"Slushy" media in a calcium reactor

[davelin315]

I have been thinking about what to do with the rock I have purchased for my 300 so far and was going to either epoxy some of the pieces together or drill some holes through them and bind them together with either PVC or some metal rods that won't leach anything into the water. Anyway, I started to wonder about reactor media that has been in water with a pH below 6.6 or whatever the magic number is. Will this stuff solidify when the pH comes back up? If so, I was thinking that I could use this "slush" to cememt rocks together. The alternative was using some "aragocrete" rock but that would require me to kill off the live rock that I cemented together with it.

 

Anyone have any thoughts on this? I know that I have had crushed coral beds that soldified where there was nothing but anaerobic activity going on so could this be a better way to go than epoxy?

[flowerseller]

Dump it Dave

 

Drill holes and use zip ties to connect rocks. Cut the ties if you need to change your aquascape.

[jason the filter freak]

Dump it Dave

 

Drill holes and use zip ties to connect rocks. Cut the ties if you need to change your aquascape.

 

I've seen some pretty interesting zip/wire tie set ups that flowersellers talking about, even using some ties to supend rock to make bridge and cave scape, like he mentioned if you need to change your aqua scape, just "cut the cord" so to speak

[davelin315]

I was thinking of that but I'd like something more permanent. By the way, I don't have have any "slushy" media but was tossing around the idea for a more permanent solution than zip ties. My fear is that over time they eventually wear down and that in a reef environment with all the things that grow and eat the things that grow, eventually, one would fail and I'd have a rock tumbling party in the tank.

[ErikS]

My fear is that over time they eventually wear down and that in a reef environment with all the things that grow and eat the things that grow

Not likely, just look at pollution - few things can damage petroleum by-products

 

I've had zip ties submerged in a tank for years, and if Chip has used them think how long he's had them = little chance of failure. And the "eat & grow" part actually helps, as things grow then tend to cement the rocks together rather than make them fall apart.