The Ultimate DIY Rocks!

[Rysam]

im lucky, the water is the easy part for me. my landlord has a sneaky sneaky well in the back forty that he put in 500 yrs ago. its only about 150 ft from my work area. i plan on getting a 500g water tank and running a 1/2" line for watering the lawn and doing kure bin water changes.
Electricity on the other hand... I live in california. do i need to say more?

 

[skeeley]

Just wanted to say hello, and thanks to all who have freely given their wisdom in this thread. I had tried old style (crushed oyster shell / cement) rock a few years ago, and while it's very porous, it does not look as good as any rock in this thread.

After reading every post in this thread, I started my own experiment tonight. I think it's a combination of eveything I've read, but mostly follows sunkool's white tile grout recipe.

For my test rock, I used the following recipe:

1 cup (404 grams) snow white tile grout
1 cup (385 grams) premium white play sand
1/2 cup (144 grams) water
1 cup (302 grams) blue bag rock salt (added last)

The waiting is the hardest part.

I plan to let it dry three days before soaking in water.

My only question at this point, since this is my first time using tile grout, should I keep wetting the rock down over the next three days while it cures?

Thanks

 

[eznet2u]

I know this was probably covered 174 years ago, when this thread started...

But, couldn't you just put this rock in a river? That would be a constant water change. The softness of the water should drive down the PH fairly quickly.

Am I missing something?

My sister owns a place up in the mountains that has a constant fast flow. Does this sound like it would work?

 

[seagul]

i cured the my nano rock in near boiling water, in a small rubbermaid tub, a small powerhead. top on.

it stayed warm for a good 6 +hours, especially if you dont oppen it, the steam produced keeps the tub very hott. power head just moves water across the rock to help dissolve salts faster.


i want to try the stove steaming method with this next batch.. im really looking for a DIY rock that will be tank ready fairly fast, 10 days would be good.

Im currently tryin to stock my 20g clown tank, and im getting very impatient with the lack of a diatom or any kind of algae bloom.

not even a small patch of growth on ether the rock or glass.
but some on a peice of dead purple digi in the sand.
Live sand was used to seed the water, not sure on parametes,

 

[Insane Reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12368311#post12368311 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by skeeley
Just wanted to say hello

Welcome to RC and to this thread, Skeeley :wave:

I think it's a combination of everything I've read, but mostly follows sunkool's white tile grout recipe...
My only question at this point, since this is my first time using tile grout, should I keep wetting the rock down over the next three days while it cures?

Sunkool might be the best one to answer that as I've never worked in grout before. I'd say you would want to leave it at least that long, if not for a couple of weeks as per regular portland rock...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12368331#post12368331 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by eznet2u
But, couldn't you just put this rock in a river? That would be a constant water change. The softness of the water should drive down the PH fairly quickly.

Sure, and it is covered in the section of the Super Long Post that covers Kuring...

 

[eznet2u]

Does anyone know if Cellular Cement is reef safe? The foaming agents have a PH of 7 which would also accelerate the kure.
But I am not sure of there "Reef Safeness"...

Cellular Cement looks like the ultimate MMLR. Very porous, very light weight.

 

[Insane Reefer]

http://midwestcellularconcrete.com/Q___A.html
According to what I've found out, it sounds like it would be perfect.

"The Foaming Agent is produced from all natural ingredients, is non-flammable, and is safe for the environment."

It is added to regular portland, however you have to have a $pecialized machine to produce the foam...
http://www.tag-crete.com/Products.htm
A possibility for the commercial rock maker, but not so much so for the hobbyist.

This sounds similar to the kind of cement one can make with aluminum powder, which can be quite hazardous to work with.

 

[cmpenney]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12360913#post12360913 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Insane Reefer
Very interesting, thanks for posting this. That would blow my buddies idea out of the water, if there isn't any place for bacteria to grow. Could you possibly get the info on the test place your buddy used, or maybe put me in touch with your buddy directly? I might be interested in sending off some MLR to see what there is to see, but wouldn't know where to go... [/B]

I will get ahold of him and see if he is willing to share. I know at one point he considered legal actions over it and was holding back on alot of specifics.

It's been awhile and he might be more willing to share.

 

[cmpenney]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12368311#post12368311 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by skeeley
Just wanted to say hello, and thanks to all who have freely given their wisdom in this thread. I had tried old style (crushed oyster shell / cement) rock a few years ago, and while it's very porous, it does not look as good as any rock in this thread.

Thanks

Personally I think that one of the secrets to realistic MLR is varied aggregates. Sand, CC, OS, LR rubble, etc all the mix seems to leave more realistic results for me then if I only use one type.

 

[Rysam]

i finally made it the 1 mile to the hardware store to get a bag of aglime.
for 5$ i think we have a winner. it has quite a bit of fines in it, but i will see what it looks like after i rinse it a bit.

next to some fine aragonite sand

this is the best i could do to see the grain size

 

[Insane Reefer]

ABout Cellular Cement...

ABout Cellular Cement...

Ok. I wrote to one of the companies that sells the Cellular Cement foam agent and machinery.
This is what I wrote:

Hello,
I make cement based rock for the marine aquarium hobby - this rock must be porous to be of any use, so I am very curious about cellular cement.

The info says that the foaming agent is environmentally friendly, but would this be true for a closed system, or will this stuff leech out? And what exactly is the foaming agent? Are there any MSDS's for it?

I would like to get a quote on the machine and starting materials.

I was also hoping to get a small demo piece so that I can actually see it and get an idea of how useful it might be for my purpose.

They replied with:

Mr.XXX, (love that they assumed I was a man)
This is a close cell cementious product. It is not porous. The admix is completely organic. The admix actually creates million of microscopic air bubbles that are completely encapsulated by concrete. There is nothing to leach out because as soon once the bubble breaks the miniature amount of
admix to create the bubble actually disapates and leaves no residue. This product actually will float in water without taking in the water.

This sounded strange to me - how could you add all those cells to portland cement and have it be non-porous? So I looked it up.

You know how I've talked about "pores" and "capillaries" in the cement matrix? These are vital to water transport within the cement, and why regular portland is so useful to make MLR with. It is also the difference between "fast set" cements and regular portland - the fast sets have pozzolans (fly ash, silica, etc.) added that end up filling these pores and capillaries during the fast hydration process, which render the cement impermeable by the cement industry.

So it turns out, that when you entrain air into cement, the billions of new air cells cause an abrupt termination of the capillaries, and thus reduce permeability and porosity since water can no longer flow through the rock.

So while air entrained cement sounds like it would be just the thing, it really isn't

And for those curious, the foaming agent is made from something called "vinsol resin", which is manufactured from pine trees.

Just thought I would pass this on.

 

[cmpenney]

Thanks for the info..Sounds liek we need to look for another grail

 

[Insane Reefer]

Cmpenny.
I agree about the aggregates - the more variety you use, the more realistic it can become. Though using only sand and perlite to make the rock makes a mix that looks a lot like premium figi rock with its little nodule/bumps...

And if you can just get the name of the testing place your buddy used, that would be great - I don't need details about the ceramic based rock that stinks, just someone who I can maybe send samples to for analysis.


Kinghokus - Awesome score! That stuff is nicer than the stuff I get! Better composition and looks like grain size is just about perfect for making rock. And it should work just fine as a DSB as well - just rinse the heck out of it first, :lol:.

 

[cmpenney]

Insane Reefer - I sent my buddy a PM and asked if he would be willing to share anymore information and mainly the testing facility he used. Hopefully I'll hear back soon. He isn't into the hobby as much since the whole incident. Left him kinda jaded.


Kinghokus - What store did you get that at. I stopped by the Local TSC today. They had a dolomite product that looked very much like what you showed. I also saw bags of Oyster Shell and a limestone pellet product. I'll probably pick up a couple bags of each one this weekend and see what they are like.

 

[Insane Reefer]

Cmpenny
You had asked where Kinghokus had found his Aglime...

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12352623#post12352623 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kinghokus420
life is good!
just happened to be getting some screws at the local podunk ace hardware that seems to have every cool thing known to man, when i found pallets and pallets of dolomite ag lime for 5.99/50 lbs.

Now would he be kind enough to list the SKU or Product Code? Mine doesn't have any, but said if I got the info they would look into it..

And thank you for looking into the testing option for me
It would be nice to see how our MLR stacks up to real rock...

 

[cmpenney]

Duh!!!! Totally missed that..Thanks Insane!

 

[Insane Reefer]

NP, Cmpenny

I have to agree with King though - Ace Hardware could be the DIY'ers Holy Temple. They aren't great for lumber, but man, the number of small doodads and doohickeys is amazing

 

[impur]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12386640#post12386640 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Insane Reefer
NP, Cmpenny

I have to agree with King though - Ace Hardware could be the DIY'ers Holy Temple. They aren't great for lumber, but man, the number of small doodads and doohickeys is amazing

My parents own an ACE hardware, i worked there thru highschool and my first couple years of college. I totally agree, there are SOOOO many things we can use there. I eventually moved away from my hometown, so now when i need something to finish a DIY i can never find it. But I KNOW my parents have it. Its just the 140mile round trip to get it that sucks.

 

[Rysam]

Now would he be kind enough to list the SKU or Product Code? Mine doesn't have any, but said if I got the info they would look into it..

ask and ye shall receive all i have.
there was not a barcode with sku but these are the numbers and info that were where the barcode should have been.

code 605
sap# 80077724
09FG-CHE-09986

Chemical lime co.
Box 1938
Salinas CA, 93902
(831) 449-9117

 

[Rysam]

double post