The Ultimate DIY Rocks!
- Thread starter JohnL
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Ive been doing this for a few months now and I feel like its taking longer for mine to cure than it should. I do full changes every other day and its taking a little more than 8 weeks. Anyways, here are some pics of the rock I have. I didnt realize how much I have. I have about 400 lbs curing, (I wanted to use up all the materials lol) If somebody wants some they can email me at screamin_reefers@yahoo.com . Also if you have any questions as to how I did it I will answer those as well.
Travis L. Stevens
Active member
What format are they in? Have you read through this? http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=531326
cmpenney
New member
I was just pointed to this tread. A friend of mine was having problems with some ceramics pillars and pulled the out of his tank. I wanted to create see if I could make an Aragocreate pillar.
here is the end result:
The entire thread is at
http://www.masm.org/forums/tm.asp?m=8565
here is the end result:
The entire thread is at
http://www.masm.org/forums/tm.asp?m=8565
Insane Reefer
New member
Fiji, Fiji, Fiji!
I think it is funny that based on a couple of articles written mainly for the company "Walt Smith" by Bob Fenner (and incorporated with the WetWeb site), Fiji rock has become "the rock". These articles are old - like 10 years old, but because they are still on the internet to be read, they are taken as gospel.
Remember - no real/published and proofed research has been done on true live rock, and which is truly the "best", as far as filtration is concerned. So anyone touting that "this one is better", is either trying to sell you something, or is giving you an opinion - and that opinion might be formed by someone trying to help a friend sell some rock, or from someone who read an article on the internet telling them which rock they should spend their money on.
I dislike Fiji Rock and so do a lot of folks. The LFS guy and I were talking, and of the last 350lbs he has gotten, it has all been balls (80%). Baseball to bigger than a basketball. Balls with holes, but it is still all balls. LFS guy has one rock he showed me, 7" radius (14" diameter), that weighs over 50lbs! This is porous? My 6ft long "Reef Face" (see gallery pics) only weighted 93lbs! And that was made with the Ol' Skool mix, plus a bit of salt.
There are several other types of true live rock that come in better shapes, are more porous, and have a much better selection of life. VANUATU, VAVA'U, SOLOMON ISLAND and MARSHALL ISLANDS rock all come to mind. A little more pricey, and sometimes harder to come by, but worth it, IMO.
But no matter whether you use true LR, or MMLR, you should always allow 1-2lbs of rock per gallon of capacity - this has been accepted as the correct amount for a moderately heavily loaded tank.
Ok, I'm done
I think it is funny that based on a couple of articles written mainly for the company "Walt Smith" by Bob Fenner (and incorporated with the WetWeb site), Fiji rock has become "the rock". These articles are old - like 10 years old, but because they are still on the internet to be read, they are taken as gospel.
Remember - no real/published and proofed research has been done on true live rock, and which is truly the "best", as far as filtration is concerned. So anyone touting that "this one is better", is either trying to sell you something, or is giving you an opinion - and that opinion might be formed by someone trying to help a friend sell some rock, or from someone who read an article on the internet telling them which rock they should spend their money on.
I dislike Fiji Rock and so do a lot of folks. The LFS guy and I were talking, and of the last 350lbs he has gotten, it has all been balls (80%). Baseball to bigger than a basketball. Balls with holes, but it is still all balls. LFS guy has one rock he showed me, 7" radius (14" diameter), that weighs over 50lbs! This is porous? My 6ft long "Reef Face" (see gallery pics) only weighted 93lbs! And that was made with the Ol' Skool mix, plus a bit of salt.
There are several other types of true live rock that come in better shapes, are more porous, and have a much better selection of life. VANUATU, VAVA'U, SOLOMON ISLAND and MARSHALL ISLANDS rock all come to mind. A little more pricey, and sometimes harder to come by, but worth it, IMO.
But no matter whether you use true LR, or MMLR, you should always allow 1-2lbs of rock per gallon of capacity - this has been accepted as the correct amount for a moderately heavily loaded tank.
Ok, I'm done
Travis L. Stevens
Active member
:lol: Good point Insane Reefer. While I tend to agree there is better LR out there, even though I prefer Fiji. It is quite simple that Fiji is the most common out there. Hence, this is why I'm going to do my test with Fiji.
PS I know that you weren't directing your comment toward my choice of rock for the experiment, but it related to it none the less I might be doing the test tonight, but I doubt it. Wish me luck :thumbsup:
PS I know that you weren't directing your comment toward my choice of rock for the experiment, but it related to it none the less
I might be doing the test tonight, but I doubt it. Wish me luck :thumbsup:
Insane Reefer
New member
cmpenney, scanning through your other forum thread, you are using regular type III portland and, it sounds like you are planning the following?
2 days to dry/cure
A vinegar etching? for a day
2 more days to kure in freshwater
AND THEN IMMEDIATELY INTO YOUR SUMP?
You realize that the pH of that pillar is going to be 12-13 for the next 2 weeks at a minimum? Unless you are putting this in a system of several hundred gallons, you are really, really going to have to monitor pH and ALK.
I would seriously consider doing a proper kure for this rock, and not jump the gun...
2 days to dry/cure
A vinegar etching? for a day
2 more days to kure in freshwater
AND THEN IMMEDIATELY INTO YOUR SUMP?
You realize that the pH of that pillar is going to be 12-13 for the next 2 weeks at a minimum? Unless you are putting this in a system of several hundred gallons, you are really, really going to have to monitor pH and ALK.
I would seriously consider doing a proper kure for this rock, and not jump the gun...
Insane Reefer
New member
You can get NICE rock shipped to even MI, for probably right on to what you are paying locally, Zach.
Travis. A LOT of LFS that I have recently visited (8 in the last month), have said the rock they had was Fiji, and it WAS NOT or was a mix of poor quality fiji, and other stuff. One place had FL aqua rock, caribbean, and some "other" nasty looking rock, all mixed up, and insisted it was ALL Premium Fiji, at $8.99 a pound. I actually laughed at those folks. I don't think they will be buying MMLR from me, lol.
I don't think Fiji is any more common than most other rock - I think most folks don't actually know what the different types look like, really, and so just accept that what they are told is fiji, is. You see it in tank pics all the time - "I have all fiji", and there is obviously some (or most) that is not fiji rock.
LFS people can read the internet too - and they see that everyone is "wanting" fiji, so that is what some of the unscrupulous LFS (or unknowledgable or gullible) will tell you they have. Often the LFS people don't know what they have gotten - so it isn't always the LFS, but the distributors who lead folks on.
Just based on what I have seen locally, here in MO, Maybe 50% of the rock being sold as Fiji Rock, actually IS fiji rock...
Maybe the average online is better, but I don't know.
Travis. A LOT of LFS that I have recently visited (8 in the last month), have said the rock they had was Fiji, and it WAS NOT or was a mix of poor quality fiji, and other stuff. One place had FL aqua rock, caribbean, and some "other" nasty looking rock, all mixed up, and insisted it was ALL Premium Fiji, at $8.99 a pound. I actually laughed at those folks. I don't think they will be buying MMLR from me, lol.
I don't think Fiji is any more common than most other rock - I think most folks don't actually know what the different types look like, really, and so just accept that what they are told is fiji, is. You see it in tank pics all the time - "I have all fiji", and there is obviously some (or most) that is not fiji rock.
LFS people can read the internet too - and they see that everyone is "wanting" fiji, so that is what some of the unscrupulous LFS (or unknowledgable or gullible) will tell you they have. Often the LFS people don't know what they have gotten - so it isn't always the LFS, but the distributors who lead folks on.
Just based on what I have seen locally, here in MO, Maybe 50% of the rock being sold as Fiji Rock, actually IS fiji rock...
Maybe the average online is better, but I don't know.
cmpenney
New member
I'm not planning on putting the tihin in my sump quite that quickly but I do have 2) 100 gallon sumps in my system not counting the rest of the system So one rock isn't going to through much off in the system.
Personally I could care less where the LR comes from there seem to be good and bad pieces from any location. I just pick through and find the good porous pieces and leave the thick solid pieces behind.
Personally I could care less where the LR comes from there seem to be good and bad pieces from any location. I just pick through and find the good porous pieces and leave the thick solid pieces behind.
Insane Reefer
New member
Limestone is fine for a system, however, most limestone is too dense to perform any filtration (water has to be able to flow through the rock somewhat). If you are lucky, you might have an open pore type where you live, which would allow some filtration.
In the south, esp. Florida and the Keys, there is a lot of old reef limestone (often called coral rock) that hasn't really compressed - this is what places like Tampa Bay Saltwater use.
In the south, esp. Florida and the Keys, there is a lot of old reef limestone (often called coral rock) that hasn't really compressed - this is what places like Tampa Bay Saltwater use.
Rhodophyta
New member
There is a guy on Aquabid who sells this same Florida limestone.
http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/auction.cgi?disp&viewseller&Douglas6156
Florida Wildlife piles this kind of rock up for habitat in marine and freshwater locales. Looks like he found some up out of the water where he works.
Insane Reefer
New member
I came upon this as I was surfing - I thought this might make interesting reading, esp. the bits on "concrete rock".
Interesting PDF
Notice page 8 in particular...
Interesting PDF
Notice page 8 in particular...
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