Cincerblock Baserock

[gozetec02]

OK I am probibly being cheap or frugal, call it whatever you want. I was thinking about using cinderblock as base rock. Its porous and can be chiped and broken into usable pieces. Has anyone ever used this?

I also read an article about making your own liverock from crushed oystershells or aragonite sand and concrete mixure.

Has anyone tried this?

 

[gozetec02]

Bump.

 

[grimlock3000]

Do not bump your own posts after only 40 minutes please. It is tacky and actually makes people LESS likely to respond.

 

[gozetec02]

Oops Sorry. Didn't Know the rules.

 

[Salttanker]

I have never heard of using cinderblocks for marine aquariums before. If you want good porous rock that is cheap enough, hirocks.com has base rock for a reasonable price. This is a much better solution next to LR. I would check to make sure there are no harmful metals, or anything of that nature before you attempt to use cinderblock though.

Mike

 

[BillyZ]

Not a "rule" really, just netiquette.


In response to your question, folks have done this in the past. There's actually a web site out there with a lot of good info. The biggest concern is proper curing of the man-made rock. If it's not cured long enough it can wreak havoc on your tanks Ph levels.

check www.garf.org for info on making your own rocks.

 

[cougaran]

I know this is an older article, but my thanks to BillyZ for point out this site. I went on the site and now have decided to make a majority of my base rock and then buy the rest in live rock. I feel that making it will allow me the creative freedom to make the tank as i want it. I was really impressed with the amount of articles they have on the subject and the shapes you can make such as caves, arches, branches as well as rocks of different sizes and shapes.

 

[vertex]

I'd definitely suggest building your own rock as well if you're patient enough to wait for it. I built my own and am EXTREMELY happy the way it turned out and the shaped I was able to build.

here is a link to a picture (its fairly large) of my tank, it has more than 80% home made base rock, the base rock has been in the tank for only 4 months.

http://img16.exs.cx/img16/3163/img5216filtered4sy.jpg

The GARF articles are very good but I found mine before discovering the GAF website. If you're interested, the link I read aobut making base rock is the one in my signature (Cement Base Rock)...

Hope that helps.

 

[Tito2491]

How about if use rocks found outside , i mean medium sized ones , you cure and try to get algae on them so it can look natural , JATH

 

[cougaran]

Nice Vertex, some clown mention that he doesnt like the look of the "Aragocrete", I dont remember where, but i would have him look at your tank and tell me the difference. VERY NICE! I believe when creating your own stuff, the more artistic and creative you are the better the pieces are going to come out. Maybe that guy did his own and ended up with blobs. Lets face it you're creating a sea landscape of liverock.

Tito maybe for fresh water, but you have to be careful if the rocks contain minerals that are poisonous to fish. These man-made live rock use cement(lime based) and sand or crushed coral. You have to cure them to prevent boosting your ph way up. With making these your trying to mimic what liverocks look like in the sea and your fishes home. You should read the process on the website, real cool and its real inexpensive, http://www.garf.org look under Aragocrete

 

[arminkropp]

www.garf.org has a how to section on how to make your own base rock. Avg cost is about 12 cents a LB for finished rock.

 

[arminkropp]

better yet go to:
http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/hangar/6279/RaiseCementRock.html