33g reef tank pic. Home made rock after 8 months. - Aquarium Advice

vertex · 09-06-2005, 01:38 AM

Thought I'd post a picture of how my tank is coming along. I got a lot of help on this forum starting out and it has payed off. Thanks AA! Easy to maintain finally now and everything has been doing good for some time.

I had built all my own rocks for this reef and here is what it looks like now after 8 months in the tank.

DeFeKt · 09-06-2005, 02:57 AM

how do you mean make your own rock?
i'm researching for a salt tank atm

saberry · 09-06-2005, 03:56 AM

Do a search for "agrocrete." It's basically a way to make porous manmade rocks with concrete. Over time, it will become "live" with bacteria. It has its pros and cons.

Fetcher · 09-06-2005, 12:36 PM

Wow...thats beautiful.

vertex · 09-07-2005, 01:47 AM

Thanks fetcher!

DeFeKt, ya, there are a couple of good articles on making your own rock. Lots of info on the www.garf.org site (they call it aragocrete) and I found mine originally from http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaver...ementRock.html.

As far as advantages:
1.Its more porous than most purchased rock if you build it right.
2.Its as cheap as cement and oyster shell
3.It can be made to the exact types of sizes and shapes as you like
4.It grows coraline algae fast with both aragonite or oyster shell base
5.And did I mention its cheap!!
6.After months in a tank, it looks the same as any expensive purchased rock.

Disadvantages are:
1.Can be dense and not very porous if you build it wrong (bad recipe)
2.Can be too porous or weak and will fall apart if you build it wrong(bad recipe)
3.Takes about 8 weeks to cure in freshwater that you must circular and change the water every 24-48 hrs.
4.Takes months to grow coraline coverage.
5.Takes a batch or 2 to practice to make nice forms and shapes for what you want.[/url]

09-06-2005, 01:38 AM	#1 (permalink)
vertex Aquarium Advice Activist Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Calgary Canada Posts: 143 Images: 11	33g reef tank pic. Home made rock after 8 months. Thought I'd post a picture of how my tank is coming along. I got a lot of help on this forum starting out and it has payed off. Thanks AA! Easy to maintain finally now and everything has been doing good for some time. I had built all my own rocks for this reef and here is what it looks like now after 8 months in the tank. __________________ Equipment: 33G [acronym:140c8ae565="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:140c8ae565] Reef tank (pic), 192W Coralife [acronym:140c8ae565="Power compact fluorescent"]PC[/acronym:140c8ae565] lighting, [acronym:140c8ae565="power heads"]PHs[/acronym:140c8ae565] for H2O circulation, Red Sea Berlin Classic Skimmer Aquascaping: 3" [acronym:140c8ae565="Deep Sand Bed"]DSB[/acronym:140c8ae565], 50lb live rock (~35 lbs home made Cement Base Rock) Clean Up Crew: Blue Leg hermits, Cerith snails, Astrea Snails, Stomatella snails, Brittlestar, banded brittles. Critters: Hawaiian feather duster, Coral Banded Shrimp, Emerald Crab Corals: Open Brain Coral, Cabbage coral, 4 RBTAs, Melon mushrooms, green Zoos, yellow polyps, finger Leather, orange Zoos, Brown Zoos, Chocolate Zoos, Xenia, GSP, Kenya Tree Coral, 2 acropora [acronym:140c8ae565="Small Polyped Stoney"]SPS[/acronym:140c8ae565], blue sponge, candy cane Fish/Inverts: Maroon Clownfish, Scooter Blenny, Coral Beauty dwarf angel, Sea Hare

09-06-2005, 02:57 AM	#2 (permalink)
DeFeKt Aquarium Advice Addict Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: perth australia Posts: 1,435 Images: 18	how do you mean make your own rock? i'm researching for a salt tank atm __________________ Dimidiochromis compressiceps, Astatotilapia latifasciata Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos Labidochromis caeruleus Cynotilapia afra 'Cobue' Pseudotropheus acei 'Msuli Point' Aulunocara stuartgranti 'chipoka' Labidochromis freibergi Oreochromis mossambicus Etroplus suratensis

09-06-2005, 03:56 AM	#3 (permalink)
saberry Aquarium Advice Freak Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Missouri City, TX USA Posts: 440 Images: 21	Do a search for "agrocrete." It's basically a way to make porous manmade rocks with concrete. Over time, it will become "live" with bacteria. It has its pros and cons. __________________ Sean Don't forget to check AA Sponsors first. www.macna2006.com

09-07-2005, 01:47 AM	#5 (permalink)
vertex Aquarium Advice Activist Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Calgary Canada Posts: 143 Images: 11	Thanks fetcher! DeFeKt, ya, there are a couple of good articles on making your own rock. Lots of info on the www.garf.org site (they call it aragocrete) and I found mine originally from http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaver...ementRock.html. As far as advantages: 1.Its more porous than most purchased rock if you build it right. 2.Its as cheap as cement and oyster shell 3.It can be made to the exact types of sizes and shapes as you like 4.It grows coraline algae fast with both aragonite or oyster shell base 5.And did I mention its cheap!! 6.After months in a tank, it looks the same as any expensive purchased rock. Disadvantages are: 1.Can be dense and not very porous if you build it wrong (bad recipe) 2.Can be too porous or weak and will fall apart if you build it wrong(bad recipe) 3.Takes about 8 weeks to cure in freshwater that you must circular and change the water every 24-48 hrs. 4.Takes months to grow coraline coverage. 5.Takes a batch or 2 to practice to make nice forms and shapes for what you want.[/url] __________________ Equipment: 33G [acronym:140c8ae565="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:140c8ae565] Reef tank (pic), 192W Coralife [acronym:140c8ae565="Power compact fluorescent"]PC[/acronym:140c8ae565] lighting, [acronym:140c8ae565="power heads"]PHs[/acronym:140c8ae565] for H2O circulation, Red Sea Berlin Classic Skimmer Aquascaping: 3" [acronym:140c8ae565="Deep Sand Bed"]DSB[/acronym:140c8ae565], 50lb live rock (~35 lbs home made Cement Base Rock) Clean Up Crew: Blue Leg hermits, Cerith snails, Astrea Snails, Stomatella snails, Brittlestar, banded brittles. Critters: Hawaiian feather duster, Coral Banded Shrimp, Emerald Crab Corals: Open Brain Coral, Cabbage coral, 4 RBTAs, Melon mushrooms, green Zoos, yellow polyps, finger Leather, orange Zoos, Brown Zoos, Chocolate Zoos, Xenia, GSP, Kenya Tree Coral, 2 acropora [acronym:140c8ae565="Small Polyped Stoney"]SPS[/acronym:140c8ae565], blue sponge, candy cane Fish/Inverts: Maroon Clownfish, Scooter Blenny, Coral Beauty dwarf angel, Sea Hare

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09-06-2005, 12:36 PM	#4 (permalink)
Fetcher Aquarium Advice Apprentice Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 25	Wow...thats beautiful.

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