The Ultimate DIY Rocks!

widmer said:
I'm curious about this as well... Wouldn't it technically have increased levels of copper assuming the home has copper pipes? I would wonder if this could adsorb onto the rocks much and be trouble later...
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I've been using agrocrete in my tanks that came through copper pipes for 7 or 8 years and never had an issue with it.

I do my last few soaks through old reef tank water to clean out anything though. Then a good ro/di clean water soak/rinse.
 
haha, ya when I saw the numbers I had the most peculiar look on my face. Cause I knew I had just calibrated...but yet I got those funky readings...I decided it was time for sleep at that point
 
Chris, did you ever find out about the magnets?

Has anyone used the Perlite lately? The post where a member states it is detrimental to plants has me concerned a bit.

Curious...how do you guys make the rock lighter? My fiance and I made some with Portland type 2, CC, and some salt coverings on the outside of the mold only. We did not use sand in the mixture, but used it as the mold....any ideas? It is extremely heavy.
 
I used perlite, but it has not made it to the tank yet. The Ph still needs to drop, maybe in a few more years :). People have used it sorry I don't remember who. From what I have read most people post a problem and then some one not an issue.
 
People always talk about how great light rock is etc. and think that "heavy" rock is bad.

I guess people relate heavy/dense to non porous etc.

If you can pour water through your rock does it matter?

On my last DIY build my rock is very heavy. In my 5.5 the weight of the rock was around 25 pounds but it is very porous but the important part was I displaced 1.25 gallons of water.
 
Light rock as two benefits that come to mind.
1) If your rock structures falls over less risk of tank breakage. Proper placement would prevent this and I don't recommend letting your rocks fall.
2) You can build larger rocks and still move them. I build a back/side wall that must be 30x20x1 and thicker is some cases. I can move this one hand even in open air.
I think the weight all depends on what you want to do with it.
 
Yes those are good points.

At some point a rock is going to slide or slip out of your hand which makes you freak out for a second or two.
 
TheFishMan65 said:
....The Ph still needs to drop, maybe in a few more years :)....
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Have you had pH issues? What is your initial cure time for the cement?

The reason I ask is I did an experiment when I moved. I let about 20lbs or rock sit in damp sand for around 7 months. Since I was busy with moving a few months before and after it was no big issue with needing the rock immediately. This rock went into the Brute soaking can and the pH dropped to 7.4 in a matter of ~30 gallons and less then 1 week.

I usually let my rock sit in damp sand for 3 weeks and then soak for about 3 weeks with a WC of straight tap every 2nd day the first week and once a week the following 2nd and 3rd weeks. The pH is never higher than 8.4.

When I initially started making MM rock, it went straight into the Brute after 3 days. That rock took a minimum of 30gal of water per lb just to drop the pH to ~8.4. I've just had better success with letting it set in damp sand and having the cement curing utilize the hydroxides instead of trying to soak these out.

HTH
 
For me, light rock is easier. I am a girl, thus not as strong as a man. It is really hard to aquascape in my big 180 gallon tank without being afraid of dropping the rock. Lighter would make it easier to aquascape for me. Now if you men want heavy rock, that is fine. LOL. I'm not very strong. I would love to make pillars and be able to move them myself. I don't want it light as a feather, I just want it a little lighter than a solid piece of cement. Ya know? Do you guys mix your sand into your cement? All we did was mix crushed coral and cement. I put a light layer of sand around the structures so it would not be all gray. I also added salt around the structures. I did not mix the salt with the cement. Ideas? I wanted to try perlite, but it concerns me that people have had some problems with it. Maybe it is a certain kind you need?
 
Since November. I am not great about changing the water. It is also fairly large as I mentioned earlier, but it is getting better. My ph kit goes to 8.8 IIRC and it would get their overnight, now it takes a whole day.
 
MarineGirl411 said:
Chris, did you ever find out about the magnets?

Has anyone used the Perlite lately? The post where a member states it is detrimental to plants has me concerned a bit.

Curious...how do you guys make the rock lighter? My fiance and I made some with Portland type 2, CC, and some salt coverings on the outside of the mold only. We did not use sand in the mixture, but used it as the mold....any ideas? It is extremely heavy.
Click to expand...

MarineGirl - I use perlite in all of my rocks. There has been very little discussion, and even less research into this topic... but even so the claims of perlite being detrimental to anything, especially to our tanks, have been completely unsupportive. It's become one of many myths in this hobby, perpetuated by reefers who've heard from a friend, who's heard from another friend-type rumor.

As a business making and selling man-made rocks using perlite I have yet to hear a complaint about tanks not faring well after putting in my rocks. I myself have a tank using my rock (Minus some seed live rock) and in the past two-three years have yet to have any problems.

I personally like perlite because it does make the rock lighter, but it also makes the rock not as sharp... making it easier to handle. It still creates quite a bit of nooks and crannies, just like many other materials out there.

Hope this helps :)
 
Electrobes said:
MarineGirl - I use perlite in all of my rocks. There has been very little discussion, and even less research into this topic... but even so the claims of perlite being detrimental to anything, especially to our tanks, have been completely unsupportive. It's become one of many myths in this hobby, perpetuated by reefers who've heard from a friend, who's heard from another friend-type rumor...
Click to expand...

It comes from the fact that most perlite has aluminum in it... although it is fairly well bonded into the "glass like" structures. There has been no studies to show weather or not the aluminum can leach from the perlite. I would probably go with the consensus if people have it working in their tanks then it is probably safe for you as well.
 
Greenmaster said:
It comes from the fact that most perlite has aluminum in it... although it is fairly well bonded into the "glass like" structures. There has been no studies to show weather or not the aluminum can leach from the perlite. I would probably go with the consensus if people have it working in their tanks then it is probably safe for you as well.
Click to expand...

That's a good point, about the aluminum oxide (Alumina). It makes sense that people would shy away from it's use when first hearing about it. I actually wanted to prove it once and for all by testing my water for it by a lab, but unfortunately I couldn't find a lab that tests that specific item (Alumina).

While I have no proof, I do believe the alumina is bound to the silica, as I should have definitely had problems with my customers' (And especially my own) aquariums years ago. :spin3: I spent a year alone on the perlite recipie, before opening my business, just to make sure there were no ill effects. Here're some pics of my tank using mostly my rock.

P1010288Medium.jpg


P1010292Medium.jpg


And here are some better close ups of the rock in the tank:

P1010150Medium.jpg


P1010152Medium.jpg


Also Marinegirl has a point about lighter rocks. I can't exactly put my finger on it, but the LFSs I sell to far prefer it over my previous recipie using dolomite (Making the rock much heavier). In fact, I started out using both recipies, but the LFSs only purchase the lighter rock... even if the other recipie was cheaper to purchase. :eek1:
 
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