Very impresive. these seem to get a lot of good growth on them. let me know when your doing the next batch as i would like to see this done. they almost look better than the bought LR.

Thanks

Those look great! I (kinda) like the appearance of my shell rock...maybe might go with a wee bit more cement next time.
Remember when making MMLR, part of the goal to to have as much surface space and pores/opening as possible/practical. The overall idea is creating a haven for massive amounts of happy bacteria :biggrin:

Thats why I try to use a 3 to 1 mix. :)

3:1 concrete to sand? or sand to concrete? (or whatever you used with the concrete? :lol: )

3 parts "stuff" to 1 part concrete.

I use 3 parts coarse salt and 1 part cement. Very light and porous.

The best part of DIY rock is the shapes of BIG (huge) custom shaped pieces you can make to hide over flows or power heads. take you time and design your dream rock shapes. use playground sand as a form...
then...
get a garbage can put it outside and fill it with the hose to cure the BIG pieces. you need to do it outside b/c you need to change the water every few days for several weeks (many weeks for thick pieces)
I made awesome pieces last fall that cover my overflow but dont take up much tank space

Saltyrockbox: got any pics of your rocks?

I've been Making some rock for the past couple of days and I'm pretty impressed with it.

After going to the Local SW store, I literally puked in my mouth when I saw the price of LR....

I've been using 4parts of crushed oyster shell and 1 part portland cement. Now for the holes in the rock? Rock salt..Nope...Softener salt? Nope
This may sound very strange but I used Cheezies...Yup Crunchie Cheezies, Not only do the make the holes somewhat unique, they pull out of the cement very easily after 24hrs of the rock setting. They pretty much become like a sponge.
I'll post some pics once I'm all finished up.