Skip to main content
Loading...

Trying out Reef Welder in my reef

  • reef-welder-hdr

Several years ago, I got a coral from the LFS that I thought was a green slimer. Turns out, it was a Lime In The Sky, so I call it a Limer. It grew from a 1.5" frag into a decent colony about 12" tall over the years, despite what the Shadowcaster tried to do to it. A couple of weeks ago, I saw a white spot on the colony; clearly something/someone had broken a piece off. Looking beneath, I found it perched in the rockwork behind the Sebae anemone, doing quite well.

reef-welder-jar

My concern of course was that if I ignored it, the sebae would just touch it to death which was a waste. This was the perfect time to try out Reef Welder, a plastic polymer that Marine Depot had sent me to try out. You pour the beads into a cup of nearly boiling water, and the white ones turn clear while the purple ones add color. It's easy to knead this in your hand once it has cooled off slightly, then I pressed it around the frag, and placed it on the rockwork. Unlike glue or putty, this stuff is more of a wedge (it isn't sticky), but has no negative effect on the two corals I tried it with, since there's no chemical reaction.

reef-welder-beads

If you work too slowly, just reheat the polymer and try again. I placed the Limer in a new spot in my reef, away from the main colony. This helps diversify the look of the tank, putting the same coral in a couple of spots to keep it interesting. I also mounted a blue tort that was placed in a handy hole a couple of months ago - it's in a better spot now.

reef-welder-melting

The only mistake I made was using tongs with the rubber plastic tips. This stuff stuck to it, and I've not figured out a way to clean it off. Should have used bare metal, or a wooden disposable stirrer perhaps. I didn't think that one through when I grabbed my tongs. Oops. ;)

This was placed on the rock four days ago, and hasn't budged since.  That's all I care about.  And the coral looks healthy, with polyps extended.  Purple may be a little vivid, but if you are a person with blue lighting primarily it doesn't matter. And once the coral gets bigger, you probably won't notice the Reef Welder at all, especially if the coral encrusts over it.

limer-frag-ooo

blue-tort-affixed

Website Area:
Reef Blog