds up nice takes a bit to set up. Just find a corner or such to help hold it up while it dries. I usually give it 5-7 days to cure before submerging it. Then ill let it sit in a bucket of water for a couple days to let anything leech out it anything even does. Better safe than sorry.


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## HUNTER (Sep 4, 2012)

Ok I'll do the slate thanks


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## Sake (Mar 30, 2012)

Super glue can be added to the water right away. I've personally done it, and a lot of others have also. It actually dries quicker in water, the moisture on your fingers is what makes it so darn quick to dry and stick your fingers together!


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## glenCOCO (Aug 12, 2012)

Yeah, super glue is fine to put in water right away. I used it all the time when to glue frags when I was nano-reefing. I even applied super glue underwater and it works perfectly. Just make sure you get super glue gel.


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## Michael T (Jan 1, 2013)

Thanks guys about the super glue drying water tips. I honestly did not know that. Been too scared to try, afraid it'd nuke my tanks.


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## Zapins (Jan 7, 2006)

Problem with glue is that the wood rots slowly and the glue will only be attached to the top layer which will come off with time.

This needs to be done with screws not glue or other adhesives.


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## Fish from Philly (May 28, 2013)

Nice piece of wood! I used superglue and it worked great. I've had it become loose and than just reattached again. If you use screws, be careful with types of metals since most will harm the fish


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## HUNTER (Sep 4, 2012)

I use glue gun to attached the wood together and they seem to bond well. I tried to glue gun a piece of the wood onto a rock and it pulled apart easily. I think I'll try a silicone, and tie it with a string on the rock. These manzanita woods I got from save on craft and they look like twigs, 2 pieces for $28 shipped. I wish I've gotten one from other members. I wouldn't recommend this place, maybe for craft work.


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## Zapins (Jan 7, 2006)

Just get the uncoated screws. Plain wood screws will work find.


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## wildroseofky (Mar 5, 2013)

You need stainless steal screws. Regular screws will rust and leach into the tank. You can get stainless steal screws at any store that carries screws. Glue gun glue will not hold up underwater. It comes loose. It is safe though it just will not stay glued.


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## HUNTER (Sep 4, 2012)

Ok thanks guys, I'll do that.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

If you are still looking for a way to tie it together and hold it down, you might look at wrapping the lower section together with solid core solder. The type without flux. I use metal in my tanks for years and have never seen any problems with normal screws. Metal degrades very slowly. We change lots of water. So I think any minor pollution will be changed out way before it becomes a problem for most fish. If you are dealing with really delicate things, it might bother, so that is just one of many things that need to be treated differently. 
I think the worry about metal comes from the notes on water conditioners that say they remove heavy metals. Things like chromium and things that most don't have anyway. Plain old rust doesn't kill fish or we would never have gotten past the times when impeller and filters were made of metal. New folks tend to ignore there was a time when there was no plastic and people were keeping fish fine! If you had a Metaframe brand tank you were really doing good.


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## lochaber (Jan 23, 2012)

I'm partial to bolting wood to a slate tile. Slate is fairly common, not very expensive, and pretty easy to drill.

You could also use any of the ceramic tiles, but I think those would be harder to drill through, or the clay/terra cotta tiles.

Avoid marble or travertine.

The good thing is, anything likely to mess with water chemistry is probably going to be more expensive then slate.

I usually use nylon bolts, but I don't think a single (or couple) wood screws would be real harmful, it's going to be somewhat isolated being in the wood and under the substrate- not much water is going to get in contact with the metal and circulate around the tank. I've also heard of people using zip ties, I just haven't tried that myself.

If you want to glue, I'd recommend epoxy, it will definitely bond to both the wood and the tile, and it will give a pretty strong bond, and cures quickly.


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## HUNTER (Sep 4, 2012)

I'll see what they have at lowes tomorrow.


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## Aquaticz (Dec 26, 2009)

Ahhhhhh screw it!
btw 
SS does rust
Regular screw does it, pan head stews would be my choice so I would not need a washer 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## HUNTER (Sep 4, 2012)

I used stainless screw, hopefully not a problem.


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## kman (Dec 11, 2013)

Most "stainless steel" rusts, because the vast majority is really low grade SS. You need a higher nickel content than average SS uses to be truly "stainless". Marine hardware, designed for boats on the salty ocean, uses much higher quality SS than you're likely to find at Lowes or Home Depot.


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