The Ultimate DIY Rocks!

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Anyone have tanks that are just diy rock with a little live rock to seed it? I plan on making all the rock for my 150 and crushing some live rock and scattering it over the rock to seed it.

Also can you add a lot of DIY rock at a time to the tank after the rock is cured or is it not safe?

Thanks,
Josh
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8845380#post8845380 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Foosinho
My wife works at Starbucks. They already save their grounds and make them freely available - apparently people use them in their gardens. And they don't come anywhere close to giving it all away. I'm sure you could acquire more than you could ever use just by asking for it.
Click to expand...

Buddy ... I would stick with acid if you want to screw with the ph. I don't think you want 'Ultimate DIY Moca Rock'.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8846166#post8846166 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Joshsmit56001
Anyone have tanks that are just diy rock with a little live rock to seed it? I plan on making all the rock for my 150 and crushing some live rock and scattering it over the rock to seed it.

Also can you add a lot of DIY rock at a time to the tank after the rock is cured or is it not safe?

Thanks,
Josh
Click to expand...

That's pretty much what I'm doing. Moving up from a 40g to a 150. All the rock from the previous tank is just enough to seed the new one.

If the rock is cured, it should, in principle, have no effect on your system. Rearranging rockwork, however, always kicks up a lot of detritus, and corals dont like being moved around much either.


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8846493#post8846493 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RandyStacyE
Buddy ... I would stick with acid if you want to screw with the ph. I don't think you want 'Ultimate DIY Moca Rock'.
Click to expand...

At least it'll smell good... :D

Dont forget that the coffee is already used! I suspect it wont be that easy to make a good "brew" and achieve the desired pH. You'll also have coffee grounds in the rocks...
 
Why would I put it in the rock? I am talking about adding it to the change out water.

On another subject here is a quip about Thorite concrete having a low ph.

http://www.thekrib.com/TankHardware/concrete.html

"When I was General Curator at the Mystic Marinelife Aquarium
in Connecticut, we used a cement mix called Thorite, which is
made by Thoroseal, to fasten pieces of living coral to substrate
before submerging it into our displays. It sets fairly quickly
and can finish curing underwater. We found no effects on pH
when we used it. To test its use in fresh water, just make up
a glob of it, let it set a while, and place it in a jar of fresh
water to finish curing. Test the pH before and after and see
how it looks. If no changes are noted it shouold be safe.
I don't know what effect it might have on hardness in fresh water
but you can test it out the same way and see what happens.
We
We used it a lot and had no real problems with it.
Got to go now. Good luck.
"
 
So its not going to get in the rocks, just the water you're putting the rocks in? I cant even keep sand out of my rocks. Suit yourself.

Since concrete is a base, I'm going to assume that all concrete mixes will be at least slightly basic. I dont think its much of a big deal in a reef tank since we're putting CaOH in as it is. I'm not going to mail-order Thorite, what they have at HD or Lowe's will have to do.
 
Yea, the freshwater will draw stuff out faster. Make sure you use RO/DI, or you may be impregnating it with impurities, rather than pulling them out. How long depends on what you find leaches out. Personally, I'll stick it in a tub of RO/DI for a week, and check to see what's in that water. Silicates turn up a lot. Nitrate/Phosphate is another good test to use. If I detect any of the above, I change the water and soak it for another week and check again. You can check the pH too, if it makes you feel better. Should be around neutral (7), but I would think 6-8 would be an acceptable range.

pH tests actually dont work very well in pure water.

my 2 cents.
 
So to summarize this entire thread, you should mix 4:1 of Rock salt (sodium chloride) to limestone based concrete?


Allow it to dry and then soak it for 4-6 weeks in freshwater with daily water changes, to allow and leaching to take place?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8846493#post8846493 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RandyStacyE
Buddy ... I would stick with acid if you want to screw with the ph. I don't think you want 'Ultimate DIY Moca Rock'.
Click to expand...
I didn't say I would use coffee grounds - only that if you wanted them, you could have more than you could ever possibly use for free. :)

People do use Starbucks grounds to up the acidic content of their soil if they are growing, for example, tomatoes.

Slightly more relevant, I agree that RO/DI would guarantee that you know exactly what's in the water used for curing, but I'd like to know if there are compelling reasons not to chuck any rocks in the creek out back. I'm pretty sure that the area that drains into the creek no longer has any actively farmed fields, which would eliminate the possibility of fertilizer runoff (or at least substantial quantities of it) in the creek. It's not exactly a mountain spring - I wouldn't drink out of it without boiling the water - but it's not a river downstream of a sewage plant either. It's a pretty small creek. But the constant water change should help cure the rock faster.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8847553#post8847553 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ZachStep
So to summarize this entire thread, you should mix 4:1 of Rock salt (sodium chloride) to limestone based concrete?


Allow it to dry and then soak it for 4-6 weeks in freshwater with daily water changes, to allow and leaching to take place?
Click to expand...



4:1 is too brittle. 2 to 2.5: 1 seems to work out better. That makes a nice, stable rock, but allows enough rock salt for holes.


I have a piece that I used the large pasta shells on, and it came out really nice. After I finished mixing my salt & cement, I threw down some shells on the top of my mold. I also lightly mixed a few shells into the mixture. Don't mix the shells thoroughly though; just enough movement to allow them to seat into the outer layer of the mixture.
Then just dump it on the mold.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8848022#post8848022 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Foosinho

Slightly more relevant, I agree that RO/DI would guarantee that you know exactly what's in the water used for curing, but I'd like to know if there are compelling reasons not to chuck any rocks in the creek out back. I'm pretty sure that the area that drains into the creek no longer has any actively farmed fields, which would eliminate the possibility of fertilizer runoff (or at least substantial quantities of it) in the creek. It's not exactly a mountain spring - I wouldn't drink out of it without boiling the water - but it's not a river downstream of a sewage plant either. It's a pretty small creek. But the constant water change should help cure the rock faster.
Click to expand...

Yea, you get fertilizers etc draining in. I agree, its a bit risky. I'd stick to keeping as many parameters controlled as possible and just use RO/DI.
 
What you are attempting to do by soaking the rock is to dissolve the salt mixed in the rock. So soaking the rocks in salt water would not be the best way to accomplish this. There is already a dissolved salt content in salt water that would limit the amount of salt that could dissolve in it at it's saturation point. Freshwater would work best, not to mention it would be a waste of saltwater.
 
Freshwater would give the highest concentration gradient between whats in the rocks, and what's outside the rocks. ie more conducive to migrating salts out of the rock.
 
Has anyone managed to achieve decent or even excellent algae growth with DIY rocks? I meantioned using Tufa rocks to a LFS representative and he informed me that I would never have enough algae to support any life.

But if I am correct in my reading, overtime with the right supplements and lights, algae will manage to grow because all rock is dead to begin with?
 
Are you intending to use a type of algae as a food source? If its coralline algae (sup Rhodophyta!) you're after there have been several pics earlier in the thread that displayed excellent coverage. As for nuisance algae it takes a better reefer than me to completely get rid of it (trust me it WILL grow but its not quite what you need to support life). What grows on the rock depends on what you seed it with and the nutrients available. A bit of LR will be necessary to kick start the process by supplying the bacteria (nitrobacter?) and other hitchhikers that will colonize the home made LR and turn it into sort of in tank waste processing plant.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8868226#post8868226 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ZachStep
I believe coralline algae is what I want (waste processing is the main reason for wanting it).
Click to expand...

While Coralline algae may use up some nutrients for its growth, I think what you are really looking for in terms of waste processing (the nitrification and denitrification process) is bacteria.

Bacteria do all the work of processing the poo that your inhabitants produce (mainly in the form of ammonia and eventually nitrates and then nitrates).

Phosphate is another story. The best way to remove it is to get a very good protein skimmer, next you can use a ferric oxide based phosphate remover, and then you can use a refugium and let the micro and macro algae remove a bit of it.

Coralline algae looks pretty and retards the growth of other nuisance algaes in your tank (hair, caulerpa, valonia, etc...).

Peace,
John
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8865592#post8865592 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ZachStep
Has anyone managed to achieve decent or even excellent algae growth with DIY rocks? I meantioned using Tufa rocks to a LFS representative and he informed me that I would never have enough algae to support any life.

But if I am correct in my reading, overtime with the right supplements and lights, algae will manage to grow because all rock is dead to begin with?
Click to expand...

The guy that said that about the Tufa rock is full of crap. Half of my 30 gallon was Tufa rock and I had excellent coralline growth, maybe even better than my live rock.
 
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