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Piazzon12
05/02/2007, 08:02 PM
Have you guys considered DIY/Aquacultured live rock for the base rock in the tank? I have made some before, it's pretty easy and way cheaper than the live rock we'd have to buy (unless of course it's donated).
Adam

fatrip
05/02/2007, 08:20 PM
yes we have thought about this...it would probibly be the biggest expence if we do not use DIY rock...fortunatly RyanM has said he would start to make some up....but if you know how and are will the more rock the better...thank you for your interest in this great educational project..

nwrogers
05/02/2007, 08:21 PM
I believe we have considered using some DIY/Aquacultured live rock for the Zoo Tank but nothing has been finalized about the livestock yet. I think it has been decided to go with a 180 gallon reef display and possibly a sea horse tank? Maybe Jerry can give us an update on the Zoo Tank Project???

Piazzon12
05/02/2007, 08:30 PM
I've been wanting to try using a water softner rocksalt as filler this time. It will hake the rock lighter and more pourous.

fatrip
05/02/2007, 08:32 PM
it does sound better than the driveway rocksalt...

Blugobi
05/02/2007, 08:33 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9864832#post9864832 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Piazzon12
I've been wanting to try using a water softner rocksalt as filler this time. It will hake the rock lighter and more pourous.


I think if you use the "Sun Crystals" it will give it a nice natural look. Be carful you don't grab the kind with Iron out in it....

Geo:eek1:

drbronx
05/03/2007, 05:20 AM
How long does it take for homemadfe rock to be produced and cured. If we are going to attempt making live rock we should really get cracking on it. Any estimate on how much to make say 100 lbs? I was also thinking that if some of us donate a rock or two out of our own systems, we can "seed" the "fake" rock with coraline algae and cryptic organisms. Another option is Creature Comforts on front street sells some awesome base rock. It contains large pieces with alot of cool holes in it. I have some in my tanks and it looks great and its cheap. But I love the idea of homemade rock since that would give a great message to the public that the reefs were not disturbed to produce our display.

03Mach
05/03/2007, 11:21 AM
This is time dependent, but if we really want some good LR I may be able to get my partners to agree on TBS aquacultured LR, is there and estimated time on when the tank will be ready for any stocking? Has a 180 been found yet?

drbronx
05/03/2007, 11:28 AM
No tank yet Jeremiah. St. james is contacting AGA (All Glass Aquariums) for a tank donation. Zanclus is looking into Glass cages for a discounted tank. A 180 non reef ready tank might be available for $450 which we could drill and make reef ready but it may have to be picked up from a trade show in White plains, new York. So options are brewing.

Piazzon12
05/04/2007, 10:19 AM
The production is pretty quick, like a couple of hours, but the cure times can vary, like from 1-3 mos. There are various formulas for making it, but for 100lbs you probably would need 1 or 2 bags portland cement under $10, 2-3 40lb bags salt $15 total, and like 60 lbs of sand (playsand or argonite), crushed coral, or crushed oyster shells. Depends on what we'd want. We also need some boxes or foam coolers for molds, and garbage cans or something else(kiddie pool/backyard creek) to cure in.

Piazzon12
05/04/2007, 10:24 AM
I'd be happy to make it, I'm just buried with finishing up grad school until after May 19th... depening on our time constraints

fatrip
05/04/2007, 10:50 AM
what makes the cure time very from 1 - 3 months...would be nice to make it one month..

Piazzon12
05/04/2007, 01:16 PM
The concrete is able to be handled in ~5 days (although actually continues to cure in the hardening sense for up to 28 days). The curing I'm referring to is that it has to soak w/ continual water changes in order to leach out the lime and salt. Otherwise the PH will be 9-11 (which of course is bad). We could do the initial cure in garbage cans, to leach out the stuff that leaves a "scum" in the bucket, and then do the rest of the cure in the tank with freshwater if we didn't want it to sit empty. There is a great(yet very long) thread in the RC DIY forum, and also one at fingerlakesreef.com - I believe some of the guys used large pieces of DIY rock in their plywood tanks.

fatrip
05/04/2007, 01:30 PM
sounds like a long proccess to get all of the salt and what not out of the concrete...well looks like it is time to make some cool molds for this stuff...

drbronx
05/04/2007, 02:49 PM
How about we do a rock making "party" within a week or two. I am willing to host but if anyone else would like that would be fine. I wouldn't mind making a few pieces for my own use. It sounds like the first step is to make molds. Any volunteers to make molds? www.GARF.org also has very cool rock instructions and designs:Arches and tables. Also they place "holes" in their rock in order to place frag plugs. If anyone is willing to lay out for the ingredients, the zoo can reimburse. Or let me know specifically what to purchase and I can lay it out.

Piazzon12
05/04/2007, 03:11 PM
I actually followed the Garf instructions for all the rock in my 37. I didn't use salt, but just dry sand etc, but think salt would definately be an improvement as my rock is very heavy.... A "mold" is just basically using dry sand, crushed coral, or salt(probably best) to make a pattern for the bottoms, sides, and caves. IE to make an arch, lay a mound of dry salt, and then put the cement mixture over it. To make a cave, use a base of the mixture, then put mounds of salt where you want the caves, and then cover with cement. I also used rubber glove "balloons and baggies, but the caves look less natural. The boxes come into play for multi-branching tonga rocks.

Piazzon12
05/04/2007, 03:20 PM
In any case, I think a rock "party" is a good idea. I know we can get the portland cement in owego, but probably elsewhere as well. I'm not sure where we can get the "sun crystals". I'd say crushed coral and play sand for the mixture. Anyone else have any input??

fatrip
05/04/2007, 03:51 PM
where in owego i can pick some up before the meet???

drbronx
05/04/2007, 05:20 PM
Piazon: Would you have time to call around and see where to obtain the ingredients? And figure out how much we'd need for say 100 lbs. of rock. We could then use some real live rock to seed it. Also, doesn't GARF use shredded urethane to make the rock lighter. I think RyanM said he has a line on obtaining that should we need it. We can nail this all down tomorrow.

Blugobi
05/04/2007, 08:26 PM
I may be able to help with the plastic shavings....I just happen to work for the largest plastic pipe manufacturer in USA... :) Our plastic is HDPE (High Density Poly Ethylene) I may be able to grab a few samples and if we get together once before making the rock we can see if anything I have will work? We virgin material, shavings from our drill machines or even reprocessed plastic that has been ground up.

Geo