DIY live rock

[JDSHAW]

I am thinking about making some of my own rocks like the "Aragocrete" I have read about on GARFS site. Anyone have experience they wish to share.

I am big on not using any ocean raped livestock in my tank and want to know if anyone has knowledge to share before I start out on this task.

[Doug1]

Its ugly as sin and it takes way longer for the pH to stabilize than GARF leads you o believe

[Geoff]

Originally posted by Doug1
Its ugly as sin and it takes way longer for the pH to stabilize than GARF leads you o believe

so doug1, how do you feel, and don't hold back now

i have to agree, it is seriously on the unattractive side. i would suggest getting land mined base rock if you want to do the no "wild" caught route. it will have all the same properties as the "wild" stuff, just needs to be seeded by some sand or rocks from someone elses tank.

G~

[Geoff]

JDSHAW-Welcome to the TRT!!! Keep the questions comming.

do not mind Doug1, he means well. i am sure he did not mean to snap at a brand new face like that. we are a friendly group of reefers here, just every now and then you may poke a sore spot somewhere.

G~

[JDSHAW]

Thanks Doug1 and G~

Doug1, yes I agree - but have you used it?

G~ thanks for the welcome, I am not offended in the least. Where would I aquire said land mined rock?

Looks like I need to find me a nifty profile icon!

Jeff

[Ray1214]

I have been using some argocrete and I agree it is a bit ugly. I have been curing it for about 3 months or so. However the ice cube tray sizes have been great for buffering my system. (I put a block or two in my sump.) After about 2 months in my sump I have been using them as plugs. Once the coraline algae sets in It looks like normal live rock but until then, prepare for some ugliness. We have decided to use some argocrete as base rock (that is usually covered by sand anyways) and keep live rock in sight. The only exception is that I am still making the plugs...and letting it cure for about 3 months now.

[Geoff]

<a href="http://www.tbsaltwater.com/index.html">tamba bay saltwater</a>

they sell their seed rock. this is the rock they put down for aquacultering the LR. this is also a very ecological way to get LR.

G~

[mojoreef]

I would have to agree with doug it is ugly and really doesnt offer any filtering capabilities. Because of its dencity it does not really allow the penetration of bacteria and mirco infauna. And since LR is one of the main filters in our tank it kinda defeats the purpose. I have made and used it for base rock in the past but have since chucked ed it in favor of increasing my filtering capability.

Mike

[nvrmore]

Yes I agree that it is ugly! Also something that bothers me about using it in a saltwater aquarium is what can actually be in it. Here is a MSDS for portland cement from a common manufacture of portland.

http://www.vincistone.com/library/ms...and_cement.htm

section 4 has the Hazardous chemical list and what they call "trace ingredients"

[CatinHat]

Yes it is ugly. I made some and threw it in the river to cure for about six months. (The river was to high at the three month mark and would have been dangerous to retrieve.) I kept a few of the smaller ones. It does work good for some base rock apps but even after it gets covered with stuff it's still ugly and hard to hide. Though in it's favor stuff does take to it pretty quick. I also bought 50lbs of Hawaiian base rock from this guy on ebay for like 25 bucks + shipping. It was so great I bought 50lbs more as soon as I got the first order. It's great stuff! And it is dry base rock that your not hurting anything by buying. Then you just seed everything with a few "real" live rocks and in a few months your ready to go!

[banbro]

Although I agree with a lot of the comments made I would also have to say that this changes with practice. The first rocks I made were heavy, dense, and ugly but after playing with my "recipe" and modifying the "sculpting" process I am very impressed with the results. Life has taken to the rock very quickly and it really is hard to tell the difference. If you decide to do this experiment with consistencys; add crushed coral, sand, aragonite, and broken skeleton pieces to the mix. Another thing I have liked doing is forming the rock around misc pasta tubes and shells. This makes great tunnels and caves and adds to the pores in the rock. In short, it really does take a lot of practice and some experimenting but it will get there... just plan on throwing your first few attempts away.

[Doug1]

Yes I have used it in my old system, I will post pics of the stuff later.
As far as being to dense to offer areas to support biological activity I disagree, the chunks I made were quite porus and would let water run thru it
Its still ugly till you can get coralline to cover it

[wanareef]

I have a couple of pieces, yes it's ugly, and it take a loooooooooog time for the coraline to grow on it. But I will be making some more- need the practice it's for the next tank for base rock. Gotta save a little $$ somewhere you won't see it in the sand. lol lol

branbro got any pictures of your stuff? I mixed crushed oyster shells with the portland and used agronite for the mold. I guess if I used more oyster shell and crushed coral, it would be more pours.

[Doug1]

Wana, I used crushed oyster shell on mine, way cheap but I think it leaches phosphate alot at first, it is porus stuff tho.
I never tried the pasta trick, its bad enuff waiting for 6 months for the pH to stabilize, how long for the pasta remnants to dissapear?

[David Grigor]

As to the question of dry base rock, www.hirocks.com has nice shaped rock. Price is cheap enough I wouldn't even bother with making acrocrete.

Only exception would be to cover PVC with acrocrete if using PVC to aquascape so you don't have to work so hard at hiding the white pvc.......Usually small enough amount that you don't have to cure very long before using in the tank....