Making Homemade live rock

[Ray1214]

Would anyone be interested in perhaps trying to do a weekend workshop making homemade live/base rock? Just curious since I think I am going to attempt again with some different materials this time.

Ray

[yousuredo]

i still have some sand-crushed oyster shell mix left over from when i did this 2.5 years ago...i enjoyed it alot

[mojo]

I've got probably 150-200lbs of aragocrete left if anybody wants some. No charge- just come get it. I'd happily donate any/all of it to a workshop, if someone thinks that people may want some.

[pwest]

I'm in. I've been reading up on this again lately and want to give it a try.

-Phil

[Ray1214]

Yeah, I have been thinking about it and want to try to create some more realistic stuff. I had some argocrete and I use it as base rock on my tanks, and I have some really encrusted stuff that I made some years ago.

I am thinking that if we use other things or try the pasta trick it may turn out betta.

But either way, the concrete is typically 5 bucks, the buckets are cheap, most of us have extra ones, probably need a few stryo containers I have a bag of southdown but would like to get some aruba shell or crushed coral to use as gravel.

Ray

[yousuredo]

i used crushed coral, araganite sand, oyster shell, and 3 types of pasta in mine and it came out great...very important to get it as pouris as posible...i used PENE (the hollow tube), TWISTED, and SPAGETTIE (broken up in small peices)...i let mine cure all summer and fall (6months)..then took a hose to it with a presurized end on it and blasted it

[georgiajams]

Mojo, that stuff might be great to donate next time the club has the fragfest workshops (e.g. like the one's we've done at Marine Fish the last couple years).

Ray, although it isn't a SIG, per se, I'd go to a rock making session if you held one at the next SIG meeting.

Chris

[Daytona955]

Mojo, I could use a good bit more for my 180. I made about 100 lbs so far and have not made more just yet. I split the 100lbs with a friend and it looks great so far. Took a long time to cure, but once done it has been stable. I have been meaning to make more, but due to the curing time have been disuaded. Hall County water comes out of the tap at over 8.5 PH so curing here takes forever and a day.

[pwest]

If we can find some of the white cement, I'd be willing to pay the extra $$. Also, on the GARF website (see e.g. http://www.garf.org/class.html) they are recommending adding plastic sawdust to the mix--maybe Andy could help us out here.

One other nice article on the topic, with some good data on 'curing' (they need a better word for this process) can be found at: http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/6279/RaiseCementRock.html

-Phil

[Ray1214]

Well I read one article, I can't remember who wrote it but Albert Thiel references the article. They use 2 gallons of vinegar to speed up the curing process.

I have found that smaller pieces tend to cure faster. Hence the toilet bowl trick for plugs seems to work very well. Under 4 weeks.

I am trying to talk Lisa into letting me build a tidal pool kinda. More like an indoor lagoon, I am not really worried about critters as much as I want to take the sump, denitrifying sandbed a bit further. I figure to use One of those 200 gallons plus to build a small indoor lagoon, perhaps eventually keep a gigas clam, but I am going to need tons of live rock. I want to plumb this to a 50-80 gal seahorse tank, using Bruces' Dump Bucket technology. The plans I have is for a 1000 gal setup, so I have to scale it back, but it is going to have a dump into a waterfall type setup. I figure to have a ton of live rock (hide the pumps and skimmer) then an area with just a deep sandbed and mangroves.

I figure to have it setup for sig if possible, or this may be a weekend type thing. I am wrapped up with Saltwater U ntil this weekend is over but definatly sometime in the summer, may some hotdogs on the grill and spend an afternoon building shapes.

Ray

[wildemon]

Ray, in July for the SIG show it would be great to have you discuss your plans for the indoor lagoon or the agrocrete rock workshop. Of course you have a lot to do this week but remember the floor is open for your next project. I am trying to get Tim to talk about Big tanks to compliment the Nano discussions.

William

[kj_yoda]

I'm in for the workshop.;..

[Ray1214]

William I had also thought about the homemade live rock, but I don't think we have enough time really in a meeting. that is why I am suggesting a weekend workshop. We all come over to my house or anywhere else and commence to mixing concrete. then let it cure for like a week and see what we made. (I figure then would be a good time to commence to curing it in water for me anyways).

We just all pitch in with supplies. Ie concrete mix, I don't see where we need more than one bag.
I have one 50 pound bag of oyster shells.
I have plenty of water, and I can get buckets. At least 4 of them.
I will try and get the styrofoam containers I guess. Or just use boxes.

I can pick up the pasta as well.

One trick I want to try is perhaps mixing food coloring a bit into the rock.

Ray

[kj_yoda]

I have a big styrophoam box...

[Ray1214]

Has anyone heard of adding color to a rock. I saw Walt Smiths Site, and the other sites are blocked. But I wonder if adding a dab of red may tone that ugly grey down.

Ray