walt smith DIY rocks (or other types of DIY rocks)

[surfn]

my LFS has been making some pretty cool DIY rocks. they are dark grey.....and have great forms and are pretty light etc.

they told me the rocks are made from the "walt smith DIY rock" recipe. does anyone know what that is?

i love the material that they use, and supposedly the rock doesn't need any curing what so ever. (at least thats what they told me).

i don't need any extra rock right now, but i was thinking of maybe making some frag plugs/discs out of the same material since it doesn't need curing.




i got a couple of small pieces to try out, and i'm pleasently pleased with how they have done so far. half of the time when you buy new live rock, or dead live rock........it developes algae on the rock for quite some time.....most likely due to leaching phosphates or other decaying matter.

in fact, every recent batch of live rock i've gotten in small amounts seems to have been "bad". i've broken a couple open and the centers have been completely black....which i think is a sign of anaerobic bacteria and sulfate formations.

only downside of this DIY rock is that its not really porus for lots of small life (worms/pods) to live in. but that might depend on how you make it. .

 

[rebecca]

I found this on the net about it.


http://www.waltsmith.com/media/pdfs/ROCK_curing.PDF

 

[surfn]

I found this on the net about it.


http://www.waltsmith.com/media/pdfs/ROCK_curing.PDF

actually, that is about curing Live rock.

what i'm talking about, is essentially an agrecrete recipe by waltsmith to make your own rocks. (i.e. some sort of cement). that way you can make your own shapes and pour it into certain molds.

 

[surfn]

If it requires no curing they must have found something other than concrete, as any type of concrete would need to be cured so it doesn't wack out your PH. If anyone finds the information please post it up, I would love to know more before I setup my next tank. I'd like to setup a 6' tank when I move so that would save me a lot of $ and also let me kind of customize it.

you're exactly right. *supposedely* it requires no curing (what i was told). and its the exact same recipe and way that walt smith makes his aquaculture rocks (not sure what they call them).

i asked what it was made out of and was told the recipe is a *secret*.....lol

next time i go by the store i'll have to remember my camera to take some pics.

if i had to set up a new tank, i'd probably go with 25-50% real live rock (like the Marco stuff from a rubble zone with LOTS of caves for live bugs to grow and hide).

and then fill in the rest with this aquaculture DIY rock. my only concern about it is to make sure you really don't have to cure it. and it would be some time before you could get enough life in it to be able to support a mandarin probably.

 

[rarelyseriousb]

I have walt smith live rock and it is nice. But I have made my own that is much more porous. I started with the Garf recipe but modified it some. Just ply till I get what I like. But I do have to cure it. I have a big water tank in my garage I use fore curing. I also put smaller pieces In my friends and families toilet tanks for curing. Or if you have access you could dump it in a river or creak.

 

[surfn]

I have walt smith live rock and it is nice. But I have made my own that is much more porous. I started with the Garf recipe but modified it some. Just ply till I get what I like. But I do have to cure it. I have a big water tank in my garage I use fore curing. I also put smaller pieces In my friends and families toilet tanks for curing. Or if you have access you could dump it in a river or creak.

got any pics? how do you make it so porous?

 

[rarelyseriousb]

I add rock salt. I have a lot of pics. Every batch got better and better. You can make hundreds of pounds for under 100 bucks. I have forgot the ratio but basically I mixed some sand(filler), crushed oyster shells(filler), cement, and just before forming it mix in the rock salt (not filler, To much rock salt will make the rock to week) . You can get the rock salt from HD or Lowes in the water softener section(cant remember name but its a blue bag). It is a good idea not to use the cheap Ice melter stuff because it is not as pure. If I remember the mis right it is about 3 (filler) to 1 (cement). Mix to a Oat meal constancy. I mad it to wet the first few time and It did not look as good. What I did next was take a tub and make a negative mold with damp sand. add the cement mix. let harden 24-48 hours. Then cure it. Also for a filler You can use anything that is reef safe Crushed coral, dead coral, even plastic shavings to encourage coraline growth. You could drill it also to peg your corals on later. Some cement is white this would allow you to die it to change the color of rock. Or you could make a cement paint and stipple it onto the rock to be more natural. After I make the rocks I take the left over mix and put it into plastic plant trays for some frag plugs. the possibilities are limitless. Sorry for the book but if anyone want more info let me know.:horse: