The Ultimate DIY Rocks!

[sikpupy]

Would it really matter? Who cares is she is asking the PH for dog s***? It only takes a couple of seconds, unless your line is plumbed into the sink. Even then, get off yer lazy butt, get a bucket, unscrew the drain and run some water for testing, its only .20 cents a strip. She put a lot of time into this thread for our sakes, collecting info and what not. I dont think she should "expect" people to respond, but at the same time, I would think the people would WANT to respond. It does not suprise me in the least because I have seen it myself many a times.

I still think the thread needs a little more time for people to come back to it, read it and respond, so, hopefully she will cool her jets, come back and in the meen time people will not get bent out of shape and still post their results, just because they want to help.

Email me your results and I will keep them in my PM for her.

 

[impur]

Perhaps you are having trouble reading. I'll help you out.

Thanks for all your hard work on this thread IR. I, for one, am very thankful and have tried to help where i can. I will continue to do so. My RO waste is plumbed directly into the drain, this is why i did not respond to your request. You are going to get such a wide range of results with tap water that i don't think it will be of any help.

Best of luck to you.

I'm not going to undo my entire plumbing to test the pH of the waste water then redo the entire thing. If you want to come crawl under my house be my guest. Its gonna hit 105 here today, sounds like fun!

And if she's asking for dog $#!^, you are SOL. I don't have a dog.

 

[sikpupy]

Thanks, I can read, but, i appreciate it. Under your house? how do you change the filters? All your plumbing? its only one itty bitty line!? Okay, I admit, crawling under the house isnt all that fun, but, since I am calling everyone out, buy me a plane ticket over there, I will do it if thats what it takes.

 

[Aadler]

Man I have **** poor timing. Read this entire split today/tonight and then BOOM angry ending, you people are pathetic, it would have only taken one person to test, as Tap, RO/DI and RO/DI waste are all the same (at least in my case appx 7.5... It took me all of a minute to find that out..). I agree with sikpupy, I post on the noob forum, only threads with 0 replies generally, but it is annoying to help and help and be taken for granted, especially when what you want help with is SIMPLE and it is for the benefit of the whole group.

However on a side note, only maybe 5 or so people were active on the thread in the last two months, so mebe not to many people were reading it (as it is so large most in the DIY forum would no longer be paying attention).

Anyway, come back IR, I just found the thread, would hate to lose you without ever getting any questions answered! I want to make a big rock, and what I don't understand, is unless this stuff looks like crap, or you are making it commercially, why wouldn't you use base rock to suppliment the aggracrete? I will give it a try anyway, I want one big natural-like rock in my tank with holes, caves and most importantly a wall in the back. Anyone who spends time scuba or snorkeling would eventually be led to this I tend to believe!

 

[sikpupy]

Yea, it is what it is, but like I said, I am sure not too many people drop by, so, it will take some time to get results, if anyone is still willing to be nice enough and test.

Hopefully everyone will simmer down and we can get this thread rolling again, with EVERYONE!!!

 

[Aadler]

IR I can't handle subscribing to threads, I hate all the notices, one this big would really drive me nuts! and like I stated above yesterday was first day I was here.

Now on point, can't find any white portland locally, and I live in a major city, well one place could get it in a week... but I live in the here and now.

If i used type 1 PC and a 3:1 or 4:1 sand:cement ratio, how dark grey are my rocks going to look? I would hate to wait around for them to cover in coraline or whatnot.

And has anyone tried this, I want a pretty large wall, 20" tank, wall will be about 16-18 high at peak, it will have open space behind it for caves/hide powerheads. I want to use eggcrate, drill through base rock, put that in various places, maybe throw from foam on there to lighten the whole thing, then connect and fill in with DIY cement to make it look like one large piece of rock. This combo seems the most pleasing to me, or is it just going to look to hodgepodge with all the diff colors from dry rock and cement?

 

[Aadler]

not sure what else needs to be tested, I tested all three and had same PH, i guess I have city water, and you could get pretty large variance from well water, but I tend to doubt it.

 

[speckled trout]

how dark grey are my rocks going to look?

Here's a couple using regular colored Portland cement

They dry very light. At first they'll look dark, though.

Spray paint them if you want them a different color. It won't hurt anything. However, coralline will cover them faster than you realize.

 

[sikpupy]

I guess we need someone that has like 10 or 15 to see if it actually comes down, but, I think....I think.....I read that PH just blows right through the membranes.

Type I ??? Hmm, Heard to use type II minimum!? I have type 2, used just with water for the first test. It is a dark grey and shaped like a BIG semi flattened Idaho potato, lol. Its quite strong, no flaking for the most part too. I did a 2 part salt to 1 part mix. Now that I have my PH tester, i can say its at 10.* . I have it in a sandwich size tupperware container as of now. I know thats not giving it a lot of water, but, i am curious as to how it will react over time in a tight spot. I have not done extensive scientific test or charted a graph so my outcome/readings as of now is kind of sparratic. I test here and there. Right now I am drying it out and will then toss it back in to see what it is at. I think it has been kicking around for 3 weeks now.

No RO/DI yet, sorry insane.

 

[quagmire]

Thank You Insane Reefer

Thank You Insane Reefer

Thanks IR for all the work that you put into this thread. It has taken me a long time to figure out how to get a photo into my gallery. Now that i got one in my gallery, i can't get it onto a post. So if anyone wants to see one of my MMLR, check my gallery. It is a 14"L x 8"W x 8"H archway 2" thick at its thinest point. I also made several large plates (18"x16"x2") to use as shelving and background. Thanks again IR and to all who contributed to this thread. Regards, Quag.

 

[sly fox]

i havent checked this thread for a while, sad to see it end i'll try and do a test of my rodi off water tonight if anyones interested

 

[sly fox]

tried to email you IR just to say thanks for posting over this time, anyway hopefully you'll readthis, just wanted to say thanks for all the info
regards

 

[sly fox]

ok, i used my ph meter....

7.78 for me tap water, 8.14 ro off water, i quicky dipped it in the clean rodi water, 6.5 and dropping didnt wait for it to finish, so much lower

hope that helps

 

[sikpupy]

8.14, ehy? Hmm, what stage was that from, the RI? Well, I guess RO/DI's do alter Ph !? Thanks sly fox.

 

[sly fox]

i was a bit srprised by my water... the finished water came out slightly acidic... actually i got a bitworried by it, the pH meter is on a controller (aq. Jr) wondered if my controllers out...i used a test kit to look at my tank PH after and it appeared to correspondwith the probes reading (my colour vision on pH tests isnt great which is why i use a probe.... i think i'll try and pick up some calibration fluid later in the week to check it

 

[kaskiles]

All of the test kits and meters we use for aquariums are not designed to measure PH accurately on RO or RO/DI water. There are not enough ions in the water, and the water is hypersensitive to any environmental factors (like atmospheric CO2). Please search through The Reef Chemistry forum for more information on measuring distilled, RO and RO/DI pH.

 

[sly fox]

thanks, thats worth knowing....it didnt seem quite right to me, so that would explain t...i think i havesome reading to do
all the best

 

[Rhodophyta]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13277067#post13277067 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Aadler
IR I can't handle subscribing to threads, I hate all the notices, one this big would really drive me nuts! and like I stated above yesterday was first day I was here.

Now on point, can't find any white portland locally, and I live in a major city, well one place could get it in a week... but I live in the here and now.

If i used type 1 PC and a 3:1 or 4:1 sand:cement ratio, how dark grey are my rocks going to look? I would hate to wait around for them to cover in coraline or whatnot.

And has anyone tried this, I want a pretty large wall, 20" tank, wall will be about 16-18 high at peak, it will have open space behind it for caves/hide powerheads. I want to use eggcrate, drill through base rock, put that in various places, maybe throw from foam on there to lighten the whole thing, then connect and fill in with DIY cement to make it look like one large piece of rock. This combo seems the most pleasing to me, or is it just going to look to hodgepodge with all the diff colors from dry rock and cement?

They use it in stucco a lot, which is not popular here , but still is done in the Cleveland area. Bagged white portland has a short shelf life, so be sure you get a bag that is NOT hard anywhere.

 

[JC Pollman]

cement on the bottom of the tank?

cement on the bottom of the tank?

Instead of just making rocks, I am thinking about using the same type of material for the bottom of the tank.

This summer an extended power failure killed my tank. It is a 200 gallon tank which had been continuously up and running for over 5 years. During the recovery process I have been removing the sand bed, and boy does it stink! I actually had to go outside a few times while removing it because I was so nauseous - ya, it really is that bad! So, I will never, ever use a sand bed again.

As an alternative, I am thinking about running the return water from the filters through pvc pipes along the bottom of the tank in order to make the direction of the water flow primarily be upwards. I need to both hold the pipes in place and provide a reasonably flat and strong surface to support the rock work.

I am thinking about using the DIY live rock formulas as presented in this thread. It will probably be about an inch deep - I plan on using 3/4 inch pvc for the pipes and want them covered except for the holes for the return water. Not only will this keep the pipes in place and provide a solid platform for the rock work, but it should add to the filtration effort by the DIY rocks.

Since this tank is going to be a plywood tank - with dimensions aprox 8' x 2' x 2', I have a few questions:
1. When the cement cures, does it expand?
2. When the cement cures, does it produce significant heat?
3. Given that this is essentially going to be sheet of cement, are there any issues about it expanding or contracting over time?

Currently I am planning on putting 1/4 inch spacers along the walls to keep the cement off of the sides, and then caulking the spaces.

Thoughts?

JC

 

[Rhodophyta]

Re: cement on the bottom of the tank?

Re: cement on the bottom of the tank?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13349832#post13349832 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JC Pollman
Instead of just making rocks, I am thinking about using the same type of material for the bottom of the tank.

This summer an extended power failure killed my tank. It is a 200 gallon tank which had been continuously up and running for over 5 years. During the recovery process I have been removing the sand bed, and boy does it stink! I actually had to go outside a few times while removing it because I was so nauseous - ya, it really is that bad! So, I will never, ever use a sand bed again.

As an alternative, I am thinking about running the return water from the filters through pvc pipes along the bottom of the tank in order to make the direction of the water flow primarily be upwards. I need to both hold the pipes in place and provide a reasonably flat and strong surface to support the rock work.

I am thinking about using the DIY live rock formulas as presented in this thread. It will probably be about an inch deep - I plan on using 3/4 inch pvc for the pipes and want them covered except for the holes for the return water. Not only will this keep the pipes in place and provide a solid platform for the rock work, but it should add to the filtration effort by the DIY rocks.

Since this tank is going to be a plywood tank - with dimensions aprox 8' x 2' x 2', I have a few questions:
1. When the cement cures, does it expand?
2. When the cement cures, does it produce significant heat?
3. Given that this is essentially going to be sheet of cement, are there any issues about it expanding or contracting over time?

Currently I am planning on putting 1/4 inch spacers along the walls to keep the cement off of the sides, and then caulking the spaces.

Thoughts?

JC

A few bottles of hydrogen peroxide would have reduced that bad smell while you worked. It will go away completely if you have time (which never happens) to let the sand dry thoroughly.

Cement will not significantly expand while it cures, and a thin layer will not produce harmful levels of heat, although it may produce enough you can tell that it is warmer. Over time the thin sheet of cement will crack into pieces, especially whenever the tank is filled or emptied. You could use styrofoam as your spacers on the edges and leave it in place. Painting it with a DryLok type of product would waterproof it if you want it sealed for some reason.

An alternative to the aragocrete in this concept would be to use a layer of waterfall foam. It would flex instead of cracking.