Making Reef Rocks..

[Myteemouse]

Dude has anyone been up to Nea bay boat launch?
They have just thrown bags of cement into the water with paper still on it at the bottom of the boat launch to extend the platform at low tide!!!
I know it's on the reservation but?!?!?!

 

[timberwollf]

Ok guys seein we are all on the same page here i made my first piece of rock last night but somthing is wrong i used portland cement and it is dark grey in color anyone else have the same thing or? is my cement the wrong stuff, Im using Portland cement Type 1
I used 1.5/2.0 cement to 2 cups of sand and crushed coral i will send pictures later..

 

[dnjan]

Portland cement is gray. If you want whiter rocks, you can use white portland cement. Probably not available at Home Depot, but a good contractor supply should carry it. A bit more expensive than gray.

Whenever I have made concrete for my tank, I have used white portland cement.

 

[thincat]

Sounds like you can put small amounts of homemade reefrock into your bay. One small bit of advice: in the day of digital photos, take a picture of your rock at home before putting it into the bay.
Thanks chend2 for the great research.
T.

 

[freetareef]

i have reef rocks and frag plug in all of my toilet tanks!!!!! lol

 

[thincat]

i have reef rocks and frag plug in all of my toilet tanks!!!!! lol

That may be the call sign of a real reefer...rocks in the "Can".
PS: does mommy know?

 

[timberwollf]

rock

Well here is my first piece of rock i have made i have let it dry for 5 days so far, but i will add pictures of it? what ya think?

 

[mmn_usn]

What all did you add to the rock? I picked up some stepping stone concrete from Micheals. I know some people add crushed coral or oyster shells. I was also thinking about rock salt... but wouldn't that just disolve during the mixing process. Just making sure that I get it right... if oyster shells are used, how did you wash them and crush them?

Thanks
Nate

 

[Reefdaddy1]

Before you go adding salt read this article

http://www.garf.org/news17p1.html#rock

 

[dnjan]

Well here is my first piece of rock i have made i have let it dry for 5 days so far, but i will add pictures of it?

You don't want to let the rock dry after making it - you want to keep it wet.
Portlant cement reacts with water, and gains strength when it is kept moist.
If you dry the rock, and then later put it into you tank, there are two potential problems.
First, the rock may fall apart.
Second, you will have more unreacted calcium oxide which can leach into your tank.

 

[dnjan]

Before you go adding salt read this article

http://www.garf.org/news17p1.html#rock

It is important to add rock salt, not table salt. Since the rock salt pieces are larger, and have a much lower ratio of surface area to volume, they disolve slower. So the chemical effects are delayed, and the concrete will be in its final form before the rock salt completely disolves (leaving voids).

 

[thincat]

Well here is my first piece of rock i have made i have let it dry for 5 days so far, but i will add pictures of it? what ya think?

Nice, that will make a great bottom layer.