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So I am wondering if dry non-toxic super glue is harmful in a fish tank. I have many many years of experience building terrain and model kits and I use super glue sometimes. So in a tank with 1/4 in of gravel most of my plastic plants dont stay down correctly. So I want to modify them and create a way to do that (which I have). So in order to create the hold I need (between base and plastic plant) I want to use Elmers non-toxic super glue. Is this going to be harmful?

get aquarium grade silicon instead it is 100% safe, just make sure to let it completely cure before putting it in the tank.

Better than glue is 100% cotton thread. You can get it in colors that will blend perfectly to the environment and what's best is that it will degrade well after the plants have managed to root themselves to driftwood, rock, plastic, or into the substrate.

Other options are fishing line which is almost invisible once in the tank. My issue with it is that you then have to leave it in there, or drag the whole piece out to carefully cut it off.

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Go with silicone, babels comments are true for live plants, but for plastic its best to secure them with aquarium safe silicone.

I would buy some aquarium silicone & it's 100% safe for the fish.


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Get some aquarium sealant, better safe than sorry...or the GE Silicone 1 is aquarium safe...Regular Elmers Glue won't last in the water, and I know from experience that super glue even when dried seems to give off fumes that would aggravate my eyes beyond all belief Only problem with cotton thread is that eventually it is going to dissolve and then you'll be back to where you began, if you feel like sewing it, use fishing line it won't dissolve till forever:%)heidi

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I sewed my plastic plants to suction cups, like from thermometers etc. I used clear plastic fishing line, and it has worked great for over a year. I just plut the plant beside the suction cup and pushed the needle through them both and tied a knot.

I find that sewing is much better than tying.

Last edited by pizpot at 20-Jul-2005 18:37

well my understanding of super glue is that it won't disolve in almost any liquid, especialy not water. so i figue if it won't dissolve than theres nothing to worry about, just make sure its dried completely before adding the water.

i think the super glue will do but dont know for how long...i rather use silicone sealant to keep my mind at peace...

Super glue will be just fine. It will not harm the fish, or anything else in your tank, including your cycle and other decorations. Coral experts have been using Super Glue for years when fragging corals, and/or when just placing corals to rocks. It works great. If you read coral books, and some SW books, you will actually see it posted about the use of Super Glue. It is actually one of the most highly recomended forms of use to get a new coral frag to stay on a particular rock.

Personally, I have used it in SW and FW tanks for over 20 years now. Never had any problems with it.

HTH....

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Solution: So I started with suction cups and plastic plants and used a silicone adhesive to put the two together. (didn’t work). Then I used super glue (didn’t hold…brittle). SO I started with super glue and when it held, I used a thin fish line to tie the two together then overlapped with silicone ad. to smooth out the look of it. Works great and looks good.

NOTE: although next time I will try the needle and thread idea.

Super glue is perfectly safe cured. Many use it to bind UGFs.