DIY Live Rocks

oceana

oceana

Active Member
Originally Posted by ThaNgBom
i say bad idea on asking lfs for there used saltwater.... dont u guys know that u should never!!! introduce there water into your tank??? they have so many deseases and parasite come and go through there system u dont even know what to do... so if u cure or seed your rock with there water = u introducing all the good and lots of bad stuff into your tank...

well first you only take from a stores display reef system. so none of the above applys. i guess i should have specified
 
oceana

oceana

Active Member
Originally Posted by Bronco300
what do you mean the display reef system?? specifying not from their tanks they are selling things out of?

yes most stores like he said use trace amounts of copper in there sytems which you DO NOT want being soaked up by your rocks. most stores have a seperate display only system in there stores. no need for silcon. just slap on some cement and let it dry again.
remeber build in layers. and if you must repair in layers lol
 
bronco300

bronco300

Active Member
well, here is my latest rock...i like it alot...but maybe its just me.. its only a have lace, so it can set up against another rock or whatever....
have any of you others made any rock since?? I'd like to see, so post some pics if ya want, lol. :happyfish :happyfish :happyfish :happyfish
Luke P

 
oceana

oceana

Active Member
great job. we have a few rocks in the exact same style.
here is a cool tip for you.
glue a few frags of GSP on rocks like that. they will cover the entire peice and when they do its really cool to see the fish swim into a sea of GSP and then swim right out the other side. i have a purple fire fish that hides in the rock and you will see his head pop out in the GSP. very cool rock.
BTW why do all your rocks seem to shine?? do you put something on them??maybe just wet i guess
 
bronco300

bronco300

Active Member
yea, i have a few sketches designed exactly for that...have corals all around the rock and fish swimming through the holes and the corals.
they seem wet because i does it with gasoline to get anything letover off it....works great
just kidding...its just because i wash it off, then take a picture so its nice and clean for its new shots. lol. :joy:
 
oceana

oceana

Active Member
Originally Posted by Bronco300
yea, i have a few sketches designed exactly for that...have corals all around the rock and fish swimming through the holes and the corals.
they seem wet because i does it with gasoline to get anything letover off it....works great
just kidding...its just because i wash it off, then take a picture so its nice and clean for its new shots. lol. :joy:

hhahahaha i was on my way to the airport just to come there and slap you in person lol
I read the first half like three times just to be sure i read it right before i read any further
then i read on and was like WHEW!
here is one of the GSP rocks i was talking about. same rock. one old pic and one about 6 months later

 
bronco300

bronco300

Active Member
:hilarious
sorry, i just had to....
i think its amazing how well your rock is covered and everything...i bought some different sand for this last rock...dont know if there is a difference or not, but its all purpose sand instead of just play sand like i used for molds and what not.
earlier you said you have a thing that makes holes in your rock....so are your rocks not solid ont he inside(besides the big holes)? and if not, how do you make the holes...is it bead if its solid?
And honestly..i want to sell some of this rock when its cured...what do you think is a decent price? i have a company already interested, but i have no idea if i should go like 1.99/lb...or if that would be to much since its cement...or if i should just say like 5 dollars a rock, and 10 for the bigger ones..what do you think?i guess if it is heavier because of the cement, i could make it 99 cents/lb...but i have no clue. any advice?
Luke P
 
oceana

oceana

Active Member
we sell ours by the piece..
and yes they are not solid. we put al kinds of stuff to keep them light and good for filtration. in most cases we use different size pieces of tubing all through the rock nd then pull out all we can when it drys.
just be ready to cure and seed all the rock for sale. when i sell the rock they are filled with life and coraline so they ahve lots of appeal to otehr reefers. most people dont want to buy a large chunk of boring grey cement. but show them that same rock covered in coraline and thigns like featehr dusters and all the other stuff that you find on natural rock and they are sold rather quickly.
 
bronco300

bronco300

Active Member
have you ever tried putting pasta in your rock to make holes,etc...i've tried useing spaghetti and some rigatoni and manicotti...some pulls right out...others hopefully will disolve completely..just wondered if youve ever tried it and whawt you thought. :happyfish
 
oceana

oceana

Active Member
nope never used it. no good reason really just did not like the idea of putting somthing that i know will rot into my tank. i know it is supposed to be safe but i just never liked the idea
 
bronco300

bronco300

Active Member
welp...i made three new rocks tonight...i tried making a rock that can conceal the body of a powerhead..i dont know how itll turn out, seemed a little flimsy...but who knows..i also just made a couple other normal rocks...i think theyll be nice...i hope. lol i'll take a picture soon....because we all know i wont wait three days.lol :hilarious
Luke P
 
shiby1510

shiby1510

Member
You guys got me wanting to make some new rock... some of those pieces are looking nice guys
I think I may actually like the look of the rocks made with sand over oyster shells.. not sure yet... however the ones i made were with oyster shells
 
bronco300

bronco300

Active Member
well, i havent tried oyster shells yet...because my stupid feed store will never get them in...but i'm thinking i like the sand versions as well, although i think i'll try getting oysters and mold it like i do with the sand, see what happens..its gettin easier though, thats for sure :happyfish
 
shiby1510

shiby1510

Member
do you have your tank yet??
I wanna make some new rocks.. has anyone ever taken rocks out of their established tank and put in new ones?
 
bronco300

bronco300

Active Member
hey, i'm curious how many powerheads you have in your curing tubs...and how many gph the are rated at...and how many gallons are in that tub...i feel like my powerhead isnt powerful enough...but i could have no clue as well...lol i changed my water last night and there was quite a bit of spaghetti pieces lying around. :joy:
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Originally Posted by TheGrog
Oops. Brain fart.
3 parts shells and 1 part cement for that rock.
I have found that a 7:2 ratio (or 3-1/2 : 1) of shells to cement gives strong yet porous rocks.
You mind correcting that in your previous post, or I can? This thread is in the archieves now and I would not want anyone trying to making own rocks to get an incorrect formula.
Great thread, BTW.
 
oceana

oceana

Active Member
Originally Posted by Bronco300
hey, i'm curious how many powerheads you have in your curing tubs...and how many gph the are rated at...and how many gallons are in that tub...i feel like my powerhead isnt powerful enough...but i could have no clue as well...lol i changed my water last night and there was quite a bit of spaghetti pieces lying around. :joy:
the tubs are the large long rubbermaid kinda and they hold 55 gallons each. i have a mag 5 in each tub
 
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