Curing concrete/fake liverock in canal?

[wiszmaster]

I am still interested in making some fake LR / back wall for the tank ... and to cure it .. why not ditch it into a canal? my parents house is off the river, i could just through it under the boat dock and let it cure for a few weeks ... with that much water flow maybe it would cure in ... 2-3 weeks?

i can always wash it down with some vinegar, or bleach afterwards to kill all of the bacteria, and hopefully clean the rock again ... i'm just hoping that there wouldn't be any major water releases from Lake O ...

 

[SaltyDr]

With red tide and all the crap from Lake O I think you'd need to soak it or bleach it afterwards. If you just want to get the pH up from the concrete than I would think it would be fine, but wouldn't it be easier to just throw it in a garbage can and change the water a few times? I wouldn't take it from the canal and put it right in to the tank. I live on a canal and see all of the crud that floats by.

 

[wiszmaster]

yeah, i know ... pretty sad!

where about in SWFL are you? are you on a canal off the river?

 

[glassocean]

Marco,
I live right on the river and it's bad! We had some sea wall work done 2 months ago, and the blocks that were thrown in the river have 4" of hair algae on them already.

 

[wiszmaster]

i was just down @ mom/dads dock yesterday looking @ the water - it seemed fairly clear to me ... haven't seen it this clear in months ... so it seemed at least.

saw lots of fish swiming in the canal ... some large crabs ... see dolphins in their canal all the time, and sometimes manatees.

 

[wiszmaster]

gotta find someone around venice & throw in the water up there ... :-(

 

[SaltyDr]

Used to live in the SW Cape on a canal but now live on a canal off of 10 Mile Canal/Mullock Creek in S. For Myers (goes to Estero Bay). Although there is not as much junk in the canal here as in the Cape I still don't think the water is that clean considering all of it gets screwed from the releases from Lake O. It's amazing if you take a boat ride from the Sanibel Lighthouse up toward Cayo Costa. The water turns from a horrid coffee brown to much clearer and more blue color. I've been out in red tide and it's so sad seeing all of the dead fish. There was a blue-green algae outbreak last year that turned the water almost the color of anti-freeze. Pretty scary sight.

 

[ConcreteReefer]

Your best bet is to take it (the rock) 10 miles offshore and dump it. Just mark it on your GPS and come back in about a year, throw your dive-gear on and get it. <-- and if your going to do that, just take about 500lbs of it out there (rent a boat or ask a good friend)

I've lived here my whole life- sure, the water is clear now but just wait till we get some rain, it will be nice and brown again. If you want, I can take it to the keys with me and leave it in a canal behind the house- the water is clear 365 days of the year down there and who knows what kind of critters would colonize it.

 

[RicksReefs]

with fertilizer and pesticide runoff being a given here in florida, I wouldn't put anything in a canal and then put it in a marine tank.

and if you do put anything into the ocean (which is illegal), retrieving rock would be a felony and your boat, dive gear, etc. can be confiscated.

you can always cure the rock in the back of your toilet..