Rocks and glue

I was thinking of gluing some rocks together (I've run out of things to do while my tank cycles). Will Aquarium safe silicone be ok? And is there anything I can use to fill up gaps between them so they're more stable? I started gluing things together while hiding from an unfinished assignment, and the silicone sticks them but doesn't fill up the gaps very well.

Thanks =)

Aquarium silicone is safe, though I don't know how well it'll work on those surfaces. Good luck!

Yeah it should be O.K but make sure the rocks are dry

There is also an aquarium cement that can be used wet or dry. I bought some as an emergency back up - JUST IN CASE - something ever went bad in one of my tanks. I'm embarrassed to say that I bought this tube years ago and I have lost track of it. I've always toyed with the idea of gluing together logs or rocks but I've never done it.

I had a quick look online for the stuff I had floating around in my desk for years and this is very similar.. http://www.fish.com/itemdy00.asp?T1=710161 I'm not sure silicone would be rigid enough for a rock structure.

While I was searching for the epoxy - I found a few blogs, websites with people asking about gluing together rock structures. It might be worth your time to google it and see if any of them posted results.

Good luck.

Sharon

Blast! Thats exactly the kind of thing i was looking for, but I already used a truckload of silicone instead. It's not rigid, but it seems to be holding really well so at least that's something.
Thanks a lot Sharon, I'll try and get hold of some for next time

- Monique

Ok, so I have little rock walls with slate on top... How destructive are axies? Do I need to glue the slate down to stop it being knocked off, or should it be relatively safe? How heavy are they, because leaning on one side of it might make the slate tip.

If you can flick the slate pieces easily with one finger then an axolotl may be able to move it too. Its not so much that they actively try to move the slate but sometimes when exploring they will flick their tails to turn around and may move small rocks/slates with their tails.
You also need to be sure that they can't knock the slate and trap themselves under it in the same process.

I've used aquarium epoxy like the one that Sharon linked to. I would NOT recommend it for holding heavy rocks together. It does not stick to rock nearly as well as silicone does, and it's too brittle to hold up anything heavy. You are better off with the silicone BUT remember that you have to wait until all the vinegar smell is gone before putting it in the aquarium. In my experience, this has taken as much as a month after I have used big gobs of it between rocks.

I agree with Becky, I don't think an axie could move a substantial piece of slate. They are active, and they can dislodge plants, but they don't have the strength to move anything with any real weight.

I ended up using the silicone and it seemed to hold alright - I was just trying to bond small river stones. I found a giant bag of them for a few bucks, so I thought I may as well try to do something with them. I've dropped it a few times and they haven't budged, so I'm assuming it will hold.

Thanks for the clarification on how long to leave them out - on the bottle it just says to rinse with water, so I rinsed it a few times and then left it soaking in a bucket for a few days. Is it just the smell that I have to get rid of?

Here's a pic of the slate - I realize I'm being paranoid about everything, but I want to get it right. My nitrate is finally rising, so hopefully not too much longer until it's cycled =)
If this is ok to use, could I dust some sand over fresh silicone to cover up the messy edges?

Thanks for the replies!

Thanks! Good to know about the epoxy being brittle.

Um maybe some sand to hide the silicone?

Sharon