How do you make resin-based Aragocrete?

[Rhodophyta]

At an Aragocrete workshop in Cleveland, Ohio, one of the members showed some coral tables made with a resin and Aragonite instead of Portland cement. I remember that the form had to be lined with wax paper since otherwise the resin would "annex" the sand mold. I think the resin was available at Home Depot, but I'm not sure what it was named. Any help and tips on how to make this kind of Aragocrete would be appreciated.

 

[Rhodophyta]

Anyone????

 

[salt lick]

I made all my base rock from marine epoxy mixed with glass micro balloons (filler) and sand and coral rubble. The eoxy is West systems (search the web). most vendors that sell eoxy sell the filler also.

 

[Rhodophyta]

Thanks! This is different from the suggestions I heard at the Aragocrete workshop. Did you also have to line the mold with wax paper?

 

[Silencer]

If you make your rocks the right consistency you do not need to and should not use a mold at all. Just build them freeform on some paper of other disposable surface.

I am not sure if this will work with resin instead of concrete.

 

[Rhodophyta]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6403340#post6403340 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Silencer
If you make your rocks the right consistency you do not need to and should not use a mold at all. Just build them freeform on some paper of other disposable surface.

I am not sure if this will work with resin instead of concrete.

Free form is one way to make concrete rocks, but I'm sure that resin would soak into paper or any porous surface and make it a permanent part of the background if not also bonding it to the floor or table under the paper. Sand molds are a great way to add fine detail that you couldn't do freeform, or to duplicate the textures and shapes of real rocks and other materials such as shells or driftwood into a background. If you mix dry oatmeal that has been blendered to a coarse flour and molasses to the sand, it will hold remarkable detail and after curing all the sand will fall off of the concrete rock leaving the perfect imprint. You can also add lines and pockets of sand on top of the concrete rock and build over it to create tunnels, caves, and holes impossible to do freeform. I have been told these techniques won't work with the resin Aragocrete.

 

[Silencer]

With a good rock consistency you can easily add tunnels, caves, overhangs and fine details to freeform rocks. Larger overhangs simply require a little more patience as you have to work in steps and have to wait a few minutes for partial drying in between each one. If you're working with a very large overhang or gap you can crumple up some paper and use that as a temporary support which can be easily removed once the rocks have dried. This allows much more freedom because not only can you make any size or shape rock you want with whatever overhangs, caves or tunnels that you desire but you can also see the entire peice while you're making it which makes it easier to acheive the exact results you want.

I'm not sure of the consistency of resin-based rocks and if this would work for them, but if the consistency is similar I suspect you could also make them freeform by working on waxpaper or some other surface the resin wouldn't soak into and bond with.

 

[Rhodophyta]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6405983#post6405983 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Silencer
With a good rock consistency you can easily add tunnels, caves, overhangs and fine details to freeform rocks. Larger overhangs simply require a little more patience as you have to work in steps and have to wait a few minutes for partial drying in between each one. If you're working with a very large overhang or gap you can crumple up some paper and use that as a temporary support which can be easily removed once the rocks have dried. This allows much more freedom because not only can you make any size or shape rock you want with whatever overhangs, caves or tunnels that you desire but you can also see the entire peice while you're making it which makes it easier to acheive the exact results you want.

I'm not sure of the consistency of resin-based rocks and if this would work for them, but if the consistency is similar I suspect you could also make them freeform by working on waxpaper or some other surface the resin wouldn't soak into and bond with.

Silencer, I know the techniques you are talking about. They're the way rock backgrounds were built when I worked for a couple years at a public aquarium part time '79 to '80. I'm sure they must be new to some browsers of this post, so I hope they find them useful. What I am hoping for is some posters with experience using the resin based Aragonite.

 

[hawk66]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6406145#post6406145 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Rhodophyta
What I am hoping for is some posters with experience using the resin based Aragonite.

I'm interested in this too. Did you ever find any info?

 

[Rhodophyta]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7128583#post7128583 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hawk66
I'm interested in this too. Did you ever find any info?

I did get some more information while at a C-SEA meeting, but not any more recently online here.

 

[breedingroom]

tagging along....I once made a base for my coralskeletons using aragonite sand and epoxy...marine epoxy from home depot....it has two parts...one is a hardener.

 

[salt lick]

you mix in enough micro-balloons till the epoxy is like bread dough or shaving creqm then add crushed coral. the nice thing about the epoxy is you dont have to soak it for months because it is Ph neutral and inert. I did it all free form.

 

[breedingroom]

rhodo...what is micro balloon filler? Also does the epoxy based rock still allow for Bio Filtration?....in your experience

 

[breedingroom]

soory I meant to addreess that to saltlick

 

[Rhodophyta]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7282428#post7282428 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by breedingroom
rhodo...what is micro balloon filler? Also does the epoxy based rock still allow for Bio Filtration?....in your experience

Micro balloon filler is pretty much hollow plastic balls, only much smaller than the ones kids play with. They resemble sand, such as hollow polyimide microspheres, but are much lighter.

The advantage to resin is that you can make it much thinner, so adding microballoons, fibrous reinforcement, or other neat things that can be added to regular Aragocrete is not going to make a big diference. The resin seals the inside of the rock so you will get the ordinary biological activity on the surface but not the low O2 activity typical of real live rock. I think I'd count on the aragocrete of any type for support and base, for opening up the bottom to minimize pockets of detritus, and for creating stability that randomly shaped real rock doesn't have. I would pretty much cover it eventually with real live rock for the deeper kinds of biological activity.

 

[salt lick]

the filler Rhodophyta is refering to is Phenolic micro-balloons.

I used glass micro-balloons and chopped glass strands for more strength. I figured the glass would not leach any chemicals.

I drilled my epoxy base rock and inserted 1/2" Lexan rods, my live rock was also drilled and stacked up on the rods. dont use acrylic or cheap plastic (it can and will break).

I have a deep sand bed, none of my live rock touches the sand. only the epoxy based rock is in the sand bed. my synthetic base rock is shaped like pedistals and 3 legged stools, so just the legs penetrate the sand. this maximizes the sand bed.