pudge_167 Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Has anyone else ever made their own rock for their reef? I am not a big lets go green person but ran across this idea and I actually love it not so much for the green aspect (it does help) but for the aspect I can totally design what I want in my tank and how it will look. The downside to this is that once it is made and cured I am stuck with that aqua scape for ever cause of the design I want to make. I know it takes a lot to make and cure but this seems like half the fun to me. My plan is to cure the rock and seed it with either a nice live rock from a LFS or GARF not sure which route yet. Just want to get some input on this idea cause I am not sold on it but I think it would be a neat project. Thanks Link to comment
fretfreak13 Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 I did it and it sounded fun, but afterwards I hated how unnatural it looked. You just cant get the porus, random beauty that you get from real rock. Plus, stupid me had it drying on the ground and all of the bottoms of the rock turned flat. DOH! haha Link to comment
Spirofucci Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 I have seen a lot of really cool scapes made from different types of conctete mixes. But I have also seen some crappy one's as well, lol. I say give it a try and see what you come up with. Dry rock from BRS and Reefcleaners is just excavated old reef rock. Pretty green I would think. Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted August 21, 2012 Share Posted August 21, 2012 Dry rock from BRS and Reefcleaners is just excavated old reef rock. Pretty green I would think. +1 It's all already being excavated for use under roads and building construction, so why not? Link to comment
pudge_167 Posted August 23, 2012 Author Share Posted August 23, 2012 Come on I know someone on here has done something similar to this and can offer some help! Link to comment
patback Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Never done it, but this is what ive read about aling tkme ago buy some play sand. Throw it in a wheel barrel and get it to "sand castle" thickness. Mix in CLEAN aragonite sand to equal parts of set 45. Thicken it to your liking with water. Next, mold the sand to a desired shape and lay thin wax paper into the mold and slowly scoop or poor the concoction in. Aerate it to help keep it from becoming a solid mass. Use a lot of airdromes and just cut them off once it hardens. Cure it from lime, silicates, copper, and millions of other things over the course of a month- years. Aqua scape and done. Or, just use reefcleaners perfectly cured, beautiful, environmentally and wallet friendly dry rock. Link to comment
fretfreak13 Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 If you do try it, I've heard of an ingenious way to cure the rock. If its a smallish batch, put it in the BACK of your toilet. Each time you flush it gets refilled with fresh water, and no worries it isn't exposed to your "water products". Do keep in mind though that it is tap water thats going in there, but just to cure it from the crud in the mixture it should be fine. Theoretically. Link to comment
pudge_167 Posted August 23, 2012 Author Share Posted August 23, 2012 My question is how is it the reef cleaners rock to stack and get the shapes you want? I have and idea in my head what I want that's advantage I liked to making own but the 30 pound pack might be enough for me not sure plus it's cheap! Link to comment
HVani Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Reefcleaners rock is amazing! This stuff has lots of holes and fits together really really well. If you don't like a particular rock take a hammer to it and get a more interesting shape. Link to comment
Jneighbors Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 Reefcleaners rock is amazing! This stuff has lots of holes and fits together really really well. If you don't like a particular rock take a hammer to it and get a more interesting shape. I always end up with a mess when I do that Link to comment
patback Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 I don't think I found a single piece that couldn't match up perfectly any way I put it. Johns rock really is like a giant puzzle. Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 I don't think I found a single piece that couldn't match up perfectly any way I put it. Johns rock really is like a giant puzzle. +1 and he's freakin rockstar. Link to comment
pudge_167 Posted August 23, 2012 Author Share Posted August 23, 2012 I have sent him a drawing to see if he thinks I will be able to do what I wanting to do with his rock. Waiting to see what he says. I am leaning toward this as I would get 30# for 65 dollars and that is 15 over budget for making my own so I can live with that for not having to do all the work lol. Link to comment
fretfreak13 Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 I'm really anxious to see what it is you want to make. lol if its a high structure you can always drill through it with a dremel and put pvc through it so it dosen't fall. Or...glue it lol Link to comment
Spirofucci Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 I took 25 lbs of John's rock, took a hammer to it and made this: The possibilities are endless. Link to comment
MeepNand Posted August 24, 2012 Share Posted August 24, 2012 sealifeinc.net throws rock in and takes it out years later. Basically reef cleaners rock that has been in water. Link to comment
pudge_167 Posted August 27, 2012 Author Share Posted August 27, 2012 Well I gave up on the idea of making my own rock as working full time and coaching high school football leaves me with very little extra spare time. So I have listened to your suggestions and I ordered 30 pounds of Reefcleaners rock. Will post some pictures this weekend when it gets in so please subscribe for updates to come soon! Link to comment
pudge_167 Posted September 2, 2012 Author Share Posted September 2, 2012 Well I hope someone is still reading and following my tank build because it in about to get fun up in the reef! So BOTH of my orders have came in rocks arrived yesterday and power-head this morning both much needed after my week. Here are the pictures just because I am excited lol..... Rocks Power-head Box- this thing is huge alot bigger then I was expecting but dang it moves some water. So in all my joy this morning I decided to take the plunge into my aqua scarping with my awesome rock from reefcleaners. I have never been very good at this part of the tank so lets hope everyone likes what I have done. My thought was to build up one side of the tank with a swim through in the bottom because my wife wanted one and I liked the idea. So here is what I ended up with and it kind of what I had in mind. So after getting this done I took the hour journey to the LFS for the piece of live rock to seed my base rock with and some B-Ionic to hopefully get the coralline growing in my tank. I think my little buddy the yellow tail is totally freaked out but he is starting to come out from one of the many hiding spots in this massive mound. Let me know what you think about how my build is coming along. This post was taken from my build thread below is the link please come follow along with me as I keep everyone updated. http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=309645 That is all for now so Thanks for your time this time until next time happy reefing! Link to comment
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