Making Rock for Your Tank

[Vader]

I am tossing around the idea of making my own rock out of that concrete stuff. Not to save money or anything on that level, but to only to aquascape the tank to the way I want it. I'm thinking it would be easier than looking for pieces and trying to stack them. Any thoughts on this?

[CHUBAKAH]

You missed a very good demo on this at the frag fest two weeks ago :cough: slacker :cough:

 

If you nice, I bet Almon would answer a couple of questions for you. Perhaps PM him your thread.

[MLazar]

You missed a very good demo on this at the frag fest two weeks ago :cough: slacker :cough:

 

If you nice, I bet Almon would answer a couple of questions for you. Perhaps PM him your thread.

 

I regret not paying closer attention to Almon's demonstration at Fragfest myself. I've been looking for a specific shape of rock to combine several frag plugs of zoa's and realize now that I could have custom made them exactly the way I need them.

 

Did anyone video his demo?????

[CHUBAKAH]

That I don't know, but I watched from a distance and it looks fairly simple. I was only about ten feet from the demo, but TBH it was so loud in there with all the members, I couldn't hear a word he was saying, so I am not sure what he uses to mix with the aggreate. I wouldn't mind seeing a DIY thread with pictures myself.

[Stephen]

GARF has a pretty extensive list of links concerning this in their "How-To Pages". It's listed under "Aragocrete".

 

GARF

Edited August 5, 2008 by Stephen

[Coral Hind]

I made some rocks following GARF's instructions about 8 years ago. It was when everyone was trading crushed coral beds out for South Down sand beds in their tanks so everyone was giving way crushed coral. It was a fun family project and my two daughters really enjoyed it. Very easy to do!

[Almon]

Yes, it's easy, fun, and less expensive. These rocks are much lighter than the traditional live rock we all have in our tanks. One of the most attractive benefits is the extremely pourous nature of the DIY rock. I had a display at the WAMAS 2008 Frag Fest showing water flowing through the rock and not around. DIY rock has tremendous capacity for bacteria, worms, pods, algae, and everything else to colonize in it. It can be some of the best "Live Rock" because is it so pourous.

 

I've used crushed coral from the bottom of my tank and also crushed coral bought from the store. There are many types and sizes of material that can be used including old dead coral skeletons and shells. The greater variety of material used will produce more interesting rocks.

 

Portland Cement is the type of cement needed due to its characteristics with water. Type III is prefered because it has a more natural color, however, type I/II can be used and can be found at Lowe's. It has a lovely battleship gray tone to it. The gray color fades over time and the rock will eventually pickup the color of each individual tank, but it takes time.

 

I use a 4:1 ratio. GARF uses aragonite sand in its recipe and suggests using a 6:1 ratio. I don't think it is necessary to be exact, anywhere from 3:1 to 6:1 should work. 8 cups of crushed coral and 2 cups of Portland Cement will make one very large rock, or two medium rocks, or many smaller rocks. Each rock must be made individually, dried, cured, and then joined/placed together to create a reef, or simply placed in the sump to take advantage of the tremendous capabilities of the nitrifying bacteria.

 

Mix the crushed coral/shells/sand with the portland cement and add just a small splash of water. Use only enough water to get the cement to bond to the material. Too much water will literally "Water Down" the cement solution and reduce the overall strength.

 

Use a box of sand that has had water added to make the sand firm. Mold the sand into any desired shape and spoon the agrocrete mixture onto the sand. Push or compact the agrocrete mixture together to provide more contact between the pebbles in order to create a stronger rock. This will also lessen the space between the pebbles resulting in a less pourous rock, but it will be stronger. Compacting the agrocrete too much will create a solid block of concrete which will be undesirable. Find a happy medium...

 

Continue spooning on the agrocrete until the rock is fully formed. Let dry for 1-2 days. At this point, the rock is very brittle with many small pebbles falling off. It is extremely important to "Cure" the rock in water for 3-6 weeks. This will set the cement so it will not easily dissolve in your tank which would cause pH fluctations. It will also make the cement/rock extremely hard.

 

After the rock has cured under water for 3-6 weeks, it can then be put into the aquarium or used with other cured rock to build an reef structure by joining them together.

 

 

I initially becase interested in making Live Rock after reading the information from GARF and vieing some posts made by troll and flowerseller. They all inspired me to begin making live rock.

 

Feel free to ask any questions. I will try to answer them as best that I can.

Edited August 5, 2008 by Almon

[Highland Reefer]

Almon,

 

The coral pugs you made were pretty amazing also. I liked the ingenious use of a baby bottle nipple.

[reefmontalvo]

I thought long and hard on this subject once. The benefits of making your own rock is very nice. The weight to size ratio is also a big plus because you can almost design any landscape without adding a whole lot of unwanted weight. The problem I saw in the whole process is finding a way to advertise and sell the creations. The materials are cheap and the designs are unlimited. I only have great things to say about making rocks. LOL

[MLazar]

Almon,

 

Sincere thanks for the description, process, pictures and "formula" for making live rock. I'm excited to give this a try and will let you know how it turns out.

 

I really like the shapes you made for your tank.

 

Maureen

[NRehman]

Here's a video I took of Almon making the frag plugs....! Enjoy...

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/WamasVideos

[jason the filter freak]

Thanks for the directions for the creation of the rock, that isn't your tank is it? What is a good source around here to get crushed coral?

[Vader]

Thanks for the infomation, Its a big help. How old is the rock in the pic?

[MLazar]

Here's a video I took of Almon making the frag plugs....! Enjoy...

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/WamasVideos

 

Thank you Nadir!

 

Maureen

[m3fan8ic]

It might be a silly question, I have gravel in my 75gl SW tank which I am taking down. Can I use this gravel instead of crush coral ? if not then it's going in trash anyways.

[Almon]

It might be a silly question, I have gravel in my 75gl SW tank which I am taking down. Can I use this gravel instead of crush coral ? if not then it's going in trash anyways.

 

We're probably talking about the same thing. You can use any type or sand, coral, or crushed shells that we use as substrate in our tanks. Old gravel that we are taking out of the tank is the best material, because it's already paid for...

[m3fan8ic]

Just to confirm that gravel in this picture/tank is what I am talking about and want to use. This tank is being taken down in a week or two. I am excited to give it a try

 

 

We're probably talking about the same thing. You can use any type or sand, coral, or crushed shells that we use as substrate in our tanks. Old gravel that we are taking out of the tank is the best material, because it's already paid for...

Edited August 12, 2008 by m3fan8ic

[Almon]

I think that gravel will work well.