home made rock

[dyeman]

I have some rock that someone made from concrete argonite and I don't know what else, but they seem to gather/grow green algae quickly and much more than the rest of the rock I have. Does anyone else have this issue?I am going to have to double the size of my clean up crew

 

[johno4]

I made my own rock, 1 part portland cement, 4 parts argonite sand, and 1 part crushed coral. I never have had any problems with it. Some is in a reef and some in a fowlr. I hav eheard that some cements can leak excess phosphates into the water. You might want to see what kind of cement was used.

 

[ReeferMac]

Ditto what Johno4 said. Portland Cement, South Down, Crushed Oyster shells.. various ratio's, depending on what you're making.

- Mac

 

[Guy]

Re: home made rock

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7106005#post7106005 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dyeman
I have some rock that someone made from concrete argonite and I don't know what else, but they seem to gather/grow green algae quickly and much more than the rest of the rock I have. Does anyone else have this issue?I am going to have to double the size of my clean up crew

Is the green algae calcareous or filiment algae? I've found that green coralline is one of the first algae to colonise new real estate.

 

[dalbrecht]

I agree with Guy, the problem probably isn't so much the composition of the rock but the fact that the rock is virgin territory for colonization. In established live rock every surface of the rock is already colonized by something, it's a battle for other organisms to gain a foot hold.

You're home made rock is simply going through a rapid phase of colonization and die back.

www.garf.org will walk you through what to expect in terms of algae growth. The best thing to do is let nature take its course and limit nutrient input as much as possible. Dosing a product like "purple up" or just plain old iodine & calcium may help promote coraline growth on the new rock. Shifting your light a little bluer may help as well.

 

[dyeman]

Not sure how long this rock cured or how old it is. I've had it since summer and there was a bit of green hair on it then as well. I scrubbed it off with a tooth brush but it coming back. There is plenty of coaline on it as well. Just seems to hproduce more green hair algae than the natural LR I have in my tank.

 

[dalbrecht]

It's probably a combination of factors then, I don't think it's an inherent issue with the rock itself or diy live rock in general. Could there be some type of crevice that's a natural detritus magnet on or near the rock?

Just a few thoughts. I wouldn't worry about it and would increase your cleanup crew.

 

[dyeman]

Yep,
got more cleanup crew coming. Will have to be more dilligent in vaccuuming off problem rocks

 

[zooqi]

How about some shapes here..
MOROCK


here is a picture of before

and here is after of the same tank after 7 months..
The rock on the left is MOROCK and on the right is LR and not long ago I made the whole tank MOROCK (rocks made by MO) Corals started to grow on the right now too.

 

[zooqi]

Here is before and after and this picture is about 4 months ago.