Two-component: a quick and easy way to fix corals.

Nowadays it is easy to imagine coral cuttings, hard or soft, glued in every way to sideburns, rocks or even glass.

I will show you a simple and lasting way to anchor even the heaviest corals to the rock: the two-component.

The two-component “paste” takes this name because it is characterized by two parts, usually silicone-based, which, when modeled and joined, give life to a fast-hardening material.

On the market we find various products of this type, which differ both in speed of hardening and in costs, resistance over time, etc.

The two-component that I have been using for years and with which I am very happy is the Reef coral scaper (coral fixer) by Arka-aquatics. (See video)

The tube contains 60 cc of the first and 60 cc of the second component. Both are hermetically insulated, in order to avoid preventive hardening of the material, thanks to the use of a double cap.

The procedure is explained in the previous video but I will also illustrate the steps here:

1. Take a similar quantity of both components and join them (adjust according to the number of gluing you want to do or the size of the coral);

2. Knead the mixture for about 30 seconds until a homogeneous color is obtained;

3. Within a minute, the compound must be used for what will be the base of our coral, inserting the latter with the lower end and fixing it with the fingers.

My advice is: if the rock on which you want to fix the coral or the base can be removed from the aquarium, then do it and keep everything in a separate container, suitably filled with water from the aquarium itself. The aim is not to prevent the two-component from releasing residues (since it releases practically nothing) but to prevent the movement of the pumps from ruining your work in the hardening phase.

Hardening is a very quick process, within a few minutes the animal will not be firm and ready to be reinserted in the aquarium. If it is not possible to remove the base, it will be sufficient to interrupt the flow of the movement pumps for about ten minutes.

Personally, when the cutting is small or, conversely, very large, I limit myself to resting the coral waiting for it to flow spontaneously (trust me in that case, don't even remove it with a chisel). This is not always possible and one of my favorite alternatives is the two-component glue.