impur Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 I've been planning and acquiring the ingredients for making my own rock for awhile. This weekend i finally got around to creating a few. I figured i'd document the process for you guys and give a breakdown on cost. I figure i could make 500+lbs of live rock with what i've got here. So here we go!! First the ingredients i used White Portland cement $25 White silica sand $8 Crushed oyster shells feed grade - $5 Water softner salt - $6 This piece i made earlier this week. I didn't use any salt in this one. I did poke some holes in it as you can see. I like how it came out, salt would make it even better IMO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted October 7, 2007 Author Share Posted October 7, 2007 So i want to make a piece of rock to be the showpiece in my tank. It will have the nicest SPS i have collected growing on it and nothing else. (Provided i can keep them alive (laugh) ) So it needs to be a piller type piece, with some shelves for the corals. I started with some salt on the bottom of a 5gal bucket to start building this piece on In another 5gal bucket i began mixing the ingredients Mixed up to a cottage cheese consistancy Then i began adding small clumps by hand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted October 7, 2007 Author Share Posted October 7, 2007 As i build the rock, i added salt around the outside to give the rock a more pourous surface, and to be able to have a base for the upper portions of the rock to support shelves and such. Here i made a shelf by laying the cement mixture flat on the salt that has been built up. Then more salt over it to keep building up Finally i thought it would be cool to put a cave on top. I will build a little more on top of this but i ran out of cement mixture. I used some bubblewrap to create the cave, then cement over it like so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted October 7, 2007 Author Share Posted October 7, 2007 I covered the bucket with a garbage bag and will let it sit for a a couple weeks to harden. After 2 or 3 weeks i'll put it in a tote on my backporch and fill it with water. I'll let the rain supply a constant WC to the tote for another couple weeks, or until i can put the rock into RO water with little or no change in pH. I'll update when i remove it from the bucket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Nice, good looking rock. Where did you get the oyster shells, salt, and silica sand? One day I'm gonna have to come pick your brain. I need to make a pile of rock this winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyles Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Friggen Sweet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted October 9, 2007 Author Share Posted October 9, 2007 Nice' date=' good looking rock. Where did you get the oyster shells, salt, and silica sand? One day I'm gonna have to come pick your brain. I need to make a pile of rock this winter.[/quote'] Oh jeez your gonna make me think. Hmmm oyster shells i got at Coastal. Salt at Home Depot. Silica sand at Willamette Greystone. Come on over, bring beer and you can use my materials Josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
180Brandy Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Question how are you going to get the bubble wrap off your rock? Nice work so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Nice looking rock. It looks a lot "cleaner" than mine. I used some left over mortar mix (grey color) and crushed coral (white chunks). The CC on the surface keeps falling off so it is just very bumpy looking mortar. I am not happy with the way that it looks, but I did learn some lessons and will be able to use those lessons if/when I decide to make some more like you made yours. Did you put any of the rock salt in with the sand/cement/shell mixture for your final product? I tried it and I liked the result. I am going to assume that the salt will dissolve over time and leave pockets inside the rock where anaerobic/anoxic processes can occur. I used a blue nitrile glove (non-latex because it was what I had at the time) in one of my pieces of LR. It made a few interesting finger-shaped caves. I got the idea from the garf.org website. I did have one of the glove fingers get stuck and ripped off when I tried to get it out. I hope that it does not cause problems if I put it in the tank. It was one of my early experimental pieces so I have not decided whether I will use it or not. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Very cool. I have always wanted to make some rock & this thread makes me want to do it even more. One project at a time Clown fish first. Cuda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted October 10, 2007 Author Share Posted October 10, 2007 Question how are you going to get the bubble wrap off your rock? Nice work so far! It actually just comes right out. The cement doesn't bond to it. I used that same piece of bubble wrap on a small piece i made out of grey cement a few months ago and it just slides right out of the rock. Did you put any of the rock salt in with the sand/cement/shell mixture for your final product? I tried it and I liked the result. I am going to assume that the salt will dissolve over time and leave pockets inside the rock where anaerobic/anoxic processes can occur. I did in fact use salt in the mix. After i mixed the water, cement, sand, and OS together to get the correct consistancy i dumped in the salt and finished mixing it up. Then i cast it in the salt. I agree the salt should dissolve and add to the porosity of the rock. I plan to do a salt release dip in boiling water. Hot water dissolves salt MUCH faster. Even though the salt is listed as 99.8% or something pure salt, i don't want to risk my tanks SG by having any salt left in the rock. Very cool. I have always wanted to make some rock & this thread makes me want to do it even more. One project at a time Clown fish first. Cuda The hardest part was finding all the ingredients! After that its a piece of cake. Takes maybe 10-15min to mix up the materials and cast a rock. Then its just a waiting game until the hydration process is done and some curing in water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyles Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 You have a big pot to boil in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted October 10, 2007 Author Share Posted October 10, 2007 Yah, i have a big canning pot we use to boil crab in. I'll leave the rock in the buckets minus the salt and pour in the boiling water....i hope LOL. Would be nice if i had one of those big turkey fryer pots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josh Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Oh jeez your gonna make me think. Hmmm oyster shells i got at Coastal. Salt at Home Depot. Silica sand at Willamette Greystone. Come on over, bring beer and you can use my materials Josh Thanks Miles, sounds good. I'll be buggin you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef165 Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 me likie!! whare did you get the white cement? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted October 12, 2007 Author Share Posted October 12, 2007 From a masonary supply place here in Eugene. Took me FOREVER to find it. I think you would have more luck up there. I'll be taking the rock out of the salt mold on sunday so stay tuned for more pics!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef165 Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 iwhare did you get the white cement? i realy like the way your rock is coming out! sorry!! i didnt see the 2nd page and thought my post was on another thread!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted October 15, 2007 Author Share Posted October 15, 2007 No prob. I took pics of the rock out of the salt mold this weekend. I'll post em up tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted October 17, 2007 Author Share Posted October 17, 2007 Here are the pics of the rock out of the salt mold Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
undrtkr_00 Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 That's a pretty good looking rock. I take it you didn't poke many holes in the pillar piece? What purpose does the oyster shell serve? Thanks for sharing your process and results with us. It's motivating me to get going on my own DIY live rock project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted October 17, 2007 Author Share Posted October 17, 2007 No i didn't poke holes because i used salt in the mix, as well as using it to cast the rock in. I think as that dissolves it will provide many more holes and pores than a stick would. The oyster shells are just another aggregate. They help hold everything together, bond with the cement, add to the porosity, and just give the rock an overall nice look IMO. If you give it a shot be sure to take pics! And use gloves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 So how heavy is it? It looks to be about the size of a bowling ball. Yes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted October 18, 2007 Author Share Posted October 18, 2007 Yah its about the size of a bowling ball, maybe a little taller. I'd say its about 15-20lbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef165 Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 Does anyone know how long it takes for the anerobic bacteria to colenize the DYI rock? is it just a cycling period or is it much longer for the anerobic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted October 20, 2007 Share Posted October 20, 2007 the initial cycle with regular live rock is so that all the stuff that died in transit can decompose away. That is what causes the ammonia and nitrite spike. DIY LR should not have that initial spike the same way. On the other hand it has no (or very little) bacteria to start the colonization. But once the cement has cured to safe levels (months of sitting in fresh water that is changed often) it should be ready to have bacteria move on in. If it is placed in a new tank a couple of pieces of "real" LR should be used to seed the "home grown" stuff, and it may take a couple of weeks for the bacteria to grow and spread, but not very long. If placed in an established tank, it should be colonized by bacteria almost instantly (a couple of days to a week). The coraline and other critters may need more time to grow and move onto the new piece. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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