WMAS Discussion Forum : DYI live rock http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/ Copyright (c) 2006-2013 Web Wiz Forums - All Rights Reserved. Sun, 05 Jul 2026 10:01:26 +0000 Mon, 18 Mar 2019 10:14:05 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Web Wiz Forums 12.03 360 www.utahreefs.com/forum/RSS_post_feed.asp?TID=85163 <![CDATA[WMAS Discussion Forum]]> http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/1by1.gif http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/ <![CDATA[DYI live rock : That&#039;s tough.I&#039;ve made...]]> http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=85163&PID=634893&title=dyi-live-rock#634893 Author: Adam Blundell
Subject: 85163
Posted: March 18 2019 at 10:14am

That's tough.
I've made a lot of aragocrete over the years.  I too suggest no oyster shell.  
I'm not sold on the rock salt.  The porosity can be better, but you really risk having it become brittle, especially in thin areas.

I would highly recommend looking at available rock (marco, cerameco, etc) and epoxying them together to make your sculpture.  

Making rock is totally fun, but not nearly as practical in usage as buying those rocks to use.  

Adam 
]]> Mon, 18 Mar 2019 10:14:05 +0000 http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=85163&PID=634893&title=dyi-live-rock#634893 <![CDATA[DYI live rock : This may not be the right category...]]> http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=85163&PID=634891&title=dyi-live-rock#634891 Author: Chocolate Hammer
Subject: 85163
Posted: March 18 2019 at 8:39am

This may not be the right category for this post, but since my question is more chemistry based i decided to post it here.     

I've decided to try my hand at do it yourself live rock.     Rather than just doing the standard brick method I made a pretty elaborate sculpture  an abstract thing with lots of folds and shelves, vaguely Lovecraftain.    Anyway I've made a mold of it and  I'm getting ready to cast it.

When i started researching this a while back the ingredients for the reef were  Aragonite, Portland cement, oystershells, and rock salt[the rock salt is supposed to help with make it more porous].   The guy at the reef store told me that I shouldn't use oysters because they release potassium as they break down.    

What should I use for gravel in this  'concrete' mix.   Also since some of the "shelves" are probably thinner than they should be I was thing that I should add something to the mix to strengthen it like pvc shavings or such.    

So my question to you smart chemistry type people out there is what should I use to make up the "live stone"

Thanks,
Neil.
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