Diy Live Rock, But For Freshwater

[haunted-havoc]

hey ive been going around the internet trying to find ideas for a bit of aqua scapping with rocks. im already aware or the polystyrene method (i have done a similar thing for my leopard gecko vivarium's) but i stumbled upon a alternative

its basically 1 part portland cement, 2 parts sand, 3 parts aggregate. you make it into a dry mix, then add a little water. make a rock shape out of it and let it harden. once its hardened you cure it for around a month in a bucket of water to reduce the PH and to leech out any impurities. after this you do a 100% water change of the bucket and then add some old filter media to populate the porous rock you have made

the problem is, the videos i have seen are all for marine salt water tanks. which have a higher PH than freshwater. and due to the lime within portland cement (which cures at high PH of about 10-12) i am worried about trying this for a freshwater

i know that after time the PH will drop to around neutral with regular water changes during the curing process. but what im really wondering is will the PH slowly rise again posing a threat to my tank.

this technique has been used by people like indo pacific sea farms but for marine tanks. i have not seen it done for freshwater tanks

the technique has also been referred to as "aragacrete"

here is a video from IPSF http/www.youtube.com/watch#!v=iRBNpmjMcTI&feature=related


now providing on the feed back i get back i might give it a go and measure the ph over a few months after curing with a digital PH reader to see if the PH does slowly rise.

and thoughts about this would be greatly appreciated

 

[ajs2294]

Is there even any point? "live rock curing" is when marine algae and other organisms populate the rock turning into a type of filter. The same process won't happen in freshwater. It will probably save a lot of trouble just to buy some regular old rocks and stacking/shaping them for your aquascape. I understand that curing is also setting concrete but why risk pH changes when you can stack all sorts of other inert rocks a similar way.

 

[haunted-havoc]

that is the point but rather than use marine bacteria, use freshwater bacteria.

thats why i was asking, to see if it is plausible. and that if the PH would rise again?

why should freshwater keepers be restricted to just plain rocks and not the more "exoctic" looking type. types that resemble reef? which would also serve a dual purpose

obviously i wouldn't do it if the rock raised the PH, that would be irresponsible and down right stupid. but if it doesnt, then why not.

i was merely asking if anyone had attempted a similar project or more experienced keepers had a opinion with more constructive criticism than "why bother"

 

[ajs2294]

"why bother"

Simply because Marine life is completely different and the same concept does not work in fresh water aquariums. Life rock basically is Micro/Macro organisms living off calcium deposits of dead corals. Bacteria in Saltwater is different that in freshwater, and unfortunately live rock is only effective in saltwater. If you want to just make an aquascape it would be much simpler to just model existing rocks such as pebbles or slate to the desired aquascape.

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum haunted-havoc.
You have a decent recipe for concrete there. You can indeed shape it to resemble rocks. In many cases concrete will release lime for an indefinite period but often concrete does indeed reach a preliminary cure in about a month although it continues to become stronger for a long time afterward.

 

[Spanerman]

Welcome to the forum haunted-havoc.
You have a decent recipe for concrete there. You can indeed shape it to resemble rocks. In many cases concrete will release lime for an indefinite period but often concrete does indeed reach a preliminary cure in about a month although it continues to become stronger for a long time afterward.

Concrete continues to get stronger for decades after initial curing

And i would also agree that the lime given off may not be ideal for aquariums.

Sam.

 

[haunted-havoc]

cheers for the reply guys. im guessing from all this that the concrete will give of lime indefinitely, which in turn would constantly raise the PH of the tank.

ah well just an idea i thought could work. never know until you ask

and thanks for the welcome Oldman47

 

[three-fingers]

Should be fine IMO as long as the fish species you keep can thrive at the high pH (could be great for African cichlids, mollies etc.).

The concept wouldn't work as well as having a filter in a freshwater tank, so if your planning to use this as the filter, make sure you very lightly stock and remember there will be no mechanical filtration.. If the tank will have a another main filter, then this will be where the bulk of the bacteria will live anyway, so the rock wont really be any benefit to biological filtration.


So it's just a wall of concrete that will raise you pH, no other positive effect really. But if you like the look of it and don't mind sticking to species that like a high pH, go for it.

 

[haunted-havoc]

unfortunately my tank is already stocked with fish that dont go well with high PH. oh well nothing gained nothing lost