making live rock

[christopherjay]

Well after reading around on the web and talking to a few people..Ive realized that making live rock seems to be the way to go as long as you cure it fully and test for ph in the cureing process...Im going to use portland cement and some crushed coral and sand mix to make my live rock and mold it around to the way I like it..Seems like its worth a try anyways Lol

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Ya, if you have a few months before you need to use it...

 

[christopherjay]

well you wont part out LOL

 

[FutureInterest]

http://www.garf.org/">http://www.garf.org/</a>

Click on How to pages (on the left) then Agragocrete. You'll find a number of links to different methods, shapes etc...

 

[blind1993]

they are right, but you lose helping save the ocean.

 

[thedeper]

Does baserock eventually turn live?

 

[weaglereefer]

There was a guy on eBay selling dry rock from Puerto Rico. I picked up a 30lb order for about $25 shipped! I rinsed it and let it run in a tub with a powerhead for 2 days, then put it in the tank. It looks better, more "reefy", than the live rock I got at $4 a pound.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

blind1993;254967 wrote: they are right, but you lose helping save the ocean.

Not really.... If you knew how little LR is taken from the ocen vs. all the other natural and man mad causes of LR romoval, the aquarium trade down not even scratch the surface.

 

[blind1993]

Xyzpdq0121;254994 wrote: Not really.... If you knew how little LR is taken from the ocen vs. all the other natural and man mad causes of LR romoval, the aquarium trade down not even scratch the surface.

collecte from hurricane damage and stuff like that.

 

[crew]

I read somewhere that in Fiji they used something like 30,000,000 pounds of live rock for construction last year and only 100,000 for aquariums

 

[stickx911]

thedeper;254968 wrote: Does baserock eventually turn live?

yes, but it takes time, and more time to look all pretty and coraline covered.

 

[mojo]

I made about 300lbs of man-made live rock a long time ago. Never again...

- It makes a mess - don't even attempt unless you've got a full room in your basement for forms, cement, curing vats, etc.
- It's not very pretty. Even the few pieces that my left brain managed to make into nice shapes didn't look very good over time- they just stuck out compared to the normal live rock.
- coraline didn't really want to grow on it, even after being in the tank after ~2 years. No idea why.
- It's heavy. VERY heavy. Not that that really matters, but it's a pain to work with.

When you're able to get good second hand rock for so cheap, there's really no reason to make your own...

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Carty;255326 wrote: I read somewhere that in Fiji they used something like 30,000,000 pounds of live rock for construction last year and only 100,000 for aquariums

Yep.. So not even .3% of Fiji's use went to aquariums... Then you factor in the billions of pounds that were displaced in the last major tsunami, then factor in all the sea floor earth quakes, then the hurricanes.... So the aquarium trade does not even make a dent...

 

[thedeper]

Hey Mojo, where did you get that Totokan rock that you just added to your tank?

 

[spike]

I love my DIY rock. I do not have to worry about pests coming out of my rock. It is cheap, probably close to .25 per pound. It purples up better than live rock. you can make shapes, flat, arches, caves, whatever. It can be made pourous, make a dry mix. Here are some pics. Not the best of course, some of are real rock and some are of DIY. The first one is one of my first I made, it is not pretty, but just look how purple. My lights were going out so it wa taken with a flash. You decide which are man made and which are real. Of course it is not all peaches and cream. It takes forever before you can put in your tank. Plus it takes longer since it is like base rock when it does go into your tank. In my 180 I probably have 120 lbs of man made rock. At a cost of say 32.00 give or take
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[smoothie]

Alot of aquarium rock is coming out of the mountains around you guys.

 

[harleyguy]

<span style="color: black">I wonder if I could just go outside and find some stones for my base rock??? Do you think Granit would work??? Tons of it in Elberton??? Of course I'm kidding here...</span>