DIY base rock...a la Garf

Ok, I'm considering making my own base rock using Garf's receipe....they're pretty specific about brand and material in their ingredients. What are equivalent brands or at least other Caribsea products, if I can't find CaribSea Sea floor special grade and CaribSea Aruba Shell aragonite Gravel specifically? I know I can order some of it online, but I'd rather just go local to save me shipping.

And it also calls for plastic sawdust...where am I supposed to find that??? Or should I just have my husband start shaving down some of our recycled plastic? Is it even necessary?

The problem with me is that I'm not good w/ not following a recipe -- I have to use what I'm told to use. But if anyone can help me with a simplified version with easier ingredients...I'd appreciate it

Plastic sawdust???

Yep...plastic sawdust. Like the spirally ones you get when you drill through plexiglass.

i would check tap plastics for plastic saw dust...im sure they will give you plenty....

Tap Plastics? They're nowhere near me...are u suggesting I try emailng them to see if they'll ship me some?

Hahaha if that's the case, at least shipping will be cheap! That stuff is light as air!

Wonton do they mention rock salt in their recipe? The guys I know that do it use rock salt to make it porous. It takes quite a while for it to dissolve though and cant be used until it does. But it looks great

wonton i have talked with leroy from garf many times on the phone and a few in person. he is a REALLY nice guy. honestly he would be happy to answer any questions directly if you called him up. I have called him for just questions only before. he was totally cool about it. His main focus is keeping everyting as manmade and aquacultured as possible and he is always happy to help people along with that.

Oh cool. Maybe I'll just shoot him an email. Thanks!

I've been playing around w/ DIY rock mix the last few days. In my area ingredients were damn near impossible to find, but I'll share what I've figured out so far ...

The recipe I used is...
3 parts crushed oyster shells (available at livestock feed stores)
1 part white portland #1-2 cement
... add water and mix, keep adding water little by little until it looks kinda like a semi dry oatmeal
... then add 2 parts rock salt, mix just enough so the salt is evenly mixed in, but try not to mix it too much

Then pour it into your sand mold.

I didn't use plastic shavings, you really only need those to speed up coraline algae growth.

I'll try to post some pictures, and put a video on youtube soon.