making Aragocrete locally, is anyone?

[snolan]

Is anyone making Aragocrete locally?

Please share your experiences in making it and how it held up in tank over time...   I am very curious about Aragocrete because I want more live rock but would like to avoid pulling anymore from the sea.

 

I'd be interested in buying or trading for some Aragocrete rocks - I am not so handy a do-it-yourselfer, so making it myself seems not to be an option.

[Aquariareview]

In the past I have made a lot of Arago-crete live rocks. (when I was self employed and had the time)

 

There is rock I have made in about 25 big tanks in OK and TX and I still have about 3 large pieces (14 years old) in my own tank.

If you are in a hurry this is not a route to go. The curing process is long. I have never had a batch take less than 12 weeks before it is ready for a reef tank, and that is if you push it with a 10% vineger cure for the first week or two.

 

The following is the recipe I have used in the past.

1. One bag of Southdown or aragonite sand.

2. One bag of CaribSea Aruba Shell aragonite Gravel.

3. One bag of #3 Portland cement

4. A small quantity - 2 or 3 cubic feet of plastic sawdust.

Drilling holes in black plastic pipe can make one of the best types of plastic.

 

Now Take a box (like a styro fish box) and fill it with southdown. Dig a 3-5 inch hole the size & shape of the rock you want to make. Line it with a mix of aragonite Gravel and PVC shavings. Now for the fun part, play with the shape. make shelves, tables, caves, whatever you can think of. Start simple then work up to the shape that is strange and tricky. I have used paper towel tubes to make holes by jamming them in the sand before I filled the mold with the mix. you can use paper straws, noodles or anything that will rot away in the water during the curing process. Just don't do so much trick stuff that you make the rock weak.

 

Mixing a batch of Aragocrete.

five parts aragonite sand

one part  of Portland cement

one part plastic sawdust.

 

Put on a painters mask first.

Put five cups of aragonite sand in your mixing container. Add one cup of white cement powder and mix the two ingredients together while dry. Slowly add a small amount of clean fresh water while stirring.

 

Add just enough water to get the mix wet (oatmeal consistency). Only wet enough to hold the mix together when you squeeze it in your hand you get a mud ball. A batch that is mixed properly will appear too dry when you start working with this product. If your batch holds together when you do a mud ball test it is ready. Now you can add a small amount of plastic. The plastic will make the finished rocks light and porous. keep the mix wet by adding small amounts of water as needed.

 

Gently spoon the mix into the mold then sprinkle more of the Pvc gravel mix over it.

 

Fresh water cure

1.Let it set for 2 days.

2.Move it to large container (trash barrel, kiddy pool)

3.Cover with water, add a power head or pump

4.Change water 100 % every 3 days for 6 weeks

5.cover with water and test PH wait 5 days test again

6.If ph rises repeat step 5 until the rise is gone (3 to 6 times)

 

Saltwater Cure

1.Place in a tank of saltwater, Not your reef tank It will still cause problems.

2.Do large water changes (30-40% every week) for 4 weeks

3.Add a strip of poly filter or some other phosphate remover. Be sure that your alkalinity, pH, calcium and strontium levels are as optimum as you can possibly make them.

3.Take live rock and scrape Coralline off into a bowl of saltwater. With a turkey baster spread the Coralline onto the rock. Light with actinics and add clean up critters.

4.As Coralline grows add rock to your tank.

 

As you can see, this is a long process. if you rush it and add the rock to your reef tank, be ready for a big spike of phosphate and the bigest outbreak of hair algae you have ever seen.