My DIY Rock Creations...

so I did a bit of research on creating rock to make liverock... decided it looked like a cheap way to have some fun making a mess,,, and for all of 35 bucks i have enough supplies to make over 100 lbs of funky rock..


anyways I picked up a few materials.. i searched and searched for portland type two cement but fell short and could only get my hands on type 1. I hope it doesnt effect the time for the leaching cure.. but we shall see..


things i bought and/or scrounged around the house...

Bought:
-Portland type 1 Cement
-Playground Sand ( for the mold)
-Bag of shells ( in the mulching department..)
-crushed oyster and coral for chickens
-chunked rock salt


Other things needed...
-3/4" and 1/4" Pvc tube ( to make tunnels.. will drill as well)
-Cardboard box and plastic liner, ( painters tarp worked good and trashbags)
-5 gal bucket
-gloves
-odds and ends to stick into the mold to make shapes









okay heres where we started out... supplies out on the back porch with garage open and utility sink ready to rinse off my mess.. lol













odds and ends for jammin into the cement...











one of the boxes i filled...











here is my little helper...












now at this point the gloves came on and i am not about to ruin my brand new phone so i plopped the mixtures into the holes i carved into the sand mold then jammed some pvc and stuff into it, then proceeded to cover with more moist sand...







tadaa!












I will have more progress pics tomorrow as i will be mixing another batch trying to improve and get it down to an exact science..... keep yall informed!

 

The trick is going to be keeping it from getting too dense. Keeping it porous seems like it's going to be tough.

 

That is what i have heard, i saw a write up someone did about mixing in the rock salt chunks... Once they go into the tub of water the saltrock will exit leaving cavities... The dude broke open one of his rocks to show the cavities left it looked great! I hope mine turnsout as well as his.. But i wont know till tomorrow!

 

This looks Great.

I was lucky enough to get mega porous rock, clean and dry for over 3 years with my original CL equipment pruchase that got me started.

But, your plans sound awesome! I'm a DIY guy myself, and my system shows it.
But I don't have DIY rock.

Keep up the the nice creations!, and keep us updated with pics!!

 

I've never made any DIY rock either but I have read about people also putting uncooked elbow macaroni in it and while the rock is curing the macaroni decomposes leaving nice little tunnels. Sounded cool so I figured I would pass it along

 

Best of luck with the plan, sounds like you are having fun.

 

Anything that saves me money, and keeps me busy and out of the lfs is a good thing... Money is tight right now but i consider the money i save doing this kind of stuff will be money i can spend elsewhere -In. On. Or around the tank!!

 

Once you see how it works I want to know the mix. I need to make some rock forms for my new 125. I have about 85-100lbs of rock in there right now but I want to do my rock as 4-5 large pieces that sit right next to each other and get rid of the 40-60 pieses I have right now. I'm going to need a lot larger boxes because I want the base and bottom of the back to fit snug against the tank then I'm going to burry 3-4" of it under my live sand. I know it sounds weird but I want it secure and custom to my tank.

 

okay well the rock seemed a little brittle when i was taking it out of that sand yesterday, but it was really light and once the salt melts out then im sure it will be even lighter.. im going to try round 2 with alot less of the whole shells, more sand than before, and more of the oyster coral mix...,, i am trying to let it sit out incase it was just still drying and setting still.. then i will pull out the pvc pieces... anywho.. heres a pic

 

looking nice man, I may try this for my brothers new tank on the weekend.