DIY Live Rock

[divedeep1689]

in the pic the cave is not touching the ground it will once it comes out of the mold to get a good idea of wat it looked like i proped it up on the other rocks but still not as high as i wanted it if i dont like it this time i may break it up and use it as frag rocks in the future everything will be used no waste!!!

 

[asudavew]

Nice looking rock.

If you are trying to make some caves.. you could use some 2-3 inch pvc pipe. Or 1 inch or 4 inch even 6 inch I suppose.
Just pour the concrete around it and before it hardens, but is still moist, pull the pvc out.

The "rock" that you have created sure looks great!

Are you going to soak it for awhile so that it does not raise your PH when you add it to your aquarium?

 

[divedeep1689]

oh yes i am going to soak it for about two months doing three fresh water changes a week and after it has set those 2 months another 2 weeks i will let it sit with water from my main tank and a few pieces of live rock then the live rock will go back to my tank and the homemade will go to a seperate tank in my room with a few pieces of rock and damsels until it looks decent for my main tank so in other words i have test dummies for it lol not to do any harm to my damsels tho it should be well ready before then oh i almost forgot the cave is out of the mold it looks ok i think i will use it but i will try the pvc pipe thing i did try a few days ago to make a cave with a old ocean nutrition flake food container but i think i let it harden to much before removing it it cracked when i went to get it out

 

[asudavew]

Sounds like you did your homework.

It will be interesting to see pictures of it in about 6 months!

Don't forget to take some along the way!

 

[Wy Renegade]

This site describes how to make arches, might want to check it out;

Untitled

 

[divedeep1689]

oh i will take plenty of pics with my camera phone and when the camera gets out of the shop if its fixable i will take better pics with it i might get time to take pics today and yea i did try to do my homework on that i love research i spend half my time reaserching wat i am doing and wat i am about to do and scopus thanks for that arches site thank you very much

 

[divedeep1689]

hey guys 2 shots from phone two from a cheap camera ok the two from camera needs to be resized i will have to figure out how later but two more pics are coming for this update at a later time but you can still see wat i have done to the rock i have added a arch and the reworked cave a little chisiling and moving around here and there needs to be done

 

[divedeep1689]

i had thought i was going to toss this arch and redo it later but i think i like it not sure wats everyones thoughts on this update.

 

[darknessheir]

Hey guys, I have made a few rocks a few weeks ago when I last posted. I made a few boulders, an arch with like some tunnels in it (made with paper dixie cups) they just melt out when you soak it. I made a few shelves also. Used 50/50 coarse argonite and crushed coral. I then did like 5 parts the sand with 1 part cement and 3 parts salt with 1 part water. It worked great maybe a lil runny. Will post pics soon and will try to make a few more with some styrofoam!

 

[asudavew]

I think they all look great!

 

[divedeep1689]

well guys no pictures to be posted for a while just checkin in lettin everyone know its progress so far i have forgoten how long i have had them out there but i have done water changes doing one now actually and i have been checkin my ph every time i change water with test strips have not seen any change yet so we are continuing as normal i will keep ya posted

 

[asudavew]

What is the PH reading?

 

[divedeep1689]

around 9.0 its off my chart so i can give a exact number but it is a little lower than last time and i have not done a water change in the last 7 days so it is def coming down a little not much yet but it will

 

[asudavew]

Thanks for the info.

Still watching patiently!

 

[divedeep1689]

i appreciate the watchers

 

[thincat]

I did freshwater changes for awhile then I switched to using the water I got from my PWC's. At that time I was changing out 15% of my tank water every week. That helped to stablize the PH.

 

[divedeep1689]

did a water change yesterday on rocks the ph is high before water change but not as high as last time i not going to rush this process tho but i cant wait!!! its going to look cool in my tank once that coraline covers it up

 

[thincat]

Yes, take it slow and you should be Okay...

 

[mhart032]

Hi all, im new to all this. just started really wanting a SW tank and never had fish before. i see you guys talking about PH and lowering the PH i have a swimming pool and i use baking soda or soda ash to lower the PH would this not work in this type of application? just a question..
thanks
Matt

 

[divedeep1689]

i think i will let others answer this mhart i have never really thought about that but your not trying to lower the ph in the water but the ph of the cement it has a high ph rating and when you soak it in the water the stuff in the cement leaches out and gets a lower ph