Re: DIY Liverock

[winston199]

thanks

white portlan cement?

so it only took 4 weeks for the ph to get under control and tank ready?

[fishsticks]

That sounds good think my week-end is booked playing in my kids sandbox (LOL)

[fishdaddy]

my question is most DIY doesn't look real Walt Smith stuff  does.
how does he make it look so....picked from the sea??
When i first got in the hobby i could not tell one from the other now i can but it is still hard.

[bac]

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1138&id=1691874509&l=b7c3fc20bf
this is a link to look at rock it is on my facebook but you can get to it with this  the matriel is called emacc 588 c1   from morinbros. in nepean my first mix. layed up in sand
lots of purple

[5620]

"Bac" very nice looking rock!!! Do you use any hardener or additives to the rock mix you use?

[bac]

if we are talking about the purple ,no

[bac]

I will tell you something about s88, it is used to fix cement structures , you have all seen it before .  When you are on the highway going under a overpass and you see work being done. That is s88 they patch the holes with it, it is also used  in wet enviorments witch includes salty ones .
      It has the smell of the dentist office, so I am sure it has a plastic agent in it . It gets very hard and will bond to many things ,so it will mix with shell, coral and plastic .
      Fall back , it takes two days before you can move it after you made your peace . But it will cure faster, all of the test I did with this matrial were cured first in fresh water one week and then in salt for one month min.
       All this was done with no ph pin point , I learn from IndoPacific from Hawaii that I could tell it was cured by elge on the rock. I did not know of ovas at time ,to bad, could have saved time .
     As a mass media artist working matriels . I have worked for 29 years in museums and the arts. , I want to see some rock .

[winston199]

Thanks for the info. by far the most useful posted

[nissannx]

ki never really had high ph after i made the rock. i was more concerned making sure it wouldn't leeech anything. it was releasing a fine white substacnce that would stick to my pump so i gave it 4 weeks to stop and it did. make a dry mixture easier to shape. you will get the hang of it and can make it look like rock from the sea in no time. my first batch looked brutal and got tossed. take your time and play with it.

[bac]

 in reply 43#        I noticed I had the #,on product wrong it is emaco s88 ci  ( not  588 )

[fishsticks]

Thanks very useful info i'll try it out I bought all the equipment to start it up and looking foward to my results

[bac]

just  note , if you are using shell from the feed store make sure you wash it very good. There is still alot of the orster pieces left in it , you will lose about 1/3 of your bag to cleaning.

[bac]

hi people, I just to welcome man made rock. This will help us all feel better about having cement base rock with life rock in our tanks. Every little steep helps the reefs

   p.s. do print the findings from engineers finding papers, we would all be interested to see who signed of on this , i may even know them.

                                  again thanks

[5620]

Besides home depot or local building supply store where could the materials be purchased for the DIY Rock?

[bac]

5620 I would like to put a face to the name , i know you can make very nice cabentry .  by the my way name brian . I don't really know why we tag ourself's with these nicknames , but I kind like mine thought. i'm bac,,,cool ioi by mistake . over 800 viewed so far ,,,+ 10 for the reefs . I hope we will meet on 22 the forth monday of this month if I am right that is the next meeting. I want to pay my dues and like to sponser the club  I buy material from the place as ........( stay tuned for more tomorrow )

[bac]

so did anyone make rock yet and how it go

[bac]

here is a small experiment I have going with diy rock ,the rock was cured in freshwater for one week and set into a new saltwater setup on 5 /15 09 . the tank is a 40 gl with 30 gl sump ,prisam skimmer and 3 t5's on top. not special but here it is.
link ;http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=37396&l=a085448abf&id=1691874509

[Hookup]

So.... What is the experiment?

[bac]

I wanted to see how long it would take on a new tank set up,with all diy rock and some seeding to be ably to add life to the tank. Too, this will show the changes that take place and how long for the rock to color up.

[jimskoi]

here is a small experiment I have going with diy rock ,the rock was cured in freshwater for one week and set into a new saltwater setup on 5 /15 09 . the tank is a 40 gl with 30 gl sump ,prisam skimmer and 3 t5's on top. not special but here it is.
link ;http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=37396&l=a085448abf&id=1691874509

Great idea.

Please keep us posted.