Originally Posted by My Way
Not my recipe, but it seems to work. It's so simple, it's hard to believe it works. Portland Cement and Rock salt. I had a hard time finding large bags of salt this time of year, I did find large bags of Water Softener Salt at Wallmart. 1 part cement to 4 parts of salt.
Dump the cement into a 5 gallon bucket and slowly add water, you want a thick mixture. Once it is thoroughly mixed, add the salt and mix some more. Once it is thoroughly mixed, I dumped a handful onto a plastic garbage bag and allow to dry. To make the tall rock I added more on top when I made my 2nd batch. There are many ways to make "molds" for diferent shapes. these rocks have flat bottoms, Im going to try making a batch then turn them over after they dry and add to then to make more rounded shapes. I also will be making some where I will be smoothing them with my hands to be smooth for growing my Zoa frags onto. Once it dries, you need to cure it to be safe for use in you tank by soaking it in tubs. You need to do this to dissolve the salt and to leach out what is in the cement that raises the Ph, from what I understand this will take about 6-8 weeks. I have been changing the water in the tub every 2 days. I do believe a PH or airstones in the tank would help speed up the process. Once the ph drops to an acceptable amount, you are read to use it. If needed I can take pics the next batch I make. My next batch will be caves and arches.
Great information , very clever to use salt as it will dissolve. did you get that off of google? or a search engine .. that has got to be the cheapest method i have come accross and those are great looking peices .. im going to try it .. nothing to really lose .... I would love to see pics of your next batch