DIY Rock Ideas
- Thread starter Joey
- Start date
I made 100 pounds this summer and its in my 125 now. Im just seeding and cycling it the last bit. You can do alot of different versions ,but I got crushed oyster shells( you can also use agonite sand) at agway. 50 pounds for 8.50 and type 3 poland cement from home depot- 90 pounds for $10. You mix a ratio of 3-4 times oyster shells to 1 part of cement- mix to the consistentcy of cottage cheese.Then put the extra shells or sand in a rubber made bin and dig a shape. After you make your rock -cover it for 48 hours with more lose shells and let it sit. 2 days later dig it up and put it in a bucket of water and do weekly water changes for 6 weeks until the PH is in an exceptable range. Then put it in salt water for 2 weeks and then do a water change and then you can start to seed your rock!
I made a hundred or two pounds of DIY rock back in the days of southdown. Some came out pretty cool, some is still sitting in my front yard in a reject pile.
To make a long story short, having had the above experience, I'd suggest talking to marc ^ about rock
.
You'll only save so much making DIY, and you'll have to make a lot of it to get good at it. Compare the $ saved, to the cost in time and effort spent, and marc's rock looks pretty good. The compare some of his rock to really good DIY rock, and Marc's rock looks even better
To make a long story short, having had the above experience, I'd suggest talking to marc ^ about rock
. You'll only save so much making DIY, and you'll have to make a lot of it to get good at it. Compare the $ saved, to the cost in time and effort spent, and marc's rock looks pretty good. The compare some of his rock to really good DIY rock, and Marc's rock looks even better
emabie
Non-member
2 years ago I made a ton of rock with the above mentioned crushed oyster shells and cement. I also added Zitti pasta, the ziti dissolved once the rock was curing and added allot of cool pockets and mini caves. It gave it a cool texture.
Making it was a ton of fun, the whole family (Wife and 3 kids) got involved and made their of rocks. Now that the rocks have been cured and in a tank for a whilleit's hard to tell they were manufactured.
Don't rush the curing process and don't cure in your tank!!!!!! The Ph of curing cement will cause the PH to go above 10.
here are a few links:
http://www.garf.org/news11p3.shtml#rocks Lots of good stuff on Garf under agorcrete section
http://www.mindspear.com/reef/concrete/index.htm
http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f53/making-homemade-live-rock-51824.html
I really liked the project I did, I don't know how much money it really saved in the long run over using Marco dry rocks or similar but I was able to make my own designs and had fun.
I also know I did not pull any rocks from the oceans reefs.
Making it was a ton of fun, the whole family (Wife and 3 kids) got involved and made their of rocks. Now that the rocks have been cured and in a tank for a whilleit's hard to tell they were manufactured.
Don't rush the curing process and don't cure in your tank!!!!!! The Ph of curing cement will cause the PH to go above 10.
here are a few links:
http://www.garf.org/news11p3.shtml#rocks Lots of good stuff on Garf under agorcrete section
http://www.mindspear.com/reef/concrete/index.htm
http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f53/making-homemade-live-rock-51824.html
I really liked the project I did, I don't know how much money it really saved in the long run over using Marco dry rocks or similar but I was able to make my own designs and had fun.
I also know I did not pull any rocks from the oceans reefs.
