Massive DIYLR curing process?

55 gallon drums can be found in most areas cheap, you could put bulkheads or uniseals in the bottom to drain easily. Another option was done by MFlamb in his build in the large reef tank forum and that was to toss it in his pool. good luck!
 
I cured my diy rock ledges in a suburban lake (completely surrounded by houses and lawns. I soaked them in tap water for a few days after. It worked great. I keep a nice mixed reef on them. Check out my gallery.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9429142#post9429142 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reef_research
Actually Joshua, the thought did cross my mind.

Anyone want to improve/comment on this idea?

Thank you,
Click to expand...

With that much going into a stream or lake, you may want to check with the EPA first. I'm by no means an expert, but I have heard of concrete poisoning of water systems before. Good luck.
 
Im thinking if you use a big kiddie pool or something you are going to spend a fortune on water changes if you only have culinary water to use.
 
that much rock.. id definatly do the stream /river or ocean thing..i cured 300 lbs or soo in the ocean.. it was the cleanest place i can find ( it had a resort on it ) and dumped it all in.. winter came and it went.. then i came.. and searched for my rock.... took friggin 4 hours to find it... lol.. man was that sucky.. anyhow.. afther that i put her into my WC cans and used old tank water .. soaked for a few days then i used clean salt water.. then into the tank it went.. over 1.5 years later and there are still some in there..

GL
YzGyz
 
How did you all keep the rock load together?

was the ocean cured stuff in temperate waters or tropical?

did you let it dry after?

Thanks,
 
i cured it temperate water... thats why it sat there for one winter... ( jersy water gets cold!!!) i kept it wet after i got it out of the water.. there where a bunch of life on there from algea to pods and wormy things ( those white tube thing that you see on LR ) they grew mostly on the underside of the rock but anyhow.. so in essence my DIY rock became as live as can be.. only thing left is to purge and clean it of whatever pollutants that may have been in the water.. that was why i re-cured it in old and new tank water... that was in essence washing the rock... but since your going to 'cure' them in fresh water, your cleaning process is easy.. just use a hose for 2 months with a minimal of 2 water changes a week ... in that time you should have saved a lot of old tank water to cure the rock w/saltwater... this last step will do 3 things.. it will 'cure' the rock to the right ph , wash the rock and start the dead rock to live rock cycle..

how i kept it together?? well diy rock is quit heavy... i say about 2x heavier then real LR depending on what type your comparing it to but anyhow.. once set in the ocean they dont move much.. i just stacked them one on top the other . waves wont move them much if any.. just make sure that it is at low tide that you set them out that way it stay submerged all the time... i tried to use something as a landmark to know where to search but the coast changed soo much .. plants grow crazy fast..

gl
YzGyz
 
Guys-
I gotta say, this tendency to want to cure DIY in streams and lakes bothers me a bit. The point of curing it is to get chemicals which are toxic or harmful to your tank out. Doing so in a lake or stream at the least is polluting the local environment it is in, and it is a small stream or creek, and you have a lot (ie- 5400lbs), then you could be seriously altering the water chemistry and endangering organisms.

Not to mention, if the stream/lake/whatever is not on your property, then your trespassing, which could bring about other ramifications. I am all for being frugal, don't get me wrong, but to me this is just needlessy polluting.

Ben
 
umm ok... so instead of using the ocean like i did... you are suggesting that i should have cured it in a container with hose water.. then dump the water out into the street so that it runs down into the storm drain making it's way into the ocean.. or for people to not wash there car in there driveway and go pay for someone or machine.. trusting them to take care of your car not to scratch it up... im not saying that i dont want to save the world and all but somthings are of little or no concequences.. i can understand if it was a little bitty lake.. like i dont know... 10 acers small then you might kill a few worms or mosqitoes but i thinks thats about it...

not trying to start a fight or anything but i think this is not gonna harm anything....

YzGyz
 
My response wasn't so much intended in a case such as yours, moreso in the case of the 5400lbs of rock if it were to be cured in this manner.

Ben
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9450363#post9450363 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pleaselaunchme
Guys-
I gotta say, this tendency to want to cure DIY in streams and lakes bothers me a bit. The point of curing it is to get chemicals which are toxic or harmful to your tank out. Doing so in a lake or stream at the least is polluting the local environment it is in, and it is a small stream or creek, and you have a lot (ie- 5400lbs), then you could be seriously altering the water chemistry and endangering organisms.

Not to mention, if the stream/lake/whatever is not on your property, then your trespassing, which could bring about other ramifications. I am all for being frugal, don't get me wrong, but to me this is just needlessy polluting.

Ben
Click to expand...
Reality check: When you say 'toxic chemicals' and 'needlessly polluting', what are you referring to?
What is toxic or polluting about cement and sand and water??

The only problems people are having with putting freshly made DIY rock into their tanks is the high pH caused by the uncured strata, which allows the limestone derivatives to leach until it cures. The problem is not a fear of some carcinogenic byproducts associated with Portland cement.

If that were the case then our local water supply system is in big trouble because all the treatment, storage, and transport pipes is made of concrete.
Guy
 
The small amount of live rock a person puts in a large body of water such as a lake or stream will not adversly affect wildlife. The water volumn to just to large compared to the amount of cement. And guy smilie is correct, the the constituants that leach out of cement is not toxic. In fact you can cure very small amounts of diy rock in your large aquarium. It will actually raise your calcium. You just have to watch your ph. Sensitive corals are not affected by anything leaching out of diy rock, except if it raises your ph too high. I have put baseball sized pieces of uncured liverock in my 180 with out incident.
 
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