Rock making (2 Viewers)

[Guest]

i got a couple questions. i would like to konw how you are soakin the rocks. are you using a filter systerm in the sock or what?
and another thing. how do you make live rock become live rock since this is man made rock. ??
sorry im new to marine tanks, and well i have a 24g and would love to make sometihng for that tank to look cooler than staking up a few rocks that i bought. IM A TOTAL DIYer and would like to havea reason to play with this

 

[MarkieB]

You soak the rock in fresh water for about a month, maybe 6 weeks. You are leaching out the ph. Concrete is very high in ph initially.

You change the fresh water as often as you can. Once a day would be optimal but maybe not realistic. I am changing it about every 2 to 3 day.
No filter. You are more than welcome to come by and take a look.

I have to go back and see in this thread when I started but I am now beginning to see some major drops in the ph. Finally.

It was off the scale but is about down to 9 now.

Once the ph is right and stable you can start a salt water bath and introduce some live bacteria. Many ways to do that. Buy it. Other live rock. etc. The rock will naturally become live once exposed to the salt water and some initial form of bacteria and food.

Once my ph is stable I am going to add a powerhead, some live bacteria, and some copepods and mysis and start feeding the culture until my tank is ready for it to grow them out and life the rock.

Does that help answer the questions you have?

 

[thangbom4321]

the lime in the concrete is what make the crazy ph lvls.. by bathing them in water.. you leech/ dilute the lime out to make them acceptible in out tanks.. after the fresh bath you do a salt bath..( used old WC water from main tank) the salt bath will cause a small ph spike again.. you do a few wc of salt and mesure ph.. when it's stable .. you can then add it to your tank..

for people that are making small rrubble rocks.. just put the rock in a cup and in the back of you rtoilet.. every flush is a WC.. after a few weeks.. you should be good for the salt bath...

markie9.. i bet this project of yours is semi a pain.. all that WC and stuff... kinda cool to do i do have to admit...

i had a realitivly clean ocean to bath and seed my rock... so i dont know exactly how pain staking this 'curing' process is...

YzGYz

 

[MarkieB]

markie9.. i bet this project of yours is semi a pain.. all that WC and stuff... kinda cool to do i do have to admit...

Not at all.
Go out and turn a valve, let the tub drain, and fill.

 

[jdeveaux]

Just a thought.

You could probably speed up the process by injecting CO2 into the water to force the PH to drop and cause the lime to leech off faster.

Not sure how it would work in this senario but it works great for calcium reactors.

Regards,

 

[MarkieB]

There are probably a few faster options, but since my tank won't be in until Dec I am in no rush. Even a powerhead running in the vat would probably speed it up, but no reason to waste the electricity since time is on my side.

 

[thangbom4321]

im with you on that one.. if time permits.. take it the slow and cheap way...

YzGyz

 

[LaTechReefer]

i thought lime was acidic... which would be a lower pH???

 

[landfish]

i thought lime was acidic... which would be a lower pH???

nope you got it backwards.

Lime is extremely basic

 

[Guest]

Hey thanks for the answers to the questions. you guys are great. good luck. if i try it ill have to let yall konw. i have a small tank now and dont like my rock setup. so maybe one day ill make me a rock that i like for my tank. lol. defently make my own for a big tank when i do one.

 

[MarkieB]

What would be really nice is to have access to a lake or river or stream where you could lay it there for a month. A lot easier that way for sure.

 

[Guest]

i got a stream right down from my house. lol. good idea

 

[MarkieB]

I grabbed a rock and took some close ups to show how open it really is!
It was hard to tell on the other pics.

 

[thangbom4321]

thats nice.. way more open and holy than my rocks.. looks like oatmeal cookie!!!!

YzGyz

 

[MarkieB]

Thanks

 

[jdeveaux]

Really nice it wall also give you lots of good texture for attaching frags. Looking great.

 

[MarkieB]

Indeed it will. Never thought about that.

 

[sbfuller]

so i'm thinking about trying this just to add some more rock to my fuge, about what did you spend to make all of that or to get a good start.

 

[MarkieB]

White concrete is about $16.00
The crushed oyster is about $7.00 a bag.
The salt for molding is about 7.00 a bag.


So for about $ 30.00 you will be able to make a LOT of rock!
What is in the bucket you see was about 37.00 because I made about 2 bags worth of crushed oyster shell, had half crete left over and sold the half bag recovering some of that back. It's just the curing time that will drive you nuts. I am almost there now, perhaps another week or 2 max I would say.

 

[sbfuller]

you mean letting the concrete cure completely before you can move it? i live right by kemah and know of a place where i can go put it in saltwater for a couple months to fix the pH so that part shouldn't be a problem. i've read through this a couple times but am still kinda confused. you lay out a bed of rock salt, kinda drip the concrete mix onto it until you get the shape you want? is that right? then let it sit for a good 2 weeks before i move it into the bay?