DIY Live Rock anyone?

[Hpimichael02]

does anyone have any pictures of their DIY live rock cured?

i think im gonna be starting this project tommorow for my 150 tank, ive seen what it looks like when finished but not when it has become live, i know the curing process will take about 1-2 months depending on size of the rock(my build starts for this tank in june when we move into our house).

im thinking of only makeing 5-8lbs pieces so the curing process is a little faster. also useing sand and crushed coral in the mix.

[Cliff]

I have never done this before, but from what I have read you want to cure it for 4 to 6 weeks and then soak them in fresh water for another 2 to 3 months until the PH of the water is no longer effected by the chemicals in the cement.

I have no idea how accurate that is, but it might be something to look into.

Please docuement your process with pics. This would make a great DIY thread

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

I can tell you this much, it typically does not turn out to be nearly as good a quality as you can get by buying dry rock. We have a guy in our local reef club who made his and he said he'd never do it again due to the quality of it. You just can't get it as porous as natural or quarried rock.

[Hpimichael02]

i have been reading up on it a bit and that was my concern, how ever the need mix is 4:1 sand-crushed coral- or oyster shell/ cement- also to make it more porus i have read that people place rock salt in the mix and the salt dissolves while curing the rock, also i have read people place crushed ice and ice cubes in the mx so the cubes melt and this creates holes in the rocks, also packing the mold whne you poor i heard creates the solid look, im gonna try both the rock salt and the ice cube meathod and different mixture's to see what it comes out like.

i have also read that the cement will raise the PH and the way to cure it faster is to keep the water at low PH so it draws out the lime in the cement with causes the PH to rise, doing this is adding a little bit of white vineger daily to drop the PH and then do a water change every week, also water movement will also help speed the process. im gonna be doing this in a baby pool they sell at walmart- i will be test using beach sand- cleaned of course and crushed sheels from my local beach since we have super shelly sand. these will be cleaned thoroughly.