Thank you so much! My first attempt at making some LR was a huge failure but your video showed me exactly what I was doing wrong. I put way too much water the first time, I had no idea you could use so little water. I have my rock sitting in sand now and I'm gonna give it the weekend to harden up. Your video is the best I've found.
Best looking rock of any of the videos I have watched on the subject. Nice job. I never would have thought you could make it so loose and porous like that.
Saw a recent video where they conducted tests on different sizes/densities of oyster shell for biocolonization and the smaller the better, so well crushed shell is the best option. And the best mix ratio they found was: 1 part water 2 parts portland cement 6 parts oyster shell
I make my rock in the spring right before I open my pool up then I just put all the rock I made in the swimming pool. Does 2 jobs for me. Cures the rock and keeps my pool PH up so I don't have to buy PH up for my pools. The chlorine doesn't hurt the rock. Then at the end of the summer I take it out, soak it in some bleach water just to make sure no algae survived on it. Then wash it and let it dry outside for a few days.
Great method! My suggestion for curing smaller rocks is to put them in the reservoir of the most used toilet in the house. Multiple water changes everyday could possibly take it down to 2 weeks.
I've made about 100 lbs of this for my new 90 gallon tank. It took about 3-4 months for my ph to stabilize. I'm slowly adding it to 50ish lbs of cured live rock from my 55 gallon tank thats been running for about 7 years. It is working flawlessly, pods have been seen living in the pores of the rock! Starting to get some purple coraline growth and looks amazing. I will say that it took several months in the tank for the stark white to get some color to it.
It gets better, mine is completely purple and very hard rock. I hope this video helped of that's how you made it. I don't ever make videos but at the time of this video all the videos on line were so drawn out and took forever to watch. I just wanted to simplify it and hopefully help someone.
@mgkdcx As far as the salt goes; The large rock salt crystals for water softeners seems to be the best, I tried using regular rock salt and the porousness of the rock was not good enough. I am not sure how important the ratios (like 3-1-2) are, I found the ratio of 3-1.75-2 worked well with the type of oyster shell, cement, large rock salt I was using, the important part is that the rock will not fall apart after 36 hours of curing, the large rock salt will help insure the porousness.
VERY nice. This looks better than the man-made rock I bought from someone. It was more of a grey color, but I like this color, more of a white color. I will definitely be trying this.
I could be wrong as I'm new to this, but I think the idea is to leach out the basic minerals to a stable point. "Hungry water" (soft or distilled) would do this best/quickest. Could switch from distilled to something not so hungry (harder) towards the end (like after 6 weeks?). Still though, I'm ignorant, is it the cement that's causing the pH rise? Nah, must be the oyster shells, right? Or both? Why are we even using material that alters pH?
This was a great video! BUT, I was wondering about measurements and ratio of cement to ;oyster shell, as well as water... Narration would have made this video even better. I'm going to try this out because I have a good idea how to build what I want for my new tank now... THANKS!!!
that's a great tip!!! there is no wasted water and it gets the job done... i only wish they made toilet tanks big enough for my 3D cement backgrounds...
Nice !! video, definitely will try do the same I need rock for my 65 gallon, prices are ridiculous so this will help who's play that music? Very cool sound .....
I could not find white Portland cement when I made my rock. So when it's wet, it looks like grey cement. But whiteish when dry. I really hope coraline grows fast over all of it.
Good video.... Just one question... Does it hold kh in the reef stable cuz I know some people who are struggling to keep it above 5 dkh using that type of rock
Love this video.......... has anybody had this type of live rock in there aquarium for more than 2 years........... my concern is any type of leaching from the cement into the water......... I have a saltwater tank with some corals and I would love to move some of my live rock into my sump and use this type of live rock for my decoration in the main tank............thnxxxxxxxx
+Justice Arledge Mine is going strong for years now, but there was leaching in the beginning, that's why I used a trash can to cure the rock with many many water changes over several months.
I am not really sure, I don't know what ingredients make quickrete Portland cement different from normal Portland cement, but I do know that the white portland cement make a nicer looking rock than the grey portland cement. Does the quickrete come in white?
Thanks for this video. I’m going to be trying this very soon. Maybe I’m going to add some beach sand or crush coral to the recipe. Question, I notice that you mention the water quality is the key for the time of curation. I have a water purification system in my house (we have a big problem with hard water in my county). That means no chlorine and lower PH (on the 7.35 - 7.45 range). Can this means that my rocks will cure faster?
@jjamontan Eventually, I have a millions of things going on right now, my tank is coming along fine, I will post a follow up video as soon as I can. Sorry for the lack of a follow up video, I can't believe I even have time to write this :)
@polievets1- I take small pieces of live rock that are covered with the types of coralline algae I desire, take a small bowl of tank water and with a small knife and do scrapings of the coralline algae into the bowl. After you are finished sprinkle the scrapings over the man made liverock an it will greatly facilitate the growth of coralline algae over the new man made rock, you will have to dose with the normal calcium and other suplimates.
Excellent Video John. I'm thinking of setting up a tank and was just wondering....once the PH is normal, If I went with 80% DIY stuff and 20% cured live rock, could I put this straight into the tank along with the bit of cured live rock and would it then gradually become proper live rock and filter the tank as normal?
For Oyster shell.. look for a farm feed store in your area. For White Cement look for a White Cap supply store.. HD or Lowes will most likely not have it... solar salt can be found at lowes or the Farm and feed store
i used quikcrete and aquarium gravel.To make the caves and tunnels i used the sand i was casting with. I had pretty good results after a couple tries and After two weeks with two water changes a day. the ph level is below the level of my marine aquarium and is about the same as tap water.
Hey! great video, simple! quick question (for saltwater tank). I can't find the Water softener salt. All places i ask think i'm nuts. What is it? Can i substitute it with aquarium Red Sea Salt or anything? #2- If i use crushed coral do i still have to cure it?
Pardon my ignorance, as I don't understand the word, curing, nor anything about cement, and I'm quite new to all this... When you speak of curing the cement, do you mean that it is the cement which leaches basic minerals that cause the pH spike? I thought oyster shell or crushed coral would also leach such things... It does, doesn't it? Is it that the cement's affect on pH is just so much greater that we ignore the other elements?
No actually, it looks just like regular live rock, this way of making it really looks natural, the coralline algae from the natural live rock is starting to cover the man-made live rock, I am very happy with it.
@macmainuk I think only african cichlids could handle the PH of the water with the crushed oyster shell, in fact my son's 90 gallon african cichlid tank has the same crushed oyster shell as the bedding.
i dont know i just searched for Portland cement on home depot website since that is where i usually go to get stuff. Ill have to check the store for white then. The difference is only color correct? only Portland cement is useable? no multi-purpose?
77Hi John, first of all that's for the info I make about 100 pounds of rock using your recipe. Some of the rocks came out awesome , most of the others were pretty nice also. Anyway I was wondering how often you changed the water. My rocks have been curing 3 months and the ph is still through the roof. I change the water 3 times a week.
Any idea how to start life on that rock I mean what steps after PH is OK just put in aquarium? any additives like may be algae spores or ... I am kind of new in that aquarium business Thanks!
I had a friend the lives over in another county and his took 9 months! The water where I live allowed me to do it faster, but no matter where you live... it will cure, just be patient :) How is it coming along now?
@Itsiebit I watched many video's on youtube, tried a few of them, with terrible results, so after a few trials and errors I came up with this recipe and decided to make a simple vodeo showing what I had learned.
I will have a new reef aquarium so far this its a good way to safe some money on live rocks , but do we have to use salt water to cure them or can I use Ro water to ?
#1 I believe he's talking about the salt that you'd buy at Lowes or Home Depot or a hardware store or from a water treatment specialist. It's salt that is used to treat tap water, more common in places where a lot of people still use well water. #2 is YES because you are curing the Portland cement, not the oyster shells or crushed coral
@mgkdcx As far as the sand goes, I could not figure out what benefit would be obtained by adding the sand, if your rocks turn out better with sand than without please let me know. I would cure the rock in a spare tank or large trash can, with frequent fresh water water-changes, check the PH of the tap water from your water supply, when the curing live rock no longer effects the PH and the PH is back to original tap water; your rock is cured, this usually takes about 90 days.
The high PH is from the cement not the salt. The salt dissolves to form a more porus surface. There is no way around the 30-90 day curing you just have to be patient
wht is the best way to do this. bc im going to start my saltwater tank when i can get rid of my fire belly toad. can i put the rock in my tank after it gets done drying
I made some of this rock with same recipe and everything and 6 months later it's still at high ph, did a ton of water changes w/ strong power head in the container.. Not sure what I did wrong but I was disappointed =/ Really expected to have my larger tank running by now.
Still at 8.8ph, going to soak w/ vinegar next just to try and get ph down, was actually impressed at how 2 of the 3 rocks came out too. (tap water is 7.4ph)
Thanks, that's the reason I made the video (after watching 100's of them). I'm not into making videos, just wanted to cut out all the fluff! Any questions just email me Tenneseevols (at) suddenlink (dot) net , Subj "Live Rock"
Well... i have a question and a problem... i did those rocks with white cement, coral sand and, dead coral, and some salt BUUT... the place where i did it with sand fucked me literally. When i take the rock out all these sand were hooked ON MY ROCK ! how can i take all these sand from my rock ?!?!?!? it's hooked with the cement.... HELP PLEASE !
@alexrex20 Thank you Alex, most the videos I saw were too long with too much information stretched out over 2 or 3 videos, so with a little video editing I wanted to make one that was to the point and easy to grasp, for for some reason the pop-ups I added via You Tubes video editor do not show unless viewed via a computer? Anyways, thank you for the comment.
I'm making a brackish, fiddler crab, redclaw, molly, goby tank, I actually already have it set up in a 20 long but am upgrading to 55 long, but anyway I'm trying to create an artificial dry land mass that I can put black pvc pipe in and put some sand in too, to imitate the burrows in fiddler crabs natural habitats
i was told The oyster shells will leach phosphate over the life of the tank. It will be a phosphate nightmare. can you share any info that this is not true.
Thank you so much! My first attempt at making some LR was a huge failure but your video showed me exactly what I was doing wrong. I put way too much water the first time, I had no idea you could use so little water. I have my rock sitting in sand now and I'm gonna give it the weekend to harden up. Your video is the best I've found.
how did it turn out?
Best looking rock of any of the videos I have watched on the subject. Nice job. I never would have thought you could make it so loose and porous like that.
All these years later and this video is still great ... too bad he never made any more videos ..
Saw a recent video where they conducted tests on different sizes/densities of oyster shell for biocolonization and the smaller the better, so well crushed shell is the best option.
And the best mix ratio they found was:
1 part water
2 parts portland cement
6 parts oyster shell
I make my rock in the spring right before I open my pool up then I just put all the rock I made in the swimming pool. Does 2 jobs for me. Cures the rock and keeps my pool PH up so I don't have to buy PH up for my pools. The chlorine doesn't hurt the rock. Then at the end of the summer I take it out, soak it in some bleach water just to make sure no algae survived on it. Then wash it and let it dry outside for a few days.
Easy and beautiful! Thanks a million for this! I'm gonna try this.
Salt konsa use Kiya batao pls
Awesome video--you made it look so easy. I can't wait to try
Thats beautiful, very crafty. It has a nice natural sea look to it.
Thank you, looks better after a year in the tank especially after it turns all purple.
Are there any pictures of that...? This rock in the aquarium...?
Great method! My suggestion for curing smaller rocks is to put them in the reservoir of the most used toilet in the house. Multiple water changes everyday could possibly take it down to 2 weeks.
What do you think about curing them in a river ?
Very cool! It's inspired me! Thanks for sharing.
I've made about 100 lbs of this for my new 90 gallon tank. It took about 3-4 months for my ph to stabilize. I'm slowly adding it to 50ish lbs of cured live rock from my 55 gallon tank thats been running for about 7 years. It is working flawlessly, pods have been seen living in the pores of the rock! Starting to get some purple coraline growth and looks amazing. I will say that it took several months in the tank for the stark white to get some color to it.
It gets better, mine is completely purple and very hard rock. I hope this video helped of that's how you made it. I don't ever make videos but at the time of this video all the videos on line were so drawn out and took forever to watch. I just wanted to simplify it and hopefully help someone.
Neat stuff! I see myself making this stuff soon.
@mgkdcx As far as the salt goes; The large rock salt crystals for water softeners seems to be the best, I tried using regular rock salt and the porousness of the rock was not good enough.
I am not sure how important the ratios (like 3-1-2) are, I found the ratio of 3-1.75-2 worked well with the type of oyster shell, cement, large rock salt I was using, the important part is that the rock will not fall apart after 36 hours of curing, the large rock salt will help insure the porousness.
thanks for taking the time to make this video. this is the best DIY Live Rock video on youtube. :)
why it's called live? it grows? all I see is cement holds the shells
dang dude perfect, and thanks for help saving the reefs and ocean from being cut up and ripped off, gonna make some of these for sure. thank you! SUB
VERY nice. This looks better than the man-made rock I bought from someone. It was more of a grey color, but I like this color, more of a white color. I will definitely be trying this.
Nice job. Straight, to the point, no b.s.. I will be trying this myself soon. Thanx.
this is how the ecological live rock is made ,verry good ,informative video
Kasari banauna you stond
yep, awesome
wow..awesome diy video!!!! thanks for info sharing
I could be wrong as I'm new to this, but I think the idea is to leach out the basic minerals to a stable point. "Hungry water" (soft or distilled) would do this best/quickest. Could switch from distilled to something not so hungry (harder) towards the end (like after 6 weeks?). Still though, I'm ignorant, is it the cement that's causing the pH rise? Nah, must be the oyster shells, right? Or both? Why are we even using material that alters pH?
best video I found on the topic!!
This was a great video! BUT, I was wondering about measurements and ratio of cement to ;oyster shell, as well as water... Narration would have made this video even better. I'm going to try this out because I have a good idea how to build what I want for my new tank now... THANKS!!!
oh man, where have you been all my life?
that's a great tip!!! there is no wasted water and it gets the job done... i only wish they made toilet tanks big enough for my 3D cement backgrounds...
Nice !! video, definitely will try do the same I need rock for my 65 gallon, prices are ridiculous so this will help who's play that music? Very cool sound .....
I could not find white Portland cement when I made my rock. So when it's wet, it looks like grey cement. But whiteish when dry. I really hope coraline grows fast over all of it.
Good video.... Just one question... Does it hold kh in the reef stable cuz I know some people who are struggling to keep it above 5 dkh using that type of rock
Love this video.......... has anybody had this type of live rock in there aquarium for more than 2 years........... my concern is any type of leaching from the cement into the water......... I have a saltwater tank with some corals and I would love to move some of my live rock into my sump and use this type of live rock for my decoration in the main tank............thnxxxxxxxx
+Justice Arledge Mine is going strong for years now, but there was leaching in the beginning, that's why I used a trash can to cure the rock with many many water changes over several months.
I am not really sure, I don't know what ingredients make quickrete Portland cement different from normal Portland cement, but I do know that the white portland cement make a nicer looking rock than the grey portland cement. Does the quickrete come in white?
Thanks for this video. I’m going to be trying this very soon. Maybe I’m going to add some beach sand or crush coral to the recipe. Question, I notice that you mention the water quality is the key for the time of curation. I have a water purification system in my house (we have a big problem with hard water in my county). That means no chlorine and lower PH (on the 7.35 - 7.45 range). Can this means that my rocks will cure faster?
@jjamontan Eventually, I have a millions of things going on right now, my tank is coming along fine, I will post a follow up video as soon as I can. Sorry for the lack of a follow up video, I can't believe I even have time to write this :)
Wow, it took me much longer for a cure, good job!
@polievets1- I take small pieces of live rock that are covered with the types of coralline algae I desire, take a small bowl of tank water and with a small knife and do scrapings of the coralline algae into the bowl. After you are finished sprinkle the scrapings over the man made liverock an it will greatly facilitate the growth of coralline algae over the new man made rock, you will have to dose with the normal calcium and other suplimates.
Excellent Video John. I'm thinking of setting up a tank and was just wondering....once the PH is normal, If I went with 80% DIY stuff and 20% cured live rock, could I put this straight into the tank along with the bit of cured live rock and would it then gradually become proper live rock and filter the tank as normal?
most defiantly will.
For Oyster shell.. look for a farm feed store in your area. For White Cement look for a White Cap supply store.. HD or Lowes will most likely not have it... solar salt can be found at lowes or the Farm and feed store
seen a few like this others state you need special sand for the mould, what did you use please?
Play sand from home depot
i used quikcrete and aquarium gravel.To make the caves and tunnels i used the sand i was casting with. I had pretty good results after a couple tries and After two weeks with two water changes a day. the ph level is below the level of my marine aquarium and is about the same as tap water.
hi man can I have your email to ask you some questions about this? thanks
I will try it then. Do you have to use white portland cement?
Nice work 👏
Very cool. How does it affect the water chemistry?
Hey! great video, simple!
quick question (for saltwater tank). I can't find the Water softener salt. All places i ask think i'm nuts. What is it? Can i substitute it with aquarium Red Sea Salt or anything?
#2- If i use crushed coral do i still have to cure it?
Is it music from "Fargo" ?
Pardon my ignorance, as I don't understand the word, curing, nor anything about cement, and I'm quite new to all this... When you speak of curing the cement, do you mean that it is the cement which leaches basic minerals that cause the pH spike? I thought oyster shell or crushed coral would also leach such things... It does, doesn't it? Is it that the cement's affect on pH is just so much greater that we ignore the other elements?
No actually, it looks just like regular live rock, this way of making it really looks natural, the coralline algae from the natural live rock is starting to cover the man-made live rock, I am very happy with it.
@macmainuk I think only african cichlids could handle the PH of the water with the crushed oyster shell, in fact my son's 90 gallon african cichlid tank has the same crushed oyster shell as the bedding.
i dont know i just searched for Portland cement on home depot website since that is where i usually go to get stuff. Ill have to check the store for white then. The difference is only color correct? only Portland cement is useable? no multi-purpose?
Why did you use salt? Does it makes any significant changes to it?
Im gonna try it, but using beetroot juice to give it a purple color
How did the beetroot juice method turn out?
Have you tried use any reef sand or aragonite?
Is it likely any calcium from the shells get into the water through the cement?
Very likely, in fact too much at first, leveled off after 6 months.
I picked up my large rock sale at the Home Depot in the water softener isle.
77Hi John, first of all that's for the info I make about 100 pounds of rock using your recipe. Some of the rocks came out awesome , most of the others were pretty nice also. Anyway I was wondering how often you changed the water. My rocks have been curing 3 months and the ph is still through the roof. I change the water 3 times a week.
I thought you couldnt use cement for aquariums
You can after it cures 100%
Any idea how to start life on that rock I mean what steps after PH is OK just put in aquarium? any additives like may be algae spores or ... I am kind of new in that aquarium business Thanks!
I had a friend the lives over in another county and his took 9 months! The water where I live allowed me to do it faster, but no matter where you live... it will cure, just be patient :)
How is it coming along now?
How does it look in the tank? Like any other live rock or does it stand out a bit?
hello I am new in UA-cam and I like you channel and video
Regular coarse salt would work? Or its got to be this for water softners?
large rock salt... it's used to create gaps for Is parocity and filtration...
very real... good job!!!😎
What kind of sand for mold? Can i used ordinary sand? Like used in building house
do i have to use crushed coral or oyster shells or can i use something else bc i can not find any of that any where i live
@Itsiebit I watched many video's on youtube, tried a few of them, with terrible results, so after a few trials and errors I came up with this recipe and decided to make a simple vodeo showing what I had learned.
I will have a new reef aquarium so far this its a good way to safe some money on live rocks , but do we have to use salt water to cure them or can I use Ro water to ?
Hi, can this be coated with epoxy / fiberglass resin or such?
60 - 90 days wait, then still possibility PH is through the roof???
Thx
I will, as long as it is cured well. :)
What's the point of the salt? To increase porosity once it dissolves out?
Is the white cement safe for fish?
So it has been a while since you made this video. I assume that the rock is in a tank? Where is the update video with results?
Once this is put in the aquarium and frags added to it, will it look like real live rock (not look bleached)
where do they sell oyster shells? especially in a bulk bag...
I can't find white Portland cement, I live in Charlotte NC, any ideas where I can look besides Lowe's or home depot?
Thanks
How do you keep the sand in the mold from sticking to the rock/cement?
Can crushed Coral be used instead of crushed oyster shells?
#1 I believe he's talking about the salt that you'd buy at Lowes or Home Depot or a hardware store or from a water treatment specialist. It's salt that is used to treat tap water, more common in places where a lot of people still use well water.
#2 is YES because you are curing the Portland cement, not the oyster shells or crushed coral
@mgkdcx As far as the sand goes, I could not figure out what benefit would be obtained by adding the sand, if your rocks turn out better with sand than without please let me know.
I would cure the rock in a spare tank or large trash can, with frequent fresh water water-changes, check the PH of the tap water from your water supply, when the curing live rock no longer effects the PH and the PH is back to original tap water; your rock is cured, this usually takes about 90 days.
so does the salt just dilute and makes porous rock?
The high PH is from the cement not the salt. The salt dissolves to form a more porus surface. There is no way around the 30-90 day curing you just have to be patient
wht is the best way to do this. bc im going to start my saltwater tank when i can get rid of my fire belly toad. can i put the rock in my tank after it gets done drying
why we had to use oster shell/can we use some thin else ??
I made some of this rock with same recipe and everything and 6 months later it's still at high ph, did a ton of water changes w/ strong power head in the container.. Not sure what I did wrong but I was disappointed =/ Really expected to have my larger tank running by now.
How is the rock now? Has it died back down?
Still at 8.8ph, going to soak w/ vinegar next just to try and get ph down, was actually impressed at how 2 of the 3 rocks came out too. (tap water is 7.4ph)
+Robert Romo post pictures if you can
I pulled up the UA-cam app on my phone, I don't know how to add pics... Sorry 😢
Awwwwwwww OK
mine has been in my tank for over a year and you can not see the difference between it and other added live rock pieces.
Thanks, that's the reason I made the video (after watching 100's of them). I'm not into making videos, just wanted to cut out all the fluff!
Any questions just email me Tenneseevols (at) suddenlink (dot) net , Subj "Live Rock"
No, the ice would mess up the concrete mix. You would have a concrete puddle :)
Good video nice music too
can this recipe be used in fresh water setup
without salt
can Quikrete Portland Cement be used?
Well... i have a question and a problem... i did those rocks with white cement, coral sand and, dead coral, and some salt BUUT... the place where i did it with sand fucked me literally. When i take the rock out all these sand were hooked ON MY ROCK ! how can i take all these sand from my rock ?!?!?!? it's hooked with the cement.... HELP PLEASE !
any sand that was on my rock washed away easily during the curing process in water.
Very cool
They bgm gave me thrills
Is this suitable for a mixed reef tank
@alexrex20 Thank you Alex, most the videos I saw were too long with too much information stretched out over 2 or 3 videos, so with a little video editing I wanted to make one that was to the point and easy to grasp, for for some reason the pop-ups I added via You Tubes video editor do not show unless viewed via a computer?
Anyways, thank you for the comment.
good job
will this work in a fresh water tank?
how does the concrete not fill in the holes of the porous shells?
the rock salt melts away causing the pours.
where do you live?
Hey how can we make the colour more natural
and i got my oyster shells form ebay bc i dont have a feed store that cares wht i need where else can i get it
Okay this is probably a dumb question but is this aquarium safe?
I'm making a brackish, fiddler crab, redclaw, molly, goby tank, I actually already have it set up in a 20 long but am upgrading to 55 long, but anyway I'm trying to create an artificial dry land mass that I can put black pvc pipe in and put some sand in too, to imitate the burrows in fiddler crabs natural habitats
i was told The oyster shells will leach phosphate over the life of the tank. It will be a phosphate nightmare.
can you share any info that this is not true.
Can you share where you found this information please?
AcuaTV Emmanuel que opinas de estas piedras?
Sergio de Alba Sánchez a reserva de lo del fosfato suenan muy bien!