Oyster Shells $8 for 50lbs (Tractor Supply Elkton)
White Portland Concrete - $18 for 96.2lbs (“Special” Order from HD)
Extra Course Water Softener Salts - $4 for 40lbs (Tractor Supply Elkton)
Quickrete Sand - $3.50ea? x2 (HD)
Total: $37.00
We’ll see how much rock we can make. I gotta make at least 15lbs to break even on typically available $2.50lb Dry Rock. If I can make 50lbs of it, thats just under 3.5x more rock for the money.
The major issue will be curing the rock, leaching out the lime so Ph doesn’t go thru the roof once put in the tank.
Should be able to make whatever you can shape the sand into. I’ll attempt some branch and shelf pieces if this mix comes out acceptable. If you guys have any examples of shapes you would like me to try, toss up a pic and I’ll try to replicate.
I’ve always wanted to do this, but like you said, worried about the curing part. The best idea i’ve heard someone have thus far was to just take the rock and put it in a creek they had going through their back yard for a few months . I wish i were as lucky. I can imagine that was a pretty easy way to drain the chemicals out. And I’m sure it moved the process along as fast as possible, considering it was receiving a constant supply of clean moving water. Interested to see how it turns out.
Correct, it helps to keep them from getting too dense and maintain the nooks and crannies that help keep the rock porous. I’ll take some pictures and perhaps video showing the rock once the salt is dissolved. Right now they’re out in the elements, letting the concrete setup some more. I’ll try some shelf pieces next as well as experimenting with purposely creating larger holes.
I can already say that creating the rock is VERY easy.
Stay tuned for how long it takes to get them “cured” as far as stable Ph goes. Once I can have them in a tank/bucket of water for a day w/o the Ph of that water rising over 7.8, I’ll call them cured…then I’ll let them sit in that tank/bucket for a week…just to make sure. ::
Plan is to let them set for roughly a week (I’ll make other pieces in that time) then I’ll start soaking them. Once that starts, I’ll start taking Ph readings.
Alright, its been about 36 days. On average I changed the water in the rubbermaid container every other day. Today, after 24hrs the Ph is only up to 8.2. If it stays there for another week…we’ll finally call it cured! It may be cheap and easy, but it requires a LOT of patience!
Admittedly, I have not. I took a break after making the base rock. About 2 weeks went by, and I didn’t want to add anything fresh into the curing rock, and didn’t have another container laying around.
I will give it a go once this batch is done. Stay tuned.
FYI, if anyone wants to give this a shot, and needs any White Portland Concrete, and maybe some Salt/Oyster shell…lemme know. I have a TON of leftover and it’d be free to guys/gals here on the DRC forum.
I tried this out a few days ago on a small scale. one rock about 5’’ X 2 1/2 that i have two magnets buried into it, with a completely flat side to attach on the back wall of my little tank.
i simmered it in water twice, couple hours each time (after it cured 30 hrs)… all the softener salts cooked out after the first two hours YahoO…
i need to soak it and check the ph, and phosphates… i’ll get a pic up after its done its 3rd simmer. I’m hoping for a quicker cure since its so small… we’ll see what the tests say.
thanks again for the kit rob
it was fun doing this, and it looks pretty real… never tell the diff after some coraline grows on it ::
my boys thought it was pretty cool too, now they want to make a bunch to decorate our swimming pool ::
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