diy live rock

[wierdale24]

i posted a thread about 2 months ago about making my own diy live rock. well fast forward to now and it has turned out nice and i have some of it in my tank. it took me a couple of days to make and about a week before i started soaking the rocks in water. i used a substrate and quickrette to make the live rock it cost me about 15 bucks to make 30-40lb of rock. i have a few poieces of live rock in my tank and i made this live rock to cut down on some expenses. i have been having some problems with fish though i cant seem to keep fish alive for more than 2 weeks i had a squirell fish but he died in novemeber he lasted the longest right now i have a redlegged cleaner crab in the tank. any help would be appericated.i will include some pictures of the out come.

leftover live rock that is larger and im letting soak longer

 

[OniTweak]

Throw in some already live live rock, a power head and a heater with the soaking rock and it will cut down on any cycling time you will have.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Hey I was wondering about making my own rocks for my cichlid tank, what kind of quikrete stuff did you use? Can I use any substrate?

 

[cofano32]

thats pretty cool man i had thoughts about that you can pretty much make anything you want!! have you ever seen the poor mans reef? he used concrete and his tank is pretty sick Poor Man's Salt Water Reef Aquarium

 

[wierdale24]

thanks i used regular quickcrette it had gravel in it but i used a stariner to sift all the gravel out and i used a coral substrate that was pretty large chunks of broken coral and shells

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Ok, did you mold it at all or how did you get the shapes? And you think I could use reg. gravel.

 

[cofano32]

nice well good luck with that.. also i would like to say i think you should probaly buy about 10 to 15 pounds more of live rock and cycle your tank with the concrete and LR if its not established yet add some power heads two will do good add your heater and get your tank to about 78 or 79 you might need two heaters do your normal water changes and you should be okay in about a month to add a clean up crew. The best of luck to you Mate!!

 

[wierdale24]

i have a return line from a sump and that seems to push it around with the power head so all the water is moving. i have one heater in my show tank and the other one in the sump along with the protein skimmer and filter. im thinking about buying some more live rock but at my age and the amount of money i make its hard top buy alot i think im going to buy some turbo snails and a couple of cheap fishes and see how long they last because my tank has been doing well for the past month.

 

[cofano32]

yeah i understand im only 18 dude its hard try ebay for some live rock somtimes your can find a decent amount for cheep or use nano tank Lr you only need a few pieces but id get that before you add anything unless you fully cure it. here Live Rock: Premium Aquatics try the premium fiji uncured LR cant beat 3.99 a pound!! unless you find a nono tank rock set for like 40 bucks

 

[wierdale24]

i molded the pieces in sand. and cofano32 how much is shipping for buying live rock online do i have to get overnight because it is expensive. i also bought 1.5 pounds of live rock along with some [FONT=Arial, Helvetica][SIZE=-1]spaghetti algae and i got some pulsating exina. they look well and got some hitchhikers with the rock and algae little starfish. hopefully they stay alive and i can continue to grow on my hobby and become sucessful this time.
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[thincat]

i molded the pieces in sand. and cofano32 how much is shipping for buying live rock online do i have to get overnight because it is expensive. i also bought 1.5 pounds of live rock along with some [FONT=Arial, Helvetica][SIZE=-1]spaghetti algae and i got some pulsating exina. they look well and got some hitchhikers with the rock and algae little starfish. hopefully they stay alive and i can continue to grow on my hobby and become sucessful this time.[/SIZE][/FONT]

I hope that you have been keeping track of your PH level. I made my own live rock out of quickcrete and oyster shells and it's been six months and the PH is still off the charts. this may be why your fish are dying!

 

[wierdale24]

no it was off the charts in the beginning that's why i didn't put it in my tank i let it soak for 2 months and check it every 2 weeks i would change the water every couple of days to. after i got a reading of 8 ph i put some pieces in. the reason your ph might be high is the oysters i used coral substrate more surface area and more natural looks better to.

 

[czcz]

For those in warmer places or when its not winter, rain is the best stuff ever. When I cured styrofoam covered in cement a night in the rain was like days of changing water. Putting it in the shower is just too wasteful though holding it up in there for a while (not touching any place with soap residue) was a great way to rinse it off.

 

[cofano32]

im not sure you'd have to check it out for yourself i dont really remeber

 

[Jimbo7]

how porous is the rock? Thats something that sets apart decent LR from great LR, the more surface area you have per rock the more space you have for the beneficial bacteria. Its hard to tell from the pictures but it looks just like brick textured.
Still looks really cool though, and a good idea.

JM .02

 

[pat8you]

Did you cycle your tank already? I know you said you put the rock in there for about 2 months but was there a source of ammonia? You have some water parameters?

 

[thincat]

Happy New Year everyone and I'll try to get some pictures of my homemade rock. I just made flat shelf pieces to add to what I already have.

 

[cofano32]

happy new year hope your tank works out well

 

[thincat]

Happy New Year everyone and I'll try to get some pictures of my homemade rock. I just made flat shelf pieces to add to what I already have.

Here are some shots:
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5)

 

[cofano32]

looks pretty good what does your tank look like now?