DIY Live Rock Recipes?

[speckled trout]

Also, I can't over emphasize the need to know your tank's dimensions and how your going to incorporate or arrange any of the other rocks that you may already have in your tank. You don't want to end up making a rock that either won't fit or you don't have room for in your tank.

Somebody asked about adding dyes. I have added some commercial dyes to a few of the pieces that I have made and they look okay. One that I used was a sort of reddish color and turned out lighter than I expected once it had cured. I was attempting to create some "fake" coralline on the rock. It does add to the rock but I have found that regular old Krylon spray paint can be used to "fake" coralline if you so desire. However, given time, it'll get covered anyways. Personally, I just wait.

If your just wanting to make rock that isn't the color of cement you could add a little dye. Try adding a little black or brown if you want. It'll work. I haven't had any problem in the tank that I've placed the ones containing dyes. It's been going 4 years now and contains hermits, starfish, snails, tree coral, anthelia, a sixline wrasse, and an engineer gobie who is constantly attempting to make the rocks fall. However, since my base has sturdy legs he'll never be able to make it fall.

 

[speckled trout]

Psycho Clown, I don't think muddy looking water is a problem. I would be more concerned with pollution than a little sediment in suspension.

I would however, occasionally check out the rock that is curing in it to make sure that it doesn't become completely covered with mud. This would probably inhibit the curing process and would interfer with lowering the pH. The decreased water flow would be the problem. I think it would "trap" the very substances that your trying to leach out. You want as much fresh water circulating around your rock as possible.

I let mine cure for 12 weeks in a river behind my house and have never had a problem with pH after that amount of time. I check the curing rocks at least once during the 12 week period to make sure it isn't covered in mud.

My 105g display tank contains lots of homemade rock along with lots of coral and several fish. Some of the pieces have been in there for years. The coral readly grows and encrusts them along with coralline algae.

 

[lousybreed]

trout any pics of your tanks????????

 

[doody]

Speckled trout, Thanks for posting. You have been very helpful and inspiring at the same time. How do you make your panels, and how do you attach them in the tank?

 

[doody]

Just wondering if after the rock is cured and PH stable, should you still cook this rock?

 

[speckled trout]

Sorry, our server has been down. I haven't been able to post for a while.

I haven't "cooked" any of my rocks after curing them in FW. I'm sure that there are some microscopic organisms inside and on the surface, but I've never tried to deal with them. Since it's curing in a river with a very low salinity, I wouldn't expect anything to survive being transplanted into SW.

I thoroughly pressure wash my rocks to remove any accumulation of sediment that may have found it's way onto the surface of my rocks as they're curing. Beyond that I just add them to the tanks. I haven't ever really noticed much of a change in ammonia or pH levels after their introduction, so I haven't been too worried.

The panels are made on top of an old piece of "dry erase" board. The cement doesn't stick to the the surface of the dry erase board as its drying, so I'm able to lift the panels off the board after they dry. I have also used a sheet of plywood that I covered in Saran Wrap to act as a mold release for the cement. All I really do is measure the dimensions of the tank and shape the panels accordingly. Pay attention to any cross supports that may be towards the center of the top of the tank. You'll have to be able to put the panels in the tank , so they must be smaller than the top openings. After they dry, I cure them the same as the other rocks.

 

[moses13]

How do you plan on securing the panels to the back? and aren't you worried about dead zones behind them?

 

[speckled trout]

I'm not sure that there's anything to worry about as far as dead zones. The back of the panels is smooth as a baby's butt. They lie pretty much flat up against the back of the glass. There are numerous areas inside of most pieces of live rock that could be considered dead zones and these don't cause any problems with good overall flow.

My friend that has some of these that I made for him has a large rock or two making contact with these back panels to keep them from falling over. He hasn't had to secure them with any other method. The rocks making contact are secure and large enough to prevent tipping and are only in contact over a very small surface area. He uses powerheads to achieve good flow behind his main rocks. His panels have been in his tank for nearly two years and he hasn't had any type of problem.

 

[hmott]

well this is the weekend I give it a try. I have everything read but the portland, I hope I can find that easily tonight. I need to print off the tutorial before I leave today..

Again thanks speckled trout awesome tutorial.

 

[hmott]

I spent a good 5 hours this weekend making rocks!! It was a great deal of fun and one late night. I did have some problems though. I made 2 large rocks using the speckled trout method for finger rocks. 24 hours after I made it I begin uncovering it. It broke apart? Checking it out closer, it broke at the cement joints. By that I mean if I was going to make a 12" long finger, I might have laid out 6" then grabbed another hadfull of cement mix and joined it to the 6" already in the box. At places I made joins like this, and x joins is where it failed. Was I not getting my cement mix wet enough or something? When I applied it I didn't notice it not "sticking" well.

My second piece I left in the box because I knew at 12 hours I was probably unwrapping my present early, so I'm waiting a full 24 on the second in hopes it stiffens. Anyway hoping for a little advice.

 

[speckled trout]

My first rocks weren't quite the way I wanted at first, either. It'll take a little practice to get it right. You don't want too many air pockets in the branches or they won't be strong enough when dried. Use wetter cement and use your fingers to make sure that the cement is continous through each branch. I take my fingers and kind of pinch the cement and shell mixture together as I create a branch.

I don't think you could make a 12" branch very thin, either. The longer the branch, the thicker it'll have to be. A little trial and error will help you figure out what'll work and what won't. Keep trying, you'll get it.

 

[hmott]

I assumed it was just because it was my first. I have enough supplies to do millions of trials and its fun. How long to you leave it in the mold before you pull it out and put it in water?

 

[speckled trout]

That's the beauty of it. The components are cheap and you can always use any that turn into rubble as frag plugs for later.

When you get it down, you'll be able to make more and more intricate structures. Make sure you have enough contact points. Also, try not to make your branches too thin if they're going to be pretty long. Twelve inches is long and unless it's thick enough your taking a chance on it being to fragile.

You'll need a wetter cement if your trying to make a rock with multiple thin branches. If your tring to make bigger, bulkier rocks for biofiltration you can use a much drier mixture a with lots and lots of porosity and holes.

 

[doody]

I don't think 12hrs is long enough. You need to wait at least 24hrs, but 48 is better. This is what I've read.

 

[speckled trout]

The more delicate the structure, the longer I'd wait. If you really like what you've made wait 24 or even 48 hrs! :rollface:

One other thing, I use a water hose to gently wash out the dry shell/sand from the semi-dry rock. If you just try and pull the whole thing out it'll have more of a chance of breaking. This is due to all the extra weight of the rock along with any shell/sand that you used to "mold" your rock. By gently washing out the dry shell you'll be greatly reducing the weight as you remove it from the "mold".

You've got to understand that your rock isn't at full strength, yet. It's still pretty delicate and you need to be very careful with it until it's cured under water. After that, it'll be a lot stronger. I haven't had any pieces break after their FW cure.

 

[hmott]

ok, I'll wait longer. I also felt like I was making my rock on its side. You mentioned you think about it as if its upside down? Was I thinking about it wrong?

I was using water to rinse it off but the pieces where clearly not stuck together at the joints, it didn't take any force at all to have them fall apart. No big deal instead of one large branching piece I have about 10 smaller branch pieces. I'll do more tonight, but it was so easy I don't know why I didn't do this a long time ago. Thanks for the tutorial that made me feel like I it was going to be wirht it. I guess its all trial and error from here.

 

[speckled trout]

Yep, keep trying, it ain't hard.

 

[Shadowramy]

I gave it a try on Saturday. 1 part cement, 2 parts sand, 1 part Aruba Sea Floor and, and 1 part CS Argonite, and 1 part warm water.

I think I did not get the mixture wet enough but was a little hesitant on putting in more water. THe stuff was a little hard to work with, seemed like I had to 'pinch' everything together to get the pieces to stick.

Will adding more water help a little.

Also bough some of that concret dye, is this acceptable to use?

 

[speckled trout]

I have found that using some oyster shell will increase the strength of the finished piece. If you only use smaller size crushed shell you will need to make sure that your "branches" are thicker to retain enough strength. In other words they're more brittle than ones that I've made using oyster shell. That's perfectly fine if your making base rocks instead of trying to make a rock with a lot of branches.

Getting the right consistency is a matter of adding a little water/shell/ or cement to the mixture. I don't really measure mine, I just eyeball it and know what it should feel like before attempting to make the rock. If your mixture is too runny you will not be able to form very good branches. If it's too thick(dry) it'll be difficult to get enough cement to stick to itself and you'll end up with an unstable and weak rock when creating lots of branches. However, a really good base rock can be created using a drier mixture. It'll end up being very porous and strong as long as you keep the cement thick enough. You'll find it's just a matter of trial and error.

Recently, I have started making rocks with cement/oyster shell and using crushed coral to create my mold. Some of the crushed coral will stick to the outside of your rock as it dries giving it a whole different effect and color. I just made a rock this way and it's a real nice white color without using white cement.

Also, I have used the cement dyes before without any problems.

 

[Shadowramy]

What is the drip/layer method of creating rock?