Aragocrete - future live rock
 

I've read about GARF's Aragocrete home made "future" live rock for a long time. Now that I'm waiting for my tank to arrive I decided to give their recipe a try. You can see my efforts at http://www.mywhitecourt.com/modules....=Photo_Gallery.

If anyone else has tried to do this let me know about what was successful for you.

I had better luck mixing it a little drier and letting it fall in small particles to form your shape. That way it's more porus, takes less time to cure and weighs less. This is of course this is just my opinion, and what worked well for me. :smile:

Clinton

I built a " wall " around the back and sides of my tank using aragrocrete and built some rocks too :smile:

My formula was 1 part argonite / 3 parts crushed oyster shell / 1 part portland cement & about ( give or take ) 1 part water

For the " wall " I poured this mixture on a piece of eggcrate with plastic vapour barrier under the eggcrate on my basement floor ... then cured it in a kids wading pool ... the curing took forever :rolleyes:

For the rocks I did much the same as you as far as the forming them and so on ... the testing of the PH and frequent water changes is key IMO

Cheers

I recently make a whole bunch as well and used roughly the same recipie as Rasta.
Oyseter shells makes it nice and porus!

Should have mentioned that as well, i used oyster shells as well when i made mine. :cool:

Clinton

reef tables
 

Has anyone tried to make the reef tables mentioned by GARF? They sound like an excellent idea to have small footprint on our DSB's.

Re: reef tables
 

Done :mrgreen: That was actually the main project with my rock making. Mine will be supported by pvc though and not extension's resting on the rock. I make the tables to suppost all my current live rock that will be sitting on top of the tables.

Re: reef tables
 

Hmmm. . ... If the rock is porous would that create a column of anarobic (sp?) water? Or, do you seal off the ends?

cement
 

Exactly what kind of cement have all of you used? And, where did you buy it? I used Target PSI 6000 from Home Depot. I wanted to use Lafarge 50 but they only had 10. :confused:

I use white portland cement, if you need some you can stop by for some. I bought a 100lb bag of the stuff, the cement is at Gainford if you know where that is. :cool: Closer to you.

Clinton

Re: reef tables
 

I am going to use 4" pvc and drill a bunch of holes in the pvc.

I used portland, grey cement. I got it from TAU2301 who i believe got it from out local REVY/RONY :rolleyes:

I made some tables out of eggcrate and 1/2" pvc water pipe.

Cross drilled the pipe, about 10" long. Use plastice wire wrape to tye it to the eggcrate.

Put down a layer of rock mix, pressed the eggcrate (topside down) into it.
Layer of rock mix on top of that. Used handfuls of rock mix to form pillars around the water pipe - 4 or 5" from the bottom of the table.

Covered it all with damp clam shells to make it hold it's form.

Let it sit in the mould over night. Remove after 24hrs and let air dry for another 24hrs.

Begin the curing process.

You can actually make live rock??? Is it beneficial as a filter?? Is it cost effective??

Well it's not live till you seed it with life. so it's considered dead rock.
It's quite cost effective. pennies per lb and is very porus.

Some tanks at www.garf.org well most of their tanks are 100% agrocrete.

zero impact
 

I'm going to try to be as close to zero or VERY low reef impact with my new aquarium. And Aragocrete made according to the recipe at garf.org is a whole lot cheaper than buying any sort of rock anywhere. Plus, you can basically decide exactly what your aquarium is going to look like and then create the pieces you need to achieve that aquascape.

donut and linked rock pictures
 

After two days of setting in the sand, I took out my home made reef rock. I have added the pictures to the same photogallery. The link is in the very first post of this thread.

here is a link to the rock that I made too. I have no idea what I am going to do with it alll (what you see is only 1 garbage can full), I have one more garbage can full and some more in the pond behind my house :)

Oh well...anyone need some rock :)

( PS...if you are going to be making some, i learned a very neat trick that I have not seen mentioned here yet. I also used the exact same formula that others did in this thread, but to create a far more porous rock...I filled my mix with 2 parts of rock salt. the rock salt gives the rock an amazing texture and leaves the rock (dissolves) during the curing process....)

thanks
Hark

[/url]http://maskcanada.org/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=120

Anyone ever add any plastic shreddings (PVC) to their homemade rock? I heard this also helps in making it lightweight, as well as a good starting point for coraline to attach too.

I have never made any rock myself (yet) So if someone around calgary is going to make any soon, I would like to tag along and watch/help


Jim

Hey Jim. I made quite a bit of rock for my 230 as well as many other's in calgary. If you want to pop by some time and check it out feel free. We can discuss the process then if you wish.

cheers

I just tried to make Rock with Oyster Shell, but it never seemed to stick enough to make a ball. I tried 4 part Oyster 1 part Type 10 cement, I tried it 3 parts to 1 cement, but it seems the oyster shell maybe in to big of particals. It did hold up alittle so I will let it sit in the molds for the few next days and see what happends.

Did anyone else seem to have this happen with them?

Try adding one part sand to the mix and see if that helps to bind it up for you ... it should have the consistency of cottage cheese ... make a mold in a container of sand ( I use the styrofoam boxes that LFS has their fish shipped in filled halfway with sand ) by spraying it with water to form the shape you want ... pour in the mix and then cover with more sand and leave for at least 2 days ... then soak in fresh water till PH drops to 7 or 8 ( change water as often as possible )... HTH

Cheers

Just took out the rocks I tried yesterday and they worked perfect. SO i guess I didn't need to add sand. They are very porise and the water runs right through them. They are extremely strong too, I droped one and it didn't even break! and it had a cave in it. So today I tried some more and I will see how they turn out tomorrow. I'll take some pic and post them here too.

Just a heads up, DO NOT use the pasta recipe there, I tried adding macaroni to the mix and it's taken for ever for the stuff to come out of the rocks, it stinks, it's messy and it's really slowing the curing process down.

Doug

Ya if figured so much. I just used Crushed Oyster for the mix and mold, with dry oyster to make caves and it worked great. I only had to leave it in for 24hr and it was hard and water poored right through it. I made more yesterday and I'll check it out in a few min. I wish I did this month ago, then it would be ready for the tank by now. It is really easy to do and I am hapy how it turned out. I'll try to get some pics up soon

another use for homemade liverock
 

I use the same mix to make plugs for my coral cuttings, it works well and its easier than hunting down rubble to attach them to. Another tip I picked up somewhere is to put the cured rock into you toilet bowl (might not work if your making alot, but works for the plugs) but not only does it reduce your flushing costs it also provides a continuous soak and fresh rinse for the homemade rock.

Hopefully the toilet tank and not the bowl..... :razz: :lol:

I put it in a huge kids pool yesterday, and the ones I still am making will go in there until I am finished all the rock. Then I will put them in the creek at the back of my house to cure them for a month or two. They are too big to fit in the toilet tank and I think my wife would not like a huge peice of rock sticking out the back of it :biggrin:

Toilet Tank
 

Somebodys paying attention, I did mean toilet tank.
:redface: