My DIY rocks - Your opinion?

[jarhed]

Started playing around with portland cement a couple weeks ago and tried my hand at making some rocks. My goal was to make them completely random and very craggy (is that a word?).

I made two a couple weeks ago and the wife, my son and I made three more bigger ones last week. They are soaking now.

I used portland cement purchased for about $6.00 from Lowes, some leftover southdown sand (any sand would be good I'd imagine), and plenty of rock salt to make pits and holes as it dissolved. Made it real thick and kneaded and rolled and tore it apart for the final shape. Then after placing each rock on a bed of southdown, I sprinkled southdown on top of it to give it more of a calcium based rock color.

The rocks are even more porous than the pictures show. The biggest one (on the back left of the pic of the collection) even has a hole in the middle that is completely random, that is it wasnt intentional. It just happened that way. :D

Your thoughts?

http://users.adelphia.net/~jarhed/images/rocks/rocks1.jpg

http://users.adelphia.net/~jarhed/images/rocks/rocks2.jpg

http://users.adelphia.net/~jarhed/images/rocks/rocks3.jpg

http://users.adelphia.net/~jarhed/images/rocks/rocks4.jpg

[IchHater]

looks good. how much water (ratio) did you mix into the cement?

[jarhed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6637091#post6637091 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by IchHater
looks good. how much water (ratio) did you mix into the cement?

I have no idea. :D

I mixed one part sand with one part cement, then like 2 parts of salt I think (enough to make it a VERY chunky thick mud paste) then mixed in the water until it was sticky and able to form. I kept kneading until it was sufficiently dry to hold it's shape, then started breaking it in half and pressing the bottom together. The bottom is not entirely "craggy", but I did make sure to bend the bottom in to make a space so it wasnt totally flat on the bottom. That, combined with the large chunks of salt dissolving, made even the bottom very uneven and with a lot of empty salt holes.

I also took a metal rod and carefully pushed through each rock while still wet to allow water to enter the inside and dissolve the salt stuck in the center.

Is portland cement porous by nature? In other words, will it get totally saturated by water in time?

[CaptainCoral]

Those rocks look good! Porosity of Cement as made for our purposes, varies by how dense the mix is. It really doesn't take much cement to get the rocks to stay together. I made mine pretty much like the garf rocks. I cannot remember the ratio's now, but I think you've mixed your batch very heavy on the cement. They'll be heavy and strong and hopefully your salt method will create enough porosity.

P.S. I think your rocks look more real than mine turned out. :)

[szwab]

looking good have also heard of using noodles/macaroni to make the rock more porus. I believe that portland once cured is waterproof??

[jarhed]

Kewl!

Next batch I wont use as much cement. They arent really that heavy, surprisingly, but I havent seen water run through them either. Reeferrocks they ARENT! :D

I'm going to have to be careful though, not enough cement and they'll fracture really easily it seems. A few chunks have fallen off in a few places.

Anyone know if there is a tank-safe paint to put a finish coat on them?

[jarhed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6637453#post6637453 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CaptainCoral
Those rocks look good! Porosity of Cement as made for our purposes, varies by how dense the mix is. It really doesn't take much cement to get the rocks to stay together. I made mine pretty much like the garf rocks. I cannot remember the ratio's now, but I think you've mixed your batch very heavy on the cement. They'll be heavy and strong and hopefully your salt method will create enough porosity.

P.S. I think your rocks look more real than mine turned out. :)

Thanks CaptainCoral!

You have any links to your rock pics?

EDIT: Just saw your rock in your gallery! WOW!! :eek: What kind of cement is that? It's totally WHITE!! Does it have any coraline growing on it? How did you shape it? Where is your thread showing your method of making them?

:)

[iceman5]

you can also use oyster shells from a local feed store must wash very good. you can also you rits dye purple for more of col. color.i have used mac noodles aand also pvc ts and elbows to makehide outs. just make sure you soak your rock for a while i use 1 cup vinegar per gallon of water for a week then fresh water for a month or so. work well for me but i am thinking of only using a little bit for base rock then buy a fair amount of lr. all the left over small pieces work great for frags!!! Andrew

[CaptainCoral]

Jarhead...I'm off to make the donuts, but I'll dig up some resources when I get back from work. :)

[rob352]

looks great i think it is time for me to try my hand at it the way you talk and the pics make it look well worth it TY for the info

[jarhed]

Iceman: That is a good idea!!! I'm going to pickup some purple RITS dye and try again with a much lighter mix of cement. I'm going to get some Riverside cement because I believe it's a little lighter. Also, I'll cut way down on the concentration of cement to sand. I'm going to use regular play sand from Lowes instead of wasting good Aragonite at $20 per bag, and use 1 part cement to 5 parts sand, then add water enough to make it sticky, then dye, then the rock salt.

This is fun!!! :D If anything, it will keep me from spending another $140 on a shipment of Reeferrocks, which I love!

[818]

Or you can check this site out.

But it sounds like your having so much fun!!!!!!

www.hirocks.com 50.00 dollars of hawaiin base rock shipped to your door for only 50.00!!!!!! I got me some not dissapointed! But your project sounds awesome!

Sam

[CaptainCoral]

Jarhead, now you're talking. :)

I dissagree on the dye, however. IMO, dye'd rocks look like dyed rocks for a while. True the white will look DIY for a while also, but Lots of real rocks have "bone white" areas on them and the diy will color up just fine. (unless you're under Super intence 250DE's like mine) I'm just saying "I think" spotty coraline covered rocks will look better than dyed. :)

[CaptainCoral]

You know, those www.hirocks.com rocks have had my attention before, and I was curious of something. Are they solid and heavy (like the florida limestone quarried aquacultured stuff)? Anyone know? Or, if they're more like dried out pacific rock, I'll be interested in some.

[jarhed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6643944#post6643944 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by My F1sh R D34D!
Or you can check this site out.

But it sounds like your having so much fun!!!!!!

www.hirocks.com 50.00 dollars of hawaiin base rock shipped to your door for only 50.00!!!!!! I got me some not dissapointed! But your project sounds awesome!

Sam

Already got an order of Hirocks in the tank. Reeferrocks was LIGHTYEARS ahead of hirocks, guaranteed. Hirocks was a lot of small pieces mixed in with big solid non-porous stuff. Luck of the draw I guess because I've seen hirocks on RC that was much better looking than mine. Either way, if I ever buy rock again, it'll come from Reeferrocks.

[LauraCline]

I read somewhere that you can buy something like lava rock, clean it and use that as base rock. Then buy some live rock to "seed" it. Is that true? If so, it would cut down on the LR bill.

[LauraCline]

I read somewhere that you can buy something like lava rock, clean it and use that as base rock. Then buy some live rock to "seed" it. Is that true? If so, it would cut down on the LR bill.

[CaptainCoral]

I think I've heard that lava rock may be high in some or a metal, or other contaminate. I've got a piece of rock sold to me as "lace" rock from an lfs, and it was covered in coralline right quick.

Jarhead, are those reeferrocks light and porus?
Btw, I've tried to find some of my old threads on my rocks, but large sections of my subscribed threads are mysteriously missing, and a cannot find a single one. I basicly made the mix sticky and used damp oyster shells in a bin. I dropped/lumped the mix into the bins as naturally as I could. (I've found that trying to mould the rocks made rocks that looked moulded with a seem and everything) After one was laid out, it was covered with more damp shells and process repeated untill the bins were full. I coverd them with damp towels to set up for 48 hrs before I took them out. I made most of them kind of flat and concaved, thinking that at some point in the future, I would join a few pieces and get one more realistic looking rounder structure. I never did, and ended up using them as is.

I'd like to make a correction. It was reeferocks that I saw, not hirocks. :)

[orlenz]

looking good, I use salt in mine also, I tried pasta but if was reallt tough to get it all out, make sure you cure those rocks good before putting them in your tank.

[jarhed]

LauraCline: Yes, you can take any base rock put it in your tank and it will be live in about three months. The majority of the rock that is already in my 180 was dry base rock purchased from either Hirocks (ebay) or Reeferrocks. I would not use Lava rock though, because of the metal content.

CaptainCoral: Reeferrocks is probably the lightest, most porous rock I have ever seen EVER. I swear, when the orders arrived, they almost looked fake. :p I highly recommend them and Capt Jer will actually send you a picture of what you will be getting to make sure you approve. Communication and customer service is top notch. You'll pay more for Reeferrocks than Hirocks, but the difference in quality (at least based on the one order of Hirocks I got) is like night and day.

orlenz: Yep, based on the threads about homemade rocks on RC I've read, 4-6 weeks minimum, with many fresh water changes. I'm doing two per week. You can actually see the chemical scum floating on the water after about three days.

[sales weasel]

Nice job on the rocks. I also made about 25lbs of Aragacrete rocks last summer. They've been curing in my garage the whole time. I'm finally getting another tank set up in the basement. Since I don't have enough Aragacrete rock, I'm going to try 30lbs of the HiRocks. I'll add some cured LR and LS from another tank to all that and hopefully be stocking it quickly.

[jarhed]

Sales, give Reeferrocks a shot. Get a small order, then get a small order of Hirocks and compare. I honestly cannot express to you how different the quality is. You really have to see it for yourself.

[sales weasel]

jarhed,
I read your post above and was going to do that but Reeferrocks is currently out of stock. I'd like to get the next tank up and running so I can start ordering coral and fish in early spring before it gets too hot.

[jarhed]

OUT OF STOCK????!!!!!! :eek:

NOT cool! That worries me! I hope they get their new stock from the same place!


Oh wait, they are only out of stock of the LIVE rock. If your looking for DRY BASE rock, they are the answer to your wildest dreams! :D

Drool over this for a minute:
http://www.reeferrocks.com/customers/DSC_0776.JPG

[sales weasel]

Yes, that's what I want...base rock. I can seed it myself. I'm going to look again.

[sales weasel]

OK, now I found the base rock. I ordered 45lbs of premium base rock. Since I'm in Atlanta and they are in FL, the shipping was less than $20! I'll add my diy Aragacrete rocks that have been curing all winter in my garage. I am also going to add LS and coralline scrapings from an existing tank and I may buy some pre-cured LR.

Since this stuff is very white in color, I'm going to also add some purple rit dye for color. I've read several posts about that here on RS.

All I need to get now is about 80lbs of sand for the base. Does anyone have any tricks for saving money on that one?

[jarhed]

I wouldnt add the dye to the Reeferrocks. It'll color up in NO time. Trust me on that one.

Your on the East Coast, you may be able to find sand at Home Depot or Lowes. Look for OldCastle.

In the meantime, I'm going to be trying another recipe for rock this weekend. I'm going to go with the 1:5 ratio on cement to sand, then pack it with salt for porosity. Going to HD now.

[sales weasel]

jarhed,
I ordered the rocks and they are very nice. I made a post about them but it got moved to the Buyer/Seller section under More forums. I doubt if too many people will see it. Thanks for the tip.

[jarhed]

Anytime Sales! ;)