The Ultimate DIY Rocks!

[Travis L. Stevens]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7982254#post7982254 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hummusx
A lot of people are talking about curing this stuff in their toilets, tubs, or backyards. Is there no concern that non-RO water will leech unwanted things into the rock? My tap water is pretty bad - and I'm sure most people's tap water contains copper, etc. Will this not leech into the rock? Also, with the toilet thing, are you sure that none of the toilet cleaner products have never been used in there?

I guess I woudl have expected we'd need to cure in RO.

There is a concern, but that's a risk some people are willing to take. Yes, it will soak into the rocks. As far as my toilet goes, nothing goes into the back of it. I've used stuff inside the bowl of course. Curing in RO or RO/DI is the best bet. But when you are changing out 100+ gallons a day, it quickly screws up your RO/DI unit as well as your water bill

 

[kraze3]

While we are on the whole curing and leaching thing I have a question. Maybe im nuts for thinking this, well see...
I have a 12,000 gallon above ground pool. I think this would be great for curing my home made rock especially in the winter when it just sits and does nothing. There is chlorine, but from what I understand from running a pool for the last few years chlorine evaporates with the water. Hence the need to keep adding more to your pool. I figure maybe after a month or so in the pool I could do a couple weeks of tap water soaking. Is this idea worth a shot, or should i just stop thinking about it now ?

 

[Barto]

The first few weeks of the "kure" there is a noticable amount of "gunk" that leaches out, the salt dissolves, the lime in the cement does it's thing, I'd be concerned about that damaging the plaster finish or the pump/filtration system.
I'm thinking outloud here, no experience kuring in a pool, just relaying what I've seen here.
Good luck, let us know what you decide.

 

[kraze3]

Well if i did it durning the winter ( im on the east coast) the filter wouldnt be running. I personally dont think that 50 lbs or so of DIY rocks could hurt anything in a 12,000 gallon pool. To me it seems it would all spread out to equilbrium and be harmless. The filtration system is just really a basket to catch big stuff and everything else goes into the filter part with the sand. Once backwashed it washes everything off the top of the sand and I would think that would rid the system of any gunk. I could deff be wrong here though. I was more worried about getting chlorine in and then having it leach into my tank. Just trying to make use of the 12,000 gallons of water that is right outside my window

I also dont know how im going to keep kuring in 32 gallon bins in the winter they are going to freeze solid. Keeping them in my basement or garage is going to be a PITA because i have to pump the water out and refill daily. Not only time consuming but my yard is going to be an ice rink, good think im a hockey player i guess.

 

[CoolUsername]

I agree. Your fine. Great Idea.

 

[Barto]

kraze3,
I wasn't trying to squash your idea, my pump/filter comment was an after thought. I would monitor (watch) that anything that precipates from the rock does not settle on the finished plaster surface, they can be sensitive to foriegn materials and are costly to repair Maybe a "kiddie pool" in the real pool like a drip pan, to catch the gunk.

 

[kraze3]

Sorry if i came off like a jerk I wasnt trying to be I just honestly never thought the filter would be the problem. I was much more worried about the chlorine being later leached by the diy rock. the pool is above ground and Im not sure what you mean by plaster, the pool just has like a vinyl lining. Also I have one of those automatic vacuum things so it would pick up anything that settles, except of course for the winter season when i break it all down.

I think im gonna give it a shot. Ill let them sit for a month or so, then take them out and soak them in rubbermaid tubs and monitor PH as well as chlorine levels just to make sure. Ill try and take some pics too, my pool is a little cloudy at the moment.

 

[Rhodophyta]

I put about 40 pounds of Aragocrete into a 175 gallon tub and it leached out the excess alkalinity very well. So well that mosquitos laid eggs in the water and I had to add Endler's livebearers to the tub to control them. Within a day after adding the fish, there were schools of newborn Endler fry. This was enough to dilute the rock and not see any gunk breaking off. An above ground swimming pool should be fine. I would be sure to keep the Aragocrete moist but not submerged until it has truely set, before trying to "cure" it. I think this is really a leaching process, not a curing one, but we are used to curing natural live rock, so cure is the term we are most familiar with even if it might not be the most accurate.

 

[Barto]

Sorry here also, I made the assumption that you were talking about an inground pool, hence my plaster concerns, if I would have read your post completely, instead of skimming, I would have known what type of pool.
I still remember what a Jr High English teacher drilled into my head about what happens when we "assume"
All is good, no offense intended or taken.
Again, good luck, share some pics when you make rock.
I'm picking up mine this week(end) from a mountain stream where they've been for a few months.
Rinse & PH check, hopefully we're good to go!

 

[Tiggsy]

made some rocks a week ago with 5 parts salt, 3 parts and 1 part to 1 part portland white (and a bit of sand chucked in from an old DSB...not much though)

1 week on and the 5 parts is VERY crumbly, the 3 parts and 1 part are ok but i'm worried that the salt isnt disolving inside the rock. I know its only 1 week but i smashed bits open and the 1 part salt was still full of salt, the 3 part less so but still lots of salt. Given time (how much?) will the water eventually disolve all the salt? i didnt expect it to all be gone after a week but i did expect more than the first 1/4 inch thickness to have been disolved.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

In about two weeks most of it should be gone. By the time they are completely finished kuring, it should all be gone but maybe an occassional grain, but none of the left over salt will harm the aquarium

 

[Tiggsy]

so i should not worry that after 6 days there is still plenty left in the center of the thicker rocks?

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

I wouldn't worry about it one bit. :thumbsup: That is, as long as the salt that you used was the purest Sodium Chloride that you could find

 

[Tiggsy]

i hope so!

it was for water softeners/dish washers.


i have built a template of my 34" high weir which will be inside my 40X40X36 tank (being built shortly)

this weekend i am going to build a rock formation around the template so when the tank is here (and rocks ready) i can plop in a monster rock wall that fits the weir like a glove

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

I've said it time and time again throughout this thread. Make sure that you get an MSDS sheet on the salt that you use. FWIW, the salt that I posted is 100% Sodium Chloride.

Sounds really good. Post pictures when it's complete.

 

[Tiggsy]

i will check on the salt before the build (so far its just been some testers - i am surprised people are using so much salt.

at 3 parts + it just gets so crumbly.

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

I think after mine is all said and done, I might be about 2-2.5 to 1. I can never add the right amount of water the first time, so I usually have to add more cement as I go.

 

[mskohl]

Here is my first attempt at rock making. This is after they've hardened, before they soak. I really don't know the ratio of mixture, but I think I started with 3:1 salt:cement.

you can see the cave in this picture and on the back right hand side I made one with a hole to slide pvc pipe through for a pillar. I'll need to make more, but I wanted to see how it would work.

This is the underside of the cave. You can see that I used a blown up glove to form the mould.

It was messy but fun. I can speak from experience here: Mixing and shaping inside a closed trash bag does not work well. My husband tried this and he couldn't get the plastic off the rock and the pvc would pull out. Plus, it left a smooth exterior and though that might change as the salt dissolved, it has too many other faults to mess with.

 

[Tiggsy]

my pics so far for reference:

 

[Travis L. Stevens]

Wow. Interesting formations from both of you. Thank you for sharing. Tiggsy, can you point out which ones are what ratio?