bellanavis
Active Member
Very nice, thanks for the pictures.
DIY Live Rocks
- Thread starter hckycoz
- Start date
bellanavis
Active Member
I just did another water change on my rock, this last batch got really good. I really like the mixture, I did not really follow any recipe, I just keept adding cement, sand, and CC till it looked good. This batch really looks like real LR. I did not take any pictures, stupid me, but I will next time I do a water change in 3 or 4 days. I wish I was better at making shapes, mine all kinda look the same, and this batch that I like the mixture, I made them for the 40 gallon, and these will go on the bottom of the tank, so I just made them on the floor, so the bottom is totaly flat. I will have to pratice making shapes in the sand, I just don't have all that good imagination.
Anyone else have an update of their rock?
Anyone else have an update of their rock?
maelv
Active Member
Originally Posted by bpreef
yea i was wondering also about what cement to use i tried portland II-V with a 1:5 ratio of sand and a half cup shells they are still drying but i will post pics soon. also does anyone know if this cement is safe or they have used it?
Am I reading this correctly...
1 cup cement
5 cups sand
1/2 cup shells
I used 1 cup of cement to 5 cups of crushed oyster shells that I bought from a feed store. The only thing I used sand for was to make little tunnels and the mold. They are still sitting in a tub trying to get the ph squared away. I beleive it is week 4....
yea i was wondering also about what cement to use i tried portland II-V with a 1:5 ratio of sand and a half cup shells they are still drying but i will post pics soon. also does anyone know if this cement is safe or they have used it?
Am I reading this correctly...
1 cup cement
5 cups sand
1/2 cup shells
I used 1 cup of cement to 5 cups of crushed oyster shells that I bought from a feed store. The only thing I used sand for was to make little tunnels and the mold. They are still sitting in a tub trying to get the ph squared away. I beleive it is week 4....
suicidepotato
Member
Hello, I was just reading this post and I was in the market for buying some live rock for my 125 gal,,,I was wondering if this type of rock would work for a "Live rock" structure??? If so how much would you charge me to make me some??? About 40-50 lbs.... I dont have the room to make my own,,,sounds crazy uh??
murray bmf
Member
Making live rock, now thats pretty cool
nightstalk
Member
If people are willing to make this and sell it let me know because i have everything i need to set up my tank but rock and i would love some of these cool shapes that the diy rock lets you get. LMK!
tree
Member
I don't think I would make it for anyone else. It does take up space and is time consuming but well worth it. Plus it is freezing outside at the moment - brrrrr. I'm posting my updates. The first is a photo from a month ago, and the rest are from today. The coraline is really starting to take over and we have aquascaped the other rock around it.
bellanavis
Active Member
Looks good
triga22
Active Member
Does someone have a good formula/way of making them with crushed coral. I have crushed coral in my tank right now and dont feel like wasting it when I use the sand. I know that you use cement and water and let them sit in freshewater buckts for 6 weeks changing the water everyother day... ?
tree
Member
I had crushed coral left from pulling it out of my tank a couple years ago. I used the following recipe:
2 parts Portland Cement
4 parts Crushed Oyster Shells - you could use crushed coral instead
2 parts Aragonite Sand
1 part Crushed Coral
Everyone's recipe is a little different, not right or wrong - just different. I played around with the mix until I got the look I wanted. Just made really small rocks that could be used for frags. I found that with my recipe, you have to drop the mix into your sand mold. If you try & spread it out with your hand it is not as porous as I wanted it.
2 parts Portland Cement
4 parts Crushed Oyster Shells - you could use crushed coral instead
2 parts Aragonite Sand
1 part Crushed Coral
Everyone's recipe is a little different, not right or wrong - just different. I played around with the mix until I got the look I wanted. Just made really small rocks that could be used for frags. I found that with my recipe, you have to drop the mix into your sand mold. If you try & spread it out with your hand it is not as porous as I wanted it.
maelv
Active Member
Kayak, here is the formula I used...
5 parts crushed oysters
1 part portland cement
1 bag of crushed oysters (50 lbs) makes around 50 lbs of rock...Costs were:
Sand for mold ($3/50 lb bag) - 1 bag
Portland Cement (I think it was about $6/90 lb bag) 1 bag
Crushed Oysters ($8/50 lb bag) - 2 bags...
I only made a couple of rocks and still have tons of cement left along with one bag of oyster shells...so what....less than $20....and I had containers on hand .....
Cement and play sand I found at home depot..and the crushed oysters were at a local feed and supplies store...
5 parts crushed oysters
1 part portland cement
1 bag of crushed oysters (50 lbs) makes around 50 lbs of rock...Costs were:
Sand for mold ($3/50 lb bag) - 1 bag
Portland Cement (I think it was about $6/90 lb bag) 1 bag
Crushed Oysters ($8/50 lb bag) - 2 bags...
I only made a couple of rocks and still have tons of cement left along with one bag of oyster shells...so what....less than $20....and I had containers on hand .....
Cement and play sand I found at home depot..and the crushed oysters were at a local feed and supplies store...
buffett
Member
i made 3 rocks this past week, i didnt have a formula really, i just kinda mixed up the portland cement and the crushed coral until i was happy with the mix.
i read somewhere that somebody also used rock salt to help it be more porous, im going to try this with my next batch of rocks
i read somewhere that somebody also used rock salt to help it be more porous, im going to try this with my next batch of rocks
bellanavis
Active Member
Ok guys, I have made 3 batches of rock, and I am having trouble with making shapes. Even if I dig a mold in the sand, it seems to push flat when I put the rock mixture in. All my rocks seem flat, well, most of them. Anyways, any tips? Did anyone else come up with a good way to make shapes besides the sand way?
kayak385
Member
Originally Posted by BellaNavis
Ok guys, I have made 3 batches of rock, and I am having trouble with making shapes. Even if I dig a mold in the sand, it seems to push flat when I put the rock mixture in. All my rocks seem flat, well, most of them. Anyways, any tips? Did anyone else come up with a good way to make shapes besides the sand way?
cut out the shape in styrafoam and wrap it with plastic i think is one way that is talked about on previous pages.
Ok guys, I have made 3 batches of rock, and I am having trouble with making shapes. Even if I dig a mold in the sand, it seems to push flat when I put the rock mixture in. All my rocks seem flat, well, most of them. Anyways, any tips? Did anyone else come up with a good way to make shapes besides the sand way?
cut out the shape in styrafoam and wrap it with plastic i think is one way that is talked about on previous pages.
bellanavis
Active Member
Ok, I will try that, but I think it would still be kinda flat, not bumpy like lr, there has to be a fail proof way to do this.
E
electronblu
Guest
OK i know that this is a saltwater forum but i have to ask... will this method of DIY rocks work with fresh water as well or not. i only ask cause i have a fresh water tank to andwould like to make some rocks for that as well