First batch of DIY live rock

[ziggy222]

aslo,forgot to mention.cement will cure no matter what.i has cement sitting dry in my shed curing.it just takes a really long time that way.longer than its worth.

[ReefSparky]

Concrete is "green" for about 28 days. By the end of that period it should stop leaching kalkwasser, and the curing process finished.

[gazog]

I found this site that has allot of info about making your own live rock and how to cure it. I also includes info on making live sand and growing coralline algae

The Complete Cookbook for Making Live Rock from Cement and Other Types of Rock.

[dngspot]

My tank has 300 lbs of DIY rock and about 40 lbs of Figi. The rock is 3 years old. Here is a pic.

[Scott Osborne]

Hello all. I've been making DIY rock for close to 10 years. I've easliy made 10 tons of it. I am also a mason contractor and work with cementious items on a daily basis.

On the curing. The best way to cure is to place your rock in a fast moving river or stream. This will leach the Alkalines in about 30 days. If you must cure at home I use a 300 gallon rubbemaid with a pond pump inside. I change the water every two days for about 6 weeks. I monitor it daily with a pH meter and record the numbers. You will start to see a steady drop after about 3 weeks. Once the pH reaches 8.5-9 and is stable I then soak the rock in waste RO/DI water for a couple days. Once it dries out I begin the culturing process. One good way to speed things up is to allow the rock to dry for two weeks before putting it in water.





Heres a bit of my rock.





Generally when I make rock I make a lot. I tend to make my mixes in a Commercial Stone 2 bag motar mixer



DIY Rock is so easy that even my daughter gets involved. She helped make all the rock for her tank!


Heres my most recent work. A 1000 gallon reef with all DIY rock. Some of the pics of the rock on the floor has some real baserock





Heres the tank 'scaped



And a vid of the 'scaping
YouTube - Aquascape Party v.2

[baugherb]

Man, you make your daughter drive herself to work...lol.. Thats awesome rock work... Amazing...

[Camilsky]

Wow! 1000 gal! Looks amazing! Good luck! Please keep us updated !

[Scott Osborne]

Its not my tank. I am just helping with the building and engineering.

Theres a build thread for it here fingerlakesreef.com ::

Warning the build has moved pretty slow.

[LordMaximo]

Just way too cool.....I was speed reading through the build....mighty fine work you guys have done there. My wife wants a pit tank inour basement next year....care to drop on by and help in the dig.....lol......? Great work, and your rock is just perfact 8-)

Maximo

[cuttingras]

Scott, I've made 3 pieces, they're in a bucket of water with a powerhead for a week now. I did them last Sat and changed the water this past Sat. I figure at this rate I'll have it done around the end of April, which is fine with me. I'm planning on doing some more as soon as I get another powerhead for the water movement. Pretty cool! The 1st 2 shapes are flat with like fat "spikes" coming out of the bottom, so my engineer goby can have his tunnels. and the other is a bowl shape. I was just playing on those first ones, so I don't really even know if I can use them in the tank, but it's worth a try! My hubby and his best friend(& next door neighbor) think I'm nuts!