i was trying to glue some black slate rocks together to create some small caves. i used a tube of clear all purpose silicone sealant bcuz i figured it was the same thing as aquarium sealer. well the stuff didnt hold the rocks together at all. i used it to glue a fake plant to a rock and that worked. anyone have any suggestions. the cheaper the better

I say just use a strong, fish safe glue. Experiment with different glues, for strength, just make them fish safe.

Hmmm.I don't know of any ways to glue slate, it just has too sandy of a type surface. What about just stacking them ?!

Never tried it myself but have heard good things about this stuff...

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3962

None I agree with what M/C said. I would take two nice hefty shape rocks put them side by side, slate on top and slate that fits in the back, wa-la.

ya i got them stacked in the 135. ive got that bastard way over filtered so i dont have to break it down anymore. but the 55 is way overstocked as kinda a grow out tank. and it has a sand bottom so i need to find a faster way to break it down to vacuum it

Waterfall foam, maybe? Its used in ponds to hold rocks together, secure rocks to liners and fill crevices between liners and rocks to acheive the desired effect. Non-toxic once dried, can be shaped with a knife and sanded, even painted. The stuff I used on my waterfall was black and would match pretty well with black slate. It expands and a little bit goes a looooooooooooong way. Ya could play with it, and remove it if ya didn't like the effect, until ya figured out how to get the effect ya wanted.

Might be a little hard to come by until spring though.

WYite

Oh yeah, its holdin' the rocks in the pond immovable, too.

hey wyoming i looked online for that and couldnt find it. do you have a brand name or something?

Tetra brand

Smart Pond brand

Got both links off of the Lowe's website. I plan on tryin' it for a paludarium idea I have. I used the Smart Pond brand and its the only brand I've ever tried (I've only built one waterfall so far), so I can't give ya a comparison. I know there are other brands out there, as well.

WYite

That stuff's on wicked clearance right now at the lowes. It is awesome, and fun to play with to boot.

The putty epoxy is also awesome stuff. I've used it to patch tanks, and do all sorts of other pump/filter/tube patching craziness.

I never got that brand though. I normally get the big honkin tube (again at lowes) for 4 bucks. Only it dries a hard grey, though depending on water conditions, or medications it can take on other colors.