[crete456]

hello out there...just finished my first test batch of reef rocks using crushed oyster shells & type I portand cement, it took me awhile to find oyster shells but i got it(dont ask me how a chicken is able to eat and digest this stuff), in fact the store was right under my nose,past it on my way home from work...here in new jersey theres not alot of chicken farms , if all turns out well my cost will be no where near the $8.99lb. they charge for rocks around here...ive read several articles on this subject and found that some folks are placing the rocks in the oven after forming...this is not good, ive been aound concrete for the last 6 years in my work...concrete needs water to hydrate(chemical reaction between portland cement and water)or it will never reach full strength, by placing the concrete in the oven one one will end up with weak rocks because the water cement ratio is not in proportion...when we take test cylinders for compressive strength testing immediately after forming the molds they are covered with a plastic cap or burlap(to hold the moisture in) til they set(24hrs.) then they are tranported to the lab and placed in either a cure room(where humidity and temp are constant) or placed in large troughs covered completely with water @ 60F to 80F temp til they are broken @ 28days(ulitmate strength).Even though the concrete seems strong after initial set 3-6 hrs.,the chemical reaction is still taking place between the cement& water...so toss out the oven and place in water...also make sure the mold sand is moist or it will absorb moisture from the prepared concrete once again altering the water cement ratio... hope this will help !

[leebca]

Is there a preferred ratio of cement to [substrate, crushed coral, sand, etc.]?

[underseaworld]

Originally Posted by leebca

Is there a preferred ratio of cement to [substrate, crushed coral, sand, etc.]?

This is the site I used to make my rocks. The rocks came out fine and I have plenty of corline growing on them. I made at least 100lbs. I now have a 300gl tank and need to make some more for this tank. I plan on making about 150lbs. In my mixture along with the crushed oyster shells I put rice krispies in it to make it more pourous. When the rocks are done curing the rice krispies will be long gone.
http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog...er_052498.html

[leebca]

THANKS!

That's a great link. I just realized there is another thread on making rock. I guess it didn't make it here to the 'correct' Forum:
Anyone made their own rock?

[BubbaWPB]

I think it was Ninong who posted a good idea on the 6 week curing time in tapwater if you have a small amount of the stuff - put it in the toilet tank. The water is changed every time you flush.

[scubadude]

I havent been up on this topic lately but used to and if memory serves me correctly the heating of rock was more for live rock not base rock Im 100% w/ya on the slow curing methods, right humidity, etc., Crete

I would love to see any threads you have on this crete....plez feel free to post any links you have.

The biggest problem I have w/base rock is you can get it looking great after 8+ mos in your tank but its no where near what you will get from the ocean that has been there since existance building up its saturation levels. The best way to get as close to possible you can culturing your own base rock is to make as low as percentages in each system as possible versus natural uninhibited live rock. I learned alot on how to do it just cuz I had large vats of natural live rock to seed it with, the real difference in the industry is how much LFS's are starting to take advantage of this situation, because they have so much turnover in different forms of natural LR if they just put a small few base rock in there periodiocally they get really great stuff just after 8mos. I personally would never put more than 33% base rock in a system wether its natural base rock or man made....man made makes most ppl even more leary th

[scubadude]

I forgot to mention why I have heard of ppl using the oven on LR is they have a uncontrallable situation such as a problematic algae or parasite etc there are some of these which are commonly known to cure problems with something other than cooking rock....for example aiptasia = peppermint shrimps, copperband butterfly, verghia nudibranchs. I think the one that almost got me to the point of thinking cooking the rock was the montipora eating nudibranchs....and i know many of advanced aquarist that have painstakingly had to go through w/the same thing and I believe some of them tried cooking rock. Supposedly there are some eggs that can go dormant...kind of like brine shrimp. Kind of curious now to what heat temperature it would take for dry freezed bs eggs to be killed. lets see....i know i have that FAF culture manual round here sumwhere

[crete456]

Hello all...Ive just completed my 4th batch of DIY rock and i must say im getting better at it...ive gone to different sites that sell rock, print out the pictures and try and duplicate...but it does take practice...im making my mixture a bit more flowable it seem to do the best job...hey can anyone tell me the process of acclimating live rock...crete...thanks!

[underseaworld]

Originally Posted by crete456

Hello all...Ive just completed my 4th batch of DIY rock and i must say im getting better at it...ive gone to different sites that sell rock, print out the pictures and try and duplicate...but it does take practice...im making my mixture a bit more flowable it seem to do the best job...hey can anyone tell me the process of acclimating live rock...crete...thanks!

As long as the live rock has been cured i have always placed the rock directly into the tank.

[crete456]

thanks for the reply under...how does one go about curing the rock...or is this how they come from the LFS...crete

[underseaworld]

Originally Posted by crete456

thanks for the reply under...how does one go about curing the rock...or is this how they come from the LFS...crete

I had a large home with three baths. I used one of the bath tubs that was not being used and changed out the water every 2 days did that for 6 weeks. Then place the rocks in the tank. This was done on the rocks that I made.

The live rock that I purchased was always fully cured at the lfs. I would place them right into my tank.

If the rocks you get from the fish store smell real bad then I would place them in a container with a protien skimmer to help cure them. You would also need to have some tank water in there too. This is always a good time to do a water change. Take tank water and place in the live rock container.

It really depends on what rocks you want to cure....