Live rock

[rossb]

The process of making live rock is quite straight forward. There are 4 things you need. First of all look at this article:
http://saltaquarium.about.com/gi/dyn...b3%2Farago.htm

The first thing you need is a plastic pan full of sand. This is to mold the rocks.

Then you need some portland cement ($7.00/50 pounds). There are several types to choose from but it turns out that all the cement you buy around here is OK to use (I got mine at Revy).
Next you need some crushed oyster shell ($8.00 for 55 pounds). This you get at UFA CO-OP. The UFA in Calgary is located in the SW by Chinook center.
Finally you need some silica sand (the cheapest you can find). I actually used the sand from REVY ($6.00/50 pounds). I also saw some cheap silica sand at Princes auto for about 15 bucks a bag. Also some aragonite or crushed coral ($.8 per pound if you talk nice to them at riverfront)


Once you have these ingredients you start by wetting the sand in the pan. You wet it enough to mold it, but not so much that there is water pooling at the bottom. You can create many kinds of shapes by molding holes in the sand ….and you get better at it in time. I created larger flat shapes for the bottom and then concave type shapes with hiding spots for further up.


Next you mix the stuff up. I used 1 part Portland, 3.5 part crushes oyster shell, .5 parts crushed coral and 1 part sand. If you want to you can also just use 1.5 parts crushed coral. You have to add enough water to the mixture to make it wet .. but not runny and mix it really well. The portion of cement to mixture seems low but it is correct. Now you can scoop the mixture out into the sand mold, cover with a wet towel and let it cure for 24 hours.


This is the tricky part that you have to do. If you miss these steps it will either fall apart or raise the PH of your tank too much. To cure it you first let it dry another 24 hours. Now get yourself a big plastic garbage can and set the rock in it and fill it with water. You have to either do frequent water changes or add some PH down (get the spa swimming pool stuff it is cheaper). I did both…I have a flow through water humidifier and I let it drain into the two garbage cans I used to cure the rock. I also added some PH down once a week. Continue this for 5 weeks. After 5 weeks you can add salt to the water for 2-3 more weeks. At this point it should be ready to use. To test this I would do a water change on the rocks, check the Ph daily for a week, and if it stays level you can use the rock.

The 7 week wait is a killer but it all eventually works out.

[Scorpion]

hey... are you able to add lava rock from a... uh... i guess... rock store, and use it to make it into live rock? i'm wondering since lava rock has so many holes. i have 18 lbs of fuji live rock right now. do you guys think it would be ok to just clean it off and stick in the tank?

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by rossb

Next you need some crushed oyster shell ($8.00 for 55 pounds).

Finally you need some silica sand (the cheapest you can find).

not to start any conflicts but the two above recomendations I would change.

I would get a larger grade of crushed coral (usaly 1.00/lb) instead of the oyster shells. (yes oyster shells are 5 or 10 bucks for 50 lbs but they are very high in phosphates which may or may not lead to algae problems, but why take the chance.)

also instead of the cheepest play sand you can find spend the money and use the sugar sand that you can get for 25.00 for 30+ lbs. (play sand is a deciving thing to try buy, sence it is against the law to use silica in play sand because of helth hazords and such, play sands can be a variaty of minerals, some soluable and harmeless some soluable and harmfull. Fieldspar is a ingreadent in most play sands and it and other minerals can desolve and over time may poison your tank. if you are going to use a generic sand in your mix find a 100% pure silica sand.)

like I have said befor and had said to me a long time a go.. why cheep out on some thing as little as this when you have already put thousands into your tank.

It isn't fun when you do all this cool stuff and end up having problems that discourage you to the point you sell your tank.. especialy when this could have been avoided by spending a extra 10 or 20 bucks.

I am all for saving money and I am going to play with making my own rock also, but when it comes to stuff that will go into my tank I have decided that sence I am aproching the 8K mark on my tank I would rather spend the 50 to 100 bucks to be on the safe side, than lose about 4+K worth of rock, sand coral ect. would be a sad day if you had to replace all that because you cheeped out on something small, and not only this but it is living creatures that will suffer the most for your mistakes.

one question I do have, I see everyone recomending that you cure your rock in the toilet and such.. what about the minerals and chemicals in your tap water. I mean if we are so against using tap water in our tank, wouldent alowing the rocks to adsorb this stuff be along the same lines? or will the amount be so small you woulden't worry about it? Maby they should have a RO water soak for the last week? any answers to this?

Steve

[rossb]

Finally you need some silica sand (the cheapest you can find).

Much discussion on this. Once again claritiy is important. The cheap sand is for the sand mold. The more expensive silica sand is to mix with the oyster shells, and can be replaced with crushed coral.

On the ingredients, as Steve notes, one must be careful...
It is also aweful to buy some live rocks infested with nasty beasts that eat your shrimps and crabs.