DIY Rock

[Waddi]

So I know there are alot of threads out there about making your own rock. Have been reading through most of them, but they date back a fair way.
So my questions are:
-Has anyone had success?
-I read it takes about a months of this rock sitting in RO/DI water for it to be ready, true?
-Anyone know the specific ingredients and part ratio's?? (The only thing I worry about, is living in Canada, they may not have the same as you guys in America.)

 

[Shane1]

I saw some stuff and wondered the same thing. Youtube has a alot of video on it and a lot of comments on the videos.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFPebEdEoMA]DIY Live Rock - by Ed - YouTube[/ame]

 

[ErinCahir]

Wonton made her own. Check her build thread.

 

[LoveJC03]

It's been a while since I've been here.. mainly because we started our DIY rock in mid-september, I'd say all of it has been curing since about 9/20. It is still leaching out alot of calcium in the container. For a couple days it'll be at 9.2, then when the calcium builds up it's higher. We change it every couple days and scrub our container.. but if we let it sit a few days the container has calcium floating everywhere again. All I can say is it's a long process lol

We used the same recipe as in that video, but instead of white we had to use gray portland cement.. our stores don't sell the white.

 

[WaVe RiDeR]

i did this idea im in the curing process as we speak. Lovejc03 problems hes running into i have not yet run into but i do notice build up on the top of the water, but i change the water in the bucket every day, but the curing process is to release the lime from the rock so you have to test the water of the tap to get you starting ph, if its high that's why people use ro water to get better testing results but when the rock sits in the water the ph will rise and your looking for the ph to drop to close to zero and then your rock is cured.

 

[sen5241b]

Some people have successfully cured agrocrete in the toilet tank. The water get circulated every day.

In general agrocrete does not have close to the same porosity that real rock does. that's why i do not use it.

 

[LoveJC03]

3 months later.. no film.. still reading high 9's! Changing the water every couple days & scrubbing the rock. We're starting to think it's just never going to cure. :(

 

[wontonflip]

Love...I stopped using the salt. While it does make for a porous rock, it 1. takes forever to get all the salt out like you're seeing, and 2. it makes for a very weak rock that should not have tons of rocks piled on top. 3. If the rock breaks in half, you run the risk of there still being salt crystals in there that never dissolved, which will leach into your tank and raise salinity.

The color of the cement doesn't matter...my question is what type of cement did you use? Is it portland cement #1-2? There are certain cement types that are not conducive to making reef-safe rocks.

Call Leroy at Garf :D Seriously...I have! Twice! He's SO helpful!!! He will answer your concerns about your rock. He's the one who mentioned that while it's safe to add salt to make it more porous, it makes the rock weaker. The last batch I made did not use any salt. I did poke holes on it with a bbq stick, though LOL You can find his number here:

GARF.ORG - The reef aquarium place

Don't give up!! I LOVE my diy'd rocks. Hell, I couldn't even tell you which rocks were diy, which were real!

 

[LoveJC03]

We used gray portland cement type 1/2. I say if they're not ready by the end of Jan we might just have to go with all live rock :) Thanks

 

[Gooseman]

I know this is off the beatin path for this thread in a way but i am curious anyways ... has anyone ever tried making their aquascaping with PVC pipe and the spray foam in a can? i have seen it done on some tanks but didnt know what the results were and if it had any adverse affects on the fish, corals or inverts ... anyone have opinions on this?

 

[active]

i dont know for sure but i would think something in that spray foam stuff would be harmful to fish in some way - i have used it for other things and i know its nasty messy stuff if you get it on your skin - but i am curious if it can be used - maybe when fully cured its ok

 

[wontonflip]

Plus it wouldn't be porous, not to mention too light even with pvc inside...you'd have to make sure to fill it with water to weigh it down i would think.

 

[WaVe RiDeR]

To much work and would not look natural.

 

[Gooseman]

that is true but is the foam in can safe to be put into a saltwater aquarium? what about the great stuff pond foam?

 

[bobby]

I've seen many rock foam wall that look great. I've tried foam, however, a few times and while it's reef safe it always inhibited my skimmer. Made it to where I could only skim wet or not at all. I asked several people who used foam and 9 out of 10 noticed the same problem unless they epoxied the foam. Wouldn't recomend it, but if you try be sure to start a thread and let us know how it works for you.

 

[LoveJC03]

I think our diy rock might be cured.. finally.. atleast I hope! We're at the 4 month mark! It's was reading in the 8.1-8.5 range yesterday and we did a full water change, rinsed all the rock and refilled the water again.. it's reading the same. Maybe it'll stay the same for a week. :)

So, if/when it's cured.. what's the next step? We don't have our tank ready yet nor do we have an ro/di yet. Do we leave it in water or do we set it out to dry until we're ready to start our tank?