making "live rock"

spongebob square pants

spongebob square pants

Member
I found a recipe to make your own live rock(base rock) using portland cement and crushed oyster shells. have to let it cure for about two months in tap water with weekly water changes. But it cost about 7 cents a pound and you can get the shapes and sizes you want. anyone ever try this? I might give it a shot in a few weeks. Its suppossed to grow coroline real well and is porous enough to run water right through it ,so lots of room for bacteria and critters.
 
fshhub

fshhub

Active Member
I actually looked into it myself when we first started out.
We decided not to attempt it, for a couple of reasons
time
cost is definitely there, but after factoring in time, did not seem to be worth it to us
not only the time it takes, but the fact that we wanted it before we finished cyclein, NOT after. Plus, if added post cycle, it willmore thna likely case a recycle.
and also, you have ot be real careful with curing and such. If you do not do this properly or too fast, it can aand often does leech minerals which you do not want into your tank.
I have found several ways to do this, but decided that it would be best to avoid the risk and just buy LR.
Not to mention that the cost merely figues the cost of supplies, not hardware and forming needs. ie. sand molds and such
Lastly, you do not get any life with it, only rock
IF you do attempt it, be very sure to properly cure it and I would even over do it, just to be on the safe side.
 
causeidm

causeidm

Member
I made a batch, I used play sand, portland cement and crushed aruba shells, found all the infor I needed at www.garf.org. It turned out allright for base rock, but took all summer to lower the PH. My xenia grows on it like crazy, I made a bunch of huge pieces of base rock with it and some rubble to put my frags on. Recently upgrading to my new tank I purchased some base rock from hawaii, allthough it took hours to clean, it was only like $1 a pound and it was well worth it over the time it took to make the home-made stuff.
 
saltaddict

saltaddict

Member
I made the stuff also. After spending $100 in white cement, aragonite sand, and shells made several batches . First batches were bad but I got better at making the stuff. Well 9 weeks curring and my PH was still sky high. Wife was going crazy with an entire bath tub full of this stuff . So I said "Honey I could just order stuff it's a bit more expensive but it looks better and I can get it in the tank right away". Got the OK ordered from SWF.COM she got a clean tub and the stuff is still in buckets in my attic. :)
 
broomer5

broomer5

Active Member
If you do a www.google.com search on
Portland cement
And read how cement is manufactured, and what it's chemical composition consists of .......
it may make your decision to place it in your marine tank a little easier.
There's no way I would put "homemade" live rock in any of my tanks - especially rock made with portland cement.
I would much rather use some decent quality base rock - calcium carbonate - if trying to save a few bucks.
 
O

oceangrl11

Guest
So far as the homemade stuff goes. SOUNDS like a great idea to me. Have not tried it yet. I have read tons of sites on how to make it. Check the DIY on the post called "making bulk live rock." Oceana makes a lot of it as well as Andretti and both enjoy it a lot. Also another venue to consider even if you do not put it in your tank: selling it. For the price you could get for it at LFS (if they purchase it) is a good turn over if you are looking for store credit. Read Andretti's posts, you will see...You really should research it. I have several sites on it.... you can email me for them if you want fidelis81@gmail.com.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top