MAKEING LIVE ROCK

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slickrick75150

HEY I HEARD THAT U CAN MAKE UR OWN LIVE ROCK I WAS WANTING TO DO THIS SO I CAN MAKE ANY SHAPES AND STUFF ANY ADVISE OR ANYONE KNOW HOW TO DO IT AND WHERE DO GET THE STUFF?
 
I made a rock wall overflow cover that came out great with very light porous rock using a 4parts aggregate to 1part cement. I used oyster shell and perlite from the feed store as my aggregate and just regular cement. This first pic is my final version that used the oyster/perlite/crete [attachment=1]Under LED, no water3.JPG[/attachment]
this pic was a prior attempt that I liked the looks of but didn't use since I made these rock walls too big for my tank. These were stand alone rock walls that were made of dry reef rock ziptied (or used fishing line) to eggcrate, then foamed using pond foam. I then manually pinched the shiney smooth surface of the foam off and trimmed as desired to get this look.[attachment=0]left trimmed.JPG[/attachment]
There are many options out there for doing your own thing...just takes some time and creativity. [smilie=hi.gif]
 
After reviewing the link above, I think I am going to give this a try. I have a specific look that I am going for that I don't think I'll be able to achieve with regular live rock. I am considering using pumice/lava rock as a component of the ingredients to make the rock sculpture. Can anyone think of a reason why I shouldn't use it? IE. some biological reason or that it contains something detrimental to the reef. I know it's lighter than water so I'll only plan to use it as an accent to the base.
 
My take on using natural lava-based rock is that with the possible exception of good quality tuffa, most volcanic rock is really not suitable for reef aquariums because it is not porous enough. Although most lava/pumice rocks appear to be very porous, and the surface will provide area for aerobic bacteria for nitrification, they are usually a closed-cell interna structure which means water can not flow through the stone, only over and around the surface textures. This limits its usefulness for biofiltration as it can not host the anaerobic bactiera that performs denitrification, which means the lava rock will be a nitrate factory. Natural coral based rock, live or dry, has an open-cell construction of coral skeleton plus caveties and tubes from clams and worms that allows water to wick throughout the interior of the rock. This internal waterway is the perfect environment for denitrification to occur and is why live rock is so good as the main filtration system in reef tanks.

I won't go into the possible toxicity of the lava rock as I don't know of anything specific to be concerned with. I think the softness of tuffa may make it a concern for leaching if there is anything toxic in its makeup. In the past, I have used the soft porous tuffa rock in my reef tanks, but, only a few small (fist sized or smaller) pieces, so, I'm sure I didn't have enough to notice any bad effect of leaching if it did occur. These tuffa rocks encrusted nicely with coraline and ended up looking like any other liverock. The harder lava rocks are basically glass, so, if properly cleaned to remove dried on/embedded organic matter, should be safe enough to use.
 
Thank you immensely for your reply. I wasn't aware that lava rock was "usually a closed-cell interna structure". I just learned something new. :) You appear to be quite knowledgeable in rock (a geologist possibly?) so if I can pose another question to you; are there any other types of rock that would be suitable for reefs with the "open cell construction" that appear naturally in black or very dark brown.

The vision I have for this aquarium is a very dark background of rock with very light or pure white sand to make the corals pop.
 
Nope, not a geologist. Just a rockhead when I was a kid, lol! That said, I've never seen any kind of natural rock like you are looking for, with lava being the closest. How about making your own? I used a 4 or 5 to 1 mix of aggregate to cement using oystershell, perlite and a little reef sand for the dry aggregate to make my own liverock. It is extremely porous and lightweight. You could add a non-toxic colorant to the wet mix to get the color you want. I am not sure which would be the best coloring agent, but if I recall, someone on RC said the concrete colorants were safe. I'd recommend checking out and not taking my word for that, however, 'cause I may be wrong.

Another option for your background would be to use the black pond foam . Just search pond foam rock wall and you should pull up plenty of examples of what I'm refering to. These look great, but, the foam itself will not add any filration capabilities...just looks good.
 
I made some rocks for a future build using the above mixture (oystershell, perlite, aragonite sand and white portland cement) and I am pretty happy with the look and porousness of the rocks. Only downside is the wait for the rocks to cure.
 
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