I am faced with some sub par to say the least substrate sold to me by my LFS as live sand but it isn't sand at all. Its actually crudely crushed sea shells with some pieces as large as 3/4 to 1 inch pieces. Some are full shells, and I am considering what to do with it. I don't want to toss it in the trash, and the idea of reduce, reuse, recycle is a good idea.
I also have 40 lbs of aragonite sand, that my buddy picked up for me in my freshwater days. He uses sand in his freshwater setups, and loves it! So I swapped out my freshwater gravel for sand, and failed to rinse it before hand or read instructions. Needless to say my freshwater tank went armageddon cloudy on me, and the hardness went off the charts. Resulting in the first mass die off I have ever experienced in years of aquariums. I even managed to kill of a plecostamus, which was a new low for me! I almost gave up the hobby all together! This turn of events lead me to finally tackle my salt water dream so I cant complain really. I am happy with the choice I made to kick it up a notch.
So the situation stands..
40 pounds of sand sitting in a tub doing NADA
30 pounds of crushed sea shells doing NADA
Still need 47 pounds of
live rock to reach my goal of 1.65 lbs/gallon
I have a 25 lb behemoth of a live rock, I call it the "Brain" its 100% covered with corraline, and looks awesome.
I have another 10-15 lb of 80% covered rock.
The tank has been doing well for over 8 months now, aside from 1 fish loss, the rest are doing fine. The 1st death was within the first 30 mins of acclimation.
So I need more live rock, or rather I need more seedable rock. So I read a long time ago about using
cement and crushed oyster shell to make rock for use in your tank. It only costs around 9 cents a lb to make, and was using readily available materials. The only prob was the long cure time, and you needed an original source to seed it with. Since I already have an established and cycled tank, why not take 2 months to cure the remaining rock and introduce it to colonize? Since its October, and christmas is 2 months away it seems like a god christmas present to dear old dad!
For a family man like myself its important to involve the kids. They learn so much, and feel important if they can help! So for me it all makes alot of sense, and we are going to be using readily available stuff.
Here is what you need:
1-
Portland Cement people will debate what kind to use, I and II are just great. Cheap as it gets, I am talking a 100 lb bag for 11 bucks! At my hardware store.
2-
Sand don't use filler sand, use any kind but the post mix kind, and stay away from the crayola colored ones. Use a standard harvest to make a sand box stuff, stick with natural colors! Beige sand good Neon green not so good! In our case we have used argonite sand from previous freshwater tank.
3-
Crushed shells, you can buy this stuff at any farm feed store or farmers co-op. I have seen it posted before why A chicken would ever digest this stuff? Well I was raised on a farm, and we raised a bunch of animals turkeys and chickens were just 2 of them! Chickens need to eat grit to help digest their food. The grit helps grind down the food the hens eat because as everyone knows, chickens don't have teeth. They also slowly absorb the calcium from the shells to use later in the formation of thier eggs outer layer. If they are calcium deprived they will lay 'Rubber Eggs" and they will break easily. On a side note, Dinosaurs from the Jurassic-Cretaceous period also did something similar to aid digestion. They swallowed small stones, and are commonly found in dino-rich areas. These highly polished stones are referred to as "Gizzard Stones", and can be readily purchased at many tourist shops and of course ebay. This also leads to the assumption as presented by DR Robert Bakker(I have met him personally), that dinosaurs eventually evolved into birds.
4-
A bed to make the design in. There are a ton of ways to do this, but the common idea I see is using a wet bed of sand to form designs in. Why limit yourself? Get really creative and create some really kick ass ideas! Personally for one of my designs I am using a 3 lb block of wax. I am slowly carving this to create a sculpture which once it is done I will dip into a mold of plaster of Paris, and then once it is hardened melt it out collecting the wax. Once the wax is gone I will fill it with cement and then "Break The Mold" to get it out.
Another idea I see is using pasta to create pores. The pasta will easily be removed during the curing process.
I also have another idea of my own. We all worry about weight, and of course the thicker the concrete the longer the curing process. My idea is to use a "filler" to reduce weight and of course cure time. I cant believe anyone hasn't used that idea yet. Basically you want to create a 6" by 10 " rock. That is a pretty **** big rock! It would weigh about 15 lbs, and use the same amount of cement. So my idea is since structural integrity means NADA to substitute air when possible? My idea is to use a balloon to form the base of the model, and create a hallow shell. The end result is a less than 3 lb chunk of rock that occupies the same amount of space. Sure you have to puncture the balloon afterwards, but just pop it, and fill it in with cement or glue. No harm no foul in my eyes!
I believe that using my ideas they could reduce cure time to less than 1 week. I guess time will tell, because I am going to try it myself.
5-
A tub to cure it in
You can keep these in rubbermaid tubs, they are cheap 5g at the extreme end, most are a simple 2g tub for less than $5!
You need to keep all made stones seperate from your tank! Remember that these creations no matter how heart felt they are. They still need to have an affect on your aquarium! You need to cycle them to reduce the PH they create, and believe me they can cause more than "Hell In A Basket" to an established tank. No matter how excited you are, allow for the appropriate time to acclimate has passed. Remember if you are using an acid to reduce the PH that it is false! Until it can produce a 7.9-7.1 without additives is it safe to use!
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
6-
If all is green you are good to go!
Add it to your system very slowly! Like 1 3lb piece per week, experienced people may add all at once. I break the chart down like this..... Per hours per week!
>1 You are going to fail......
1-5 Its gonna be hard....
10-15 You got it, success is good
20-40 Nub stuff for you
