DIY FW "live rock"

[SnailPowered]

I am thinking of making some rock for a FW aquarium so that I don't have to search high and low for rocks that suit what I want to do. I was also thinking that the porous nature of live rock would work out well for anchoring java moss or other plants. I was thinking that maybe typical aquarium gravel with some concrete and rock salt might work. Any suggestions are enormously helpful! Thanks in advance!

 

[Greenmaster]

I suggest using FW gravel/sand with white portland cement... the gray stuff looks so dark... after you have mixed it with the right amount of water then add coarse salt (I use water softener salt) leave for 48 hours then rinse to leach out the chemicals and salt... If you could get a flaky gravel that would be the best to use. IMO

 

[SnailPowered]

Thank you a ton! I don't know what flaky gravel I could use unless I could find something with a lot of mica in it. I was thinking that the gray cement might look better with the black fluorite substrate I would like to use, then with possibly some natural looking FW gravel and some PFS perhaps? I don't particularly want the rock work to stand out, I just want it for the fish to hide in. I was also thinking of building it in layers to make more nooks and crannies and then gluing it all together. I realize that I wouldn't be able to rearrange it if I did that but since I want to use live plants I don't think that I will be doing much rearranging anyway. Your thoughts are greatly appreciated!!

 

[Greenmaster]

I made caves with balloons you use extra sand as the mold put some stuff down put the balloon on then cover the balloon. After 48 hours pop the balloon and take it out, you will have yourself a nice little cave. For small fish I like to use the little water balloons they are about perfect.

 

[SnailPowered]

Caves are definitely a must, the cories will like them I would think, I know that BNPs will. The bichir, if I get it, will want a place to hang out but I want to provide enough room for him to get big too. Thanks for the advice!

 

[mgamer20o0]

why not just use pvc or tettracotta?

 

[SnailPowered]

Well, I'm not sure what tettracotta is but I think that PVC would look out of place. I do like it to look natural. I am also leaning toward the DIY rock because it sounds like fun to me lol. In my pursuit to make my life more difficult...

 

[mgamer20o0]

you can just use silicone to glue rock sand or what ever on it to make it more natural..... just a idea and less work over all.

 

[SnailPowered]

Eh, the work sounds fun to me. And I really want a rock formation is the other part of it. I have gotten to really like the look of the rocks in SW tanks and stuff and I have always though it would be really cool to have a rock formation at one end of my tank that kind of looked like the edge of a stream or something with a bunch of live plants on the other side of the tank like a that was the middle of the stream. I could try to hunt some rock down that fit the way I wanted and then stack it but making rock that looks how want it seems more ideal to me.

 

[BigJim]

Lava rock and a Dremel tool is another option.

 

[Jgeezer1986]

Just an idea , but plain white PVC pipe.. sand it down and it grows algae pretty quick.. the pvc pipe looks neat after te algae grows on it. Also i used a new coffee cup in the bottom.. Works well for hiding and kina looks neat..

 

[bgcheese]

I heard another guy mention lava rock, that is my favorite for making rock formations really cheap. Cement mixed with cheap playsand, I found a place that sells red volcanic sand, that is awesome. Cool trick for caves in the cement is use plastic wrap and wrap it around a paper towel tube. Then just stick it in anywhere after it is partially hardened but somewhat soft tear the edge of the paper tube and it rip right out and then pull out the plastic wrap the cement will kind of drip down inside a little because the plastic wrap kept it softer inside. Looks really cool!

I really have started to just kind of look around more at places that sell stone for landscaping, they will sometime just give me some of the smaller stones or they will cost very little. Some Marine epoxy and you can really make some neat stuff, but watch out for limestone.

 

[SnailPowered]

I still have a lot of time, I think what I might do is set the tank up with some lava rock and then build my own rock formation over time. I have a pretty specific idea of what I want so I think I will be most satisfied if I build it. Thanks for the lava rock in the mix idea though, I like that a lot!

 

[thincat]

Be careful with Lava Rock as it can contain lots of metals and toxions. More so with it leaching out with acid PH....>7ph.... the rock is red because it contains lots of iron and that's only the obvious one.

 

[SnailPowered]

I will make sure that I check it really well before I stick any in my tank. I had read that before and completely forgot about it. Thank you thincat!

 

[Greenmaster]

Most Lava rock... or the peralite (puffed lava rock) anyways usually has a fair amount of aluminum

 

[SnailPowered]

So for my homemade "live" rock mixture would it be something like: 3 parts aquarium gravel, 2 parts PFS, 1 part cement?

 

[Greenmaster]

1 part cement to 4-5 parts (total) other stuff is about the least amount of cement I would use... What is PFS?...