impur Posted June 19, 2008 Author Share Posted June 19, 2008 cover it in the damp sand Then i wrapped it in a large plastic bag and i'll leave it for 3 weeks in my garage where it'll get nice and warm. the damp sand will keep it moist. I'll move it straight to a bucket of water to cure and change the water regularly. Hope it cures faster than my last batch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 can't wait to see it. I really like the textures. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted June 19, 2008 Author Share Posted June 19, 2008 Thanks Dave. I am going to add 2 legs to this piece, it will be an arch of sorts. I'm going to add the legs this weekend after its had a chance to harden a bit. Will keep this thread updated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Miles- while you are at it, do you have time to make some rock for the TFT program? I bought a big bag of portland cement from HD (It is grey, not white, but it works). I have been using CC, and water softener salt. I have been cranking out rock about one piece every other day. I am going to use the waste water from my RO to do water changes, and I hope to have a lot of it ready by the time that school starts up. If you can also make some, then we will have a lot of different kinds to choose from. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted June 19, 2008 Author Share Posted June 19, 2008 Yah i'd be more than happy to do that. I'll bust out some pieces this weekend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted June 22, 2008 Author Share Posted June 22, 2008 Went to work on a couple more pieces, so a few more pics!! Spent 3 bucks on some new containers to cast in This one is kind of Y shaped I built a sort of shelf on the bottom part of the pic on this rock. You can see it forming on the bottom right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted June 22, 2008 Author Share Posted June 22, 2008 Into plastic bags in my garage for 3 weeks or so. The damp sand will provide the moisture and its gets pretty hot in my garage on sunny days. I'll update when i take them out. One thing i did different on this batch is that i added the salt after the sand, OS, and cement were mixed with water. I think most of the salt disolved while mixing in that other rock i made last week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriswaters Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 kuring I have had my DIY rock soaking for 1 or 2 months... It still has a pH that is off the scale on the high end. I replace the water every day or three. I have even used vinegar and muriatic acid a couple of times to see if that would help to bring the pH of the rock down to "normal sea water." It lasted a couple of days at a low pH, then it shot back up and stayed high. I was using mortar mix (like for masonry), not straight cement. The only difference is that mortar mix already has sand in it. Then I added rock salt, CC and dry aragonite to the mix. I don't think that the rock that I have made will be ready for a couple of months at least. dsoz It takes a while to cure. I made rock last spring and just now added it to the tank! BTW MILES...I love your rock. You are much more creative then I!!! I just added a piece that made last year. I am using it more for the base rock, but I would love to create a few showpieces as well! The added salt (after melting away) does increase the pourousness of the rock dramatically! My pieces are light as a feather! I did just what Dsoz did as far as what I mixed together. I didn't try the vinegar or muriatic acid. Ph is good but so is the algae... (scratch) Brandy....I had a bit of a "green algae" type bloom on the first two pieces I added...none so far on this one. I agree with everyone on storing it somewhere. Mine spent the winter outside (exposed) and it look great now. 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 I can attest to this! I look in my tank and can't distinguish the DIY rock from the other! It took about 30-45 days and things looked great! I will definately have to look into Miles' technique! Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted June 23, 2008 Author Share Posted June 23, 2008 Thanks Kris! I hope they come out nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biomekanic Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Have you ever thought of using this mix with LR to do things like make arches/caves/etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 The problem with that would be the high pH while curing. It would essentially kill all the "live" part of the Live rock. It could become recolonized, but why destroy good LR, when you can make arches and caves out of cement to begin with. Look at www.garf.org they have a bunch of information on making DIY LR. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted June 26, 2008 Author Share Posted June 26, 2008 I made an arch on the top of that big piece in the first couple pages. If i had some dried out LR i might incorporate it into the cement, but since i can make pretty much any shape & size, its cheaper to just make it out of the cement mix. LR is about what, $4/lb? I can make over 1000 lbs of rock with what i have, and its cost me about 50 bucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Got my salt: Got my tub: Cement too: Mixing bucket: Mixing doohickey: Added water and started forming: Make shapes and contours using salt as the mold: Pack it in with salt, seal the tub up and let the cement cure for a couple of days: Once the cement finishes curing, they'll go into a tub of water until the pH drops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 I have been doing this too. I make a piece about every 2-3 days. I have a big pile of cement rocks forming in my yard. I plan on a big rubbermaid tub, and using the waste water from my RO unit to change the water every couple of days. My tub will be right by the floor drain in my basement so the water can just overflow the tub and go right down the drain. I have a lot of cool shapes by using the "cow pie drop" method. Then don't cover it with salt or anything. It will have enough texture to make it look like... a cow pie. I think that this is the most fun that I have had since making mudpies as a kid. I am considering making a curing a bunch of rock, then setting up a FO system with this rock in the sump, then selling it for $1 or $2 a pound. This may be a way to fund my reefing addiction. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 It was pretty fun, aside from the crazy temp outside today. What is it with this summer... it's either 58 or 95. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted July 14, 2008 Author Share Posted July 14, 2008 Nice job Andy! That mixing doohickey would make it so much easier, great idea!! I pulled my rock out of the molds this weekend. The branching one is pretty brittle and broke in half. I don't know if it will harden or not. The other 2 are ok, i'm going to start soaking them tonight. I'll get pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 Cool; pictures? How long did you leave them in the mold? I put a small container of water inside the tub, then lidded the whole thing tight. Hopefully, that'll keep the humidity up and help with the curing. Ideally, I'd be able to mist the rocks with water during curing but I want to re-use the salt... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted July 14, 2008 Author Share Posted July 14, 2008 My pics of making the rocks are on page 5-6. I'll get the pics of the rock out of the mold tonight. I left them in damp sand wrapped in a plastic bag for just over 3 weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted July 14, 2008 Share Posted July 14, 2008 I pulled mine out today. I'll mist them a couple of times a day. I'm not happy with my first attempt, they're too uniform. I think my cement mixture was too wet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted July 15, 2008 Author Share Posted July 15, 2008 Here you go! This was the branching one that broke. Its really brittle, while the other 2 seem to be pretty strong Kuring tubs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted July 15, 2008 Share Posted July 15, 2008 looks good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 Here's my first crop: Not too bad for a first try I guess. The one in the back left has cow-pattie syndrome (cement was too wet at first); next time I'll use a drier mix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted July 21, 2008 Author Share Posted July 21, 2008 Those look good! Do they feel strong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 Yeah, pretty much. I don't want to be too rough on them before they've had a chance to cure. They're a little crumbly around some of the edges, but I think that's because some bits were less than an inch thick (I guess an inch is the minimum thickness for any piece bigger than rubble-size). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted July 22, 2008 Author Share Posted July 22, 2008 Sounds similar to how mine are, they are a bit crumbly around the edges too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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