Got to love ebes homemade rock, got pics of new pieces
- Thread starter frenchie
- Start date
fazgood
Not Quite Right
How does he get them to be shaped just like a 2 liter Pepsi?
I saw how Latazo's fit together. I wish I would have know about this stuff before I bought my Florida bolders last summer. Very nice stuff, Latazo showed me how it stacks and the stability is awesome. He needs to find a way to mass produce this stuff and retire.
Faz
I saw how Latazo's fit together. I wish I would have know about this stuff before I bought my Florida bolders last summer. Very nice stuff, Latazo showed me how it stacks and the stability is awesome. He needs to find a way to mass produce this stuff and retire.
Faz
sheepdog43
New member
I had a bunch of it in my 75, great stuff.
I have been experimenting lately with some different shapes and sizes. Darrick's two rocks were done to be pretty large pieces for a base. The one on the left is the dimension of a 5 gallon bucket with the center hollow and the one on the right is a square cat litter bucket size with the center hollow. My rock lately has had salt added to the mix right before I pour the concrete. This makes the rock more porous but requires it to be a bit thicker. Sometimes it can take a while to soak all of the salt out of the rock before you can use it.
Scarecrow
New member
We got several large pieces of his rock, one was made around a Clorox bottle and is massive. They have worked out beautifully, and unless we point them out, no one can ever tell which ones they are. It has been since September and within just a few months (and purple up) they look like all the others.
There is a big thread in the DIY section on homebrewing your own rock. Also on garf.org. I kind of do my own thing. I personally don't agree that you can make the rock from portland 2 and just salt. I find the rock to be too brittle. I like having an aggregate with the cement powder. Crushed oyster shell works great and aragonite sand as well. It makes the rock more expensive but I believe it makes it much stronger. Adding a salt to the rock at the very end of the mix, before you pour, makes it more porous. Your mileage may vary. The main thing is it is just messy and takes a lot of time. If you got the time and like messing about, it is worth it. I am sure my wife would disagree.
You can get away with 1 part cement to 3 or 4 parts crushed oyster shell. You can usually get crushed oyster shell from a farm supply store. It is used for gizzard grit for chickens. I mix the cement and then gently fold in solar salt. You can use all kinds of stuff for molds. An easy ways to use a big box with lined with plastic trash bags. Then use wet crushed oyster shell as molding material. You can also use things like plastic soda cups for tunnels and then after the rock is set you cut the plastic and pull them out. It is important to let the rock set for awhile before moving it. If I use salt in the mix, I wait a week before unmolding it. If you don't use the salt, maybe 3 or 4 days. As soon as the rock is set I warm water soak it to help release the salt. Depending on the thickness of the rock and the amount of salt it can take awhile to get all the salt dissovled out of the rock. Then I soake the rock for several weeks, changing the water as often as I feel like it. Initially the water will have extremely high ph. As time goes the ph will go down. 6 weeks or so is usually enough time for a rock to finish. You just need to watch the ph. If you think a rock is finished put it a bucket with water change water out of your tank and then watch for a ph spike. If there is none or it hits 8.2 the rock is done and ready for the tank.
sheepdog43
New member
I tried following some of those, it is a hassle and the results were terrible. For me it was was better to pay Ebe for his.
I made about 50 pounds and was happy with none of it. It is much more difficult than it looks to get good looking rock. Ebe is like an artist with the stuff, he is way more creative on the shapes, the mixture, everything. It is a messy process too. He has a ton of experience with it.
I am not saying don't try, but be prepared for a lot of experimentation to find what works. You will end up with a lot of base rock.
