No more Reeferrocks

[TimberTDI]

psycho,


Those rocks look mint. I love the idea of the flat bottom. Did you find the rock salt or did you use the water softner salt?

 

[ezee]

Psycho,

Nice rocks and I love the rock salt idea!

E

 

[masterswimmer]

Psycho, salt eats away at concrete. At a 4:1 ratio of salt : portland that sounds like it would be a collapse waiting to happen.

How long have you had these rocks in your tank? Have you seen any adverse effects ( I assume not or you wouldn't have posted your recipe)?

The shapes look real cool. I like it. I'm just unsure of the long term structural soundness of it.

R

 

[ezee]

Russ,

Psycho, salt eats away at concrete. At a 4:1 ratio of salt:portland that sounds like it would be a collapse waiting to happen.

Oooh, I didn't realize that. I better check my rocks! lol

E

 

[masterswimmer]

Russ,

Oooh, I didn't realize that. I better check my rocks! lol

E

Why E? Are you running a 4:1 ratio? :tongue1: Thats a boatload of salt to portland my friend.

R

 

[ezee]

Russ,

Actually I did not incorporate any salt into the rock itself, I was just joking. lol I have heard of folks incorporating pasta into the rock and letting it decay during the curing process to get the pore action too.

E

 

[masterswimmer]

Now that sounds tasty

Hmmmmmmmm, I just thought of an idea to make it porous. How about those biodegradeable packing peanuts? They will dissolve in water. Not sure how long it takes though. If it's too quick, then that wouldn't work. Need time for the portland to set up. If it takes enough time to use them, just cut the peanuts into small pieces, they'll dissolve and whallah! Instant porous base rock. :idea:

R

 

[ezee]

Russ,

Cool idea!

E

 

[Pedro]

What do the rocks look like now that they are covered with corraline and stuff?

 

[inkblue]

mRwiDow and i saW soMe of frQggie's roCks in tHe poConos...

 

[drunktank]

mRwiDow and i saW soMe of frQggie's roCks in tHe poConos...

great now the poconos is gonna go outta business :tongue1:

 

[masterswimmer]

:funnypost:

 

[jiggy]

what if you made the rock with a carbonated drink like sprite? would it make it more porous?

or what if you took a bunch of bones.. like chicken and steak bones and covered them in cement to get the porite look.

 

[Psycho graphic]

I'm still in the curing stage of this. The idea is that the salt dissolves in the curing process.

I wound up using Water Softener Salt from Wallmart.

The question of strength was brought up on this recipe, the guy that came up with it did a few tests and the rock proved to be very stong, it took a few blows with a hammer to break it. This same person tried the dry pasta and had the rocks break during the curing process due to the pasta swelling from the absorbtion of water. This is a proven recipe that is being used by a few people I have talked to. The only problem I do notice is some of the outer edges of the rock might be thin on the cement. I purposely have been manhandling them when I change the water in the curing tub to get this to flake off. I have another month or so to cure them. I will keep you posted once they are in the tank.

 

[pmui]

what if you made the rock with a carbonated drink like sprite? would it make it more porous?

Hey that's an idea, just use seltzer...it clean and maybe the carbonation will make it porous.

 

[Psycho graphic]

Hey that's an idea, just use seltzer...it clean and maybe the carbonation will make it porous.

You are joking, right?

 

[pmui]

nope, to make concrete you need portland cement, Sand, small and med. size rock and clean water (this is seltzer). I would think the carbonation would help make tiny air cavity in the curring of the rock. I would not use sprite or any drinks with sugar in it, as t would add to the impurity. it's just an idea.

 

[ezee]

Psycho,

The only problem I do notice is some of the outer edges of the rock might be thin on the cement. I purposely have been manhandling them when I change the water in the curing tub to get this to flake off.

I have had the same issue when initially handling the rocks. I had to handle them roughly as well to wear the thin parts down.

E

 

[Psycho graphic]

nope, to make concrete you need portland cement, Sand, small and med. size rock and clean water (this is seltzer). I would think the carbonation would help make tiny air cavity in the curring of the rock. I would not use sprite or any drinks with sugar in it, as t would add to the impurity. it's just an idea.

I really think by the time you have it mixed the Carbon Dioxide would have dispersed from the water and you would'nt have any bubbles left in the mix. It might work, but I seriously doubt it. If you try it, post your results.

Ezee, your rock cured in a month? Did you circulate the water in any way while curing it? At what Ph did you find it ready for use?

 

[chuck]

Marco Rocks was at NERAC II at Atlantis Marine World they had some super rock for sale VERY Light and huge pieces.
http://www.marcorocks.com/

some pics of the vendor booth:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=910886

They said they will be back at NERAC III this year.

chuck