Creating Live Rock??? How to.....

asharp13

asharp13

Member
I have seen people construct awesome tanks created with egg crate and some foam stuff. i'm putting together lots of ideas in my head about my next tank setup and i hate trying to puzzle piece together huge chunks of LR. I want to create many different passageways for my little critters to swim through under my control, where i can actually still see them.
how do i do this? what materials do i use? and how do i get that to all equal the benifits of LR?...pics would be great, THX!!
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Get a bunch of different size live, base, tufa rock. A cement drill bit the size of a plastic coat hanger. Drill rock and insert the plastic hanger pcs. in the scape you want outside the tank. Take it apart and put it back together in the tank. forget the eggcrate and foam.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
can sit out some time if wrapped in wet newspapaer. Don't want the light to get to it, the coralline will bleach. If you are doing this to cycle a new tank what little die off you get will just help spike the ammonia. Have a tub of saltwater close by and you can move the rock out to make the scape and back into the water. Lots of ways to keep it viable.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3132542
Get a bunch of different size live, base, tufa rock. A cement drill bit the size of a plastic coat hanger. Drill rock and insert the plastic hanger pcs. in the scape you want outside the tank. Take it apart and put it back together in the tank. forget the egg crate and foam.<--huh?
I did the cement drill bit idea, and the next foam wall build I do will be done without. This doesn't mean the drilling was a bad idea, but it was really hard to do, EXTREMELY difficult. You break A LOT of pieces!
Next time I will simply lay the rocks where I want them and foam around them. They will stay in place, this stuff is extremely strong. Instead of coat hangers, use zip ties if you do drill, and remember to tie them in the from so you can snip them flush easy.
Originally Posted by asharp13
http:///forum/post/3132548
how long can LR sit out of water?
Up to 24hours, the longer you wait the more die off you will have. If you have to keep it out that long your going to have to wrap it in wet newspaper. If your worried about transporting it from someone else's tank to yours, an hour long trip in the car will be perfectly fine inside a cooler.
My build thread has a couple detailed pages on the whole process if your interested. The only thing I would do differently next time is I would personally foam it all directly inside the tank against the wall, and skipp drilling. That is the only way i can see it getting done w/out egg crate(which is why I dont understand spanko's quote), and you create much tighter seal.
If you don't want to seal it permanently to the tank, its simple to draw a small bead of foam around the edges to the egg crate to prevent water flow behind it. Mine is over 2 months old and the back still looks clean and debris free. Everywhere else I have bad flow is covered in a thin layer already.
 
asharp13

asharp13

Member
what kind of foam do you recommend using?
does any one have a build diary of actually doing this? and options when it comes to structuring a tank?
please add a link if you do...THX!!!
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
Great stuff UV pond foam. Cost double, but its UV resistant so your lights wont damage it. Its meant for fish ponds. Better covarage vs other UV pond foams. What size tank you doing?
2 cans will coat a 30g nano wall. 125 should take 7-8
 
asharp13

asharp13

Member
i am planning about a 30gal. i have seen people take dead rock (not sure what its called) and add that along with live rock to start their reef tanks. what is that rock called and how long must the dead rock be underwater to become LR?
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
Originally Posted by asharp13
http:///forum/post/3132704
i am planning about a 30gal. i have seen people take dead rock (not sure what its called) and add that along with live rock to start their reef tanks. what is that rock called and how long must the dead rock be underwater to become LR?
Its called base rock, about 2 bucks a pound. You can seed it with a small amount of LR, takes anywhere form 6months to 2 years depending on the porousness of your base rock to become live.
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3132715
Acrylic rod and reef epoxy tank pictures.

Excellent find.
 
asharp13

asharp13

Member
when i do this do i just built the structure out off] egg crate, fill it with foam, and stick rock and sand to the wet foam? is it that easy?? i feel like im missing something
 
posiden

posiden

Active Member
Foam walls are done with macro (this is the dead dry rock) rock and foam. It is then covered in an epoxy. While the epoxy is still wet you sprinkle sand or crushed aragonite on it. It will stick to the epoxy giving it the look of the real thing.
The other idea that the others are showing you, are real LR drilled and a acrylic rod inserted to make stacking them easy. Using putty will secure the rock in place. It will lock them together if you will.
You can DIY your own rock if you wish. There are a couple different methods on that as well.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
Originally Posted by asharp13
http:///forum/post/3133593
when i do this do i just built the structure out off] egg crate, fill it with foam, and stick rock and sand to the wet foam? is it that easy?? i feel like im missing something
Your missing coating it with epoxy.
1. Foam rocks into place
2. Optional: Pack with water softening salt found at home depot to add porous texture. Rinse when dry.(you wont entirely notice this step, but for some spots I didn't coat with sand, it really looks like lava oozed out of the ground, VERY cool, everyone comments on it and loves it!)
3. coat with epoxy,the kind found in hobby stores, I recommend 20min.
4. Pour on LS, add some crushed coral and shells as well to give it texture.
5. Repeat steps 3-4 using different layers and types of sand. Really gives it a nice realistic textured look.
 
king_neptune

king_neptune

Active Member
Originally Posted by Posiden
http:///forum/post/3133599
Spanko; I really liked this one. I followed his thread for a bit. However I have not scene it in a while.
Id like to see how he did the filtration in that rimless tank, I cant see any evidence of drilling. Can you dig it up for me?
 
bms

bms

Member
Originally Posted by King_Neptune
http:///forum/post/3133650
Id like to see how he did the filtration in that rimless tank, I cant see any evidence of drilling. Can you dig it up for me?
i could be wrong but it looks like one of those black backgrounds with a built in overflow. to me it looks like in the middle of the black there in a spot that indents toward the tank that could possibly be an overflow?? it becomes clearer when you zoom (at least on my macbook)...it looks like you can even see little white holes..baffles..with water draining at the top in the middle above the powerhead. although where the return is??? im clueless..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top