Making Rock

K

K_Red_Raider

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I want to make some rock for my son's tank. I have plenty of live rock in there now but would like to make a custom structure for his tank. I realize that I could just put the rock that I have now together but I want to make a couple of caves, etc for the jawfish and coral banded shrimp. I have looked at a few different sites but would like to look at all that I can before I begin.

Thanks
Kevin
 
Ok here is what I have come up with. I've bought some crushed oysters, portland cement, calcium based sand, rock salt, and crushed coral to use as my ingredients for the rock. I have built a structure out of 1/4" PVC and plan on building a mock tank that I will actually put the structure in to make sure that it will fit inside the tank. I will also pour the rock and mold it while the structure is in this mockup.

Here is the video that I watched and am trying to follow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5xnjzzfqlk

Let me know what you think.
 
Did you see this?
http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?p=838573#p838573
hit up myleshammett and see if he has any tips or advise
 
I was looking for that thread in the DIY section now I know why I could not find it. Thanks for sending me the link. I sent myleshammett a pm
 
I went ahead a built a complete mockup of the tank. I have the piece for the front but am leaving it open right now so that I can be sure to get the bottom sand formed the way I want then will put the front on and build it up. This Sunday I plan on trying a test batch of rock to make sure that I get the right consistency.

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You sir are a very dedicated father and aquarist to go through all that. Or you are as OCD as I am. Looking forward to seeing the finished product as I have always wanted to do somthing like this.
 
I've worked in concrete for years and at one point had a tank with nothing but DIY rock. I like your idea but the one think I would change a little is the pipe. The concrete needs to be able to "grab"
onto the pipe. Since PVC is slick your going to have trouble with stacking it on there wet and with it not cracking and falling off when it's hard and set.
I'm not sure how I would do this but maybe drill holes all over the pipe. Big enough that some of your mix will sink into them.

Or maybe get some egg crate and cut it into single blocks and glue them on there. Yeah that's what I would do. That's close enough to chicken wire.

The only other thing I would like at is concrete fibers. That would ensure that it won't crack.
 
Wrap plastic canvas sheets around te PVC you can get it at hobby lobby. Some people use them for algae tricle systems
And I sent you a pm.
 
@McReefer wrote:
I've worked in concrete for years and at one point had a tank with nothing but DIY rock. I like your idea but the one think I would change a little is the pipe. The concrete needs to be able to "grab" onto the pipe. Since PVC is slick your going to have trouble with stacking it on there wet and with it not cracking and falling off when it's hard and set. I'm not sure how I would do this but maybe drill holes all over the pipe. Big enough that some of your mix will sink into them. said:
I had thought about drilling hole just to help with maybe having flow in the rock and had never thought about the concrete sticking to the pipe. I will drill it for sure.

@myleshammett wrote:
Wrap plastic canvas sheets around te PVC you can get it at hobby lobby. Some people use them for algae tricle systems And I sent you a pm. said:
I will try to add the canvas sheets to see if it will stick to the pipe better.

Thanks for the thoughts guys!
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@franklypre wrote:
You sir are a very dedicated father and aquarist to go through all that. Or you are as OCD as I am. Looking forward to seeing the finished product as I have always wanted to do somthing like this. said:
LOL my wife still thinks it is my tank but I just call it his...LOL When we were at MACNA in FL last month we sat in the hot tub with the AI guys and talked LEDs versus Halides. So I started telling my wife my plans of having a Halide/LED combo light. This tank is filled with high end zoas and she was disapointed that they didnt have the same colors as when we bought them so I had a friend bring over a LED strip to put over the tank and let her see the difference. When she saw the difference I was "approved" to do a LED/Halide combo light and it has been on the tank for approx 3 weeks and I have gotten all kinds of colors/"pop" and the zoas have added approx 15% more polyps. Now she is wanting to do the same kind of light combination on my 120 SPS tank...woohoo!!
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Yes, it is nice having spousal approval. My wife is cool like that. She is lost in the equipment, but she has "Coral/Fish requests" all the time. or when we go to the LFS she usually picks things out on top of what I get.
 
Ya my wife I pretty cool about my addiction and is always the first to tell me when the glass gets dirty or some coral starts to look bad. As long as I don't put us in debt with this hobby she is ok with it. And at times I am the one who is having to stop her from getting to much stuff at shows.
 
Only thing i will bring up on this. I did the same thing for my sisters tank i did for her. Bu i rushed through and didnt seed the rock like i should have. And it's been running for 2 1/2 months now and still fighting cal lvls through the roof. Just finally getting down a bit. And by a bit i mean still around 500. I know this will work great but u have to seed the rock well to get all the crap out that throws ur lvls out of wack and crazy.

Another idea i have been thinking about is foam. Seen some nice set ups with it with everything hidden. Came out looking nice. Just have to make sure u use the right kind that when it sets it wont leach anything.
 
Just wondering how your structure is coming along . Im wanting to redo the middle of my tank with a cool I'm researching ways to use what I have just secure it together in some way....
 
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