fogcutter May 25, 2010 Share May 25, 2010 I am still in the planning stages for my tank and I'm thinking about what I want to use for LR. Since I wanted to have some caves I was considering making my own rock with the various recipes and techniques I've seen here and elsewhere. Then I had another thought....could I take some dry rock like the Marco stuff and drill or chisel some holes and caves? Or would you think it would be too brittle to do anything like that? Just a thought.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyfeet May 25, 2010 Share May 25, 2010 I'd do it with a drill/grinder Don't think it would break that way, with a chisel you run the risk of smacking a fault and cracking the rock in half. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie May 25, 2010 Share May 25, 2010 Not to sound like your High School shop teacher, but if you decide to go beatin' on any kind of rock, be sure to wear eye protection. That said, you should be able to shape the Marco rock any way that you want it. Some of the LFS carry a similar product in their stores. I know House of Tropicals in Glenn Bernnie does and I think that some of the Virginia stores carry it as well. Also, Pristine Aquariums in Alexandria has cured(ish) live rock in store most of the time. Sure, you can save $ by ordering online, but you can pick out EXACTLY what you want locally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie May 25, 2010 Share May 25, 2010 I'd do it with a drill/grinder Don't think it would break that way, with a chisel you run the risk of smacking a fault and cracking the rock in half. Not to mention things like broken fingers and splinters in your eye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad May 25, 2010 Share May 25, 2010 Another vote for drilling... my experience with chiselling rock has usually led to smaller pieces of rock. Also wet, saturated rock is usually less brittle than completely dry rock. Wet rock (like live rock) often has a texture closer to very densely packed clay, but it dries to be very brittle. If you get dry rock, you may consider soaking it for a while before working with it. (will make it less dusty to work with anyway). FWIW, I have drilled and glued rock many times with good success to create caves or pillars or whatever. What I do is drill holes through the rock, then spear it with small pieces of acrylic rod (swizel sticks work well for this) or zip tie it together, and then to make sure it doesnt move I glue it with either putty epoxy or regular two part (whatever I have on hand). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyfeet May 25, 2010 Share May 25, 2010 Not to mention things like broken fingers and splinters in your eye. Very true! Eye protection is a MUST!!!!!!! You don't want that dust and chips getting into your eyes!!! ouch! I honestly can't stress that enough I got concrete dust in my eyes once and that was the beginning of a bad week. If you do break the rock you could always zip tie and glue it back in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truestelf May 25, 2010 Share May 25, 2010 be a man no eye protection and make sure to hit your fingers a few times and bleed a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami May 26, 2010 Share May 26, 2010 How about using some smaller rock and epoxying the shapes together to form more natural looking caves with less waste of what you pay for (i.e. rock)? I know that I've seen a picture of this approach somewhere that led to some pretty nice looking custom-rock, but I can't seem to find it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fogcutter May 26, 2010 Author Share May 26, 2010 How about using some smaller rock and epoxying the shapes together to form more natural looking caves with less waste of what you pay for (i.e. rock)? I know that I've seen a picture of this approach somewhere that led to some pretty nice looking custom-rock, but I can't seem to find it.... Hmmm....that's sounds like a definite possibility. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami May 26, 2010 Share May 26, 2010 If I could find the link or the page that I saw this on, I'm sure that it would be an inspiration to you. Somebody else reading this may have seen it and could post.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind May 26, 2010 Share May 26, 2010 Search youtube for different ideas on building caves from small rocks. Here is one I like for all the small places that fish can hide in as well as a few larger caves. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNwh_TDhGkY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami May 26, 2010 Share May 26, 2010 Some links. Not the build thread I was looking for, but still... http://web1.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=12694964&postcount=26 http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=16598622&postcount=121 http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1300282 Just a few ideas from Googling "aquascaping epoxy marco rock site:reefcentral.com" I saw this the other day in another thread and sort of laughed. Click and the Google search will be done for you: Let me Google that for you.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BowieReefer84 May 26, 2010 Share May 26, 2010 (edited) This foam seems to be popular. http://www.touch-n-f...m/landscape.php Just seems like you have to be careful not to use very much and to make sure your rock is heavy so the aquascape doesn't float away. . . . Edited May 26, 2010 by BowieReefer84 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind May 26, 2010 Share May 26, 2010 Some links. Not the build thread I was looking for, but still... I saw this the other day in another thread and sort of laughed. Click and the Google search will be done for you: Let me Google that for you.... That was neat, now I just have to figure out how you did it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami May 26, 2010 Share May 26, 2010 That was neat, now I just have to figure out how you did it. Just go here: http://www.lmgtfy.com (lmgtfy = let me google that for you) Type in what you're looking for and it will give you a link to the script. Just use the link in the post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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