fake live rock using sphagetti or macaroni?

I was thinkin has anyone used macaroni or spaghetti when makin rocks? I bet you could get it really porous like that.. just mix it up, after its dry then boil it for 24 hours or something! hahaha that should dissolve the pasta and make it completely porous? just think if you used really long cooked spaghetti, then youd have alot of winding tunnels through your rock? If you couldnt get it to boil out just set em in an ant bed?

 

I've heard of people doing this with great results. One thing to keep in mind is try not to bury any noodles in the rock where water can't eat away at it. If you cure the rock before adding it the pasta will all be gone...

 

I tried penne in one of my rocks. It was super messy and reacted with the cement to make mushy sections around the pasta. I would recommend using softener salt instead. Works way better and dissolves way easier even if the salt is deep in the rock.

 

hrmm im thinking lay the form in some sand, add the aragonite/crete mix, then stab the long hard uncooked noodles completely through the wet rock and let stick out both sides in sand and out.. Now to find out what crete to get at lowes.

 

I always used a Styrofoam shipping box box to make my reverse mold in I filled that box with a fine aragonite sand then I made the look of rock I wanted into the damp packed sand , mix my mortar then once I have it poured I just took slim finishing nails or coat hanger and stuck into and through the wet pour then when dried I pulled them out and I used balloons to and balled up aluminum foill to make my pockets and or an arch . once set up pop the balloon and you have a pocket or arch little divots are made with the foil.

 

just use salt pellets from a water filter.you have to read the label cause certain brands have minerals but the salt just dissolves away ans your left with pourous rock.also you should use portland cement.half my rock is made from it.you have to cure it for a very long time .i recomment a stream for the 1st cpouple wks cause so much salt comes out.

 

when you say cure it, do you mean in a tub with water flowing all around it? Do I need light on it at that point? Do I need to ad live rock or just do water changes to get rid of the salt?

 

If you put live rock in with the uncured DIY rock you are going to kill it. Just put your DIY rock into a tub and keep changing the water at least every other day until you no longer get a scum floating on top. Couple of months or so should do it. Curing seemed to work better for me when the tub was in the sun to keep the water warmer.

 

I was lucky when I was making it I have a nice creek running right on my property stuck it in there for a month and it was fine .. PO4 where a tad high but they came out.

 

hrmm I got the ship channel at work and all the state boats slipped at the marina.. I could just dump it all in the saltwater in some mesh bags and let it sit there. Im sure Id have to nuke it pretty good when I was done to get rid of the algae and mud crabs.