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Old 02-15-2011, 02:40 AM
MicroTankin MicroTankin is offline
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Default DIY Rock (oystercrete) curing??

So I once again have a question for the knowledgable people of CanReef. I made a bunch of Oystercrete this summer and put it in a tub for about 2 months changing the water about once a week. In hind-sight the water to rock ratio may have been to low but by the time summer ended there was no more scum building up on the surface. I then kept the dry rock inside till about 3 weeks ago when I started curing it again (changing the water every day or so). I can test my water at ph of 7 or so and my rock has now been holding steady at 8 for a week. I recently let if go 3 days and tested everyday and it is holding at 8. My question is will all the oyster shells in my rock bring the ph above the 7 of the tap water a bit? I think the rock is done curing... My ratio is about 3.5 parts shell, 1 part sand, 1 part cement. Extremely porous. I can pour water right through the rocks. I am thinking they have cured because of this article: http://www.oystercrete.com/Journal/?p=74 I think due to the time it have spent in water and low cement ratio, I am hopeing it is good to go!!
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Old 02-15-2011, 03:01 AM
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test for Phosphates and then run some Phosban through a reactor
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Old 02-15-2011, 03:37 AM
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if you did it in such a small ratio of cement.
i would break a rock in half and place it back in water and again test for ph.
of course after testing it for Phosphates.
good luck,hope all goes good.
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Old 02-15-2011, 04:49 AM
MicroTankin MicroTankin is offline
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Ya I will test for phosphates, and I have tried breaking a rock and it did not change the ph so... I will give it one more week and then see how things go. It is going into its own tank and I am going to seed it...so I am not worried about it ruining a established system, thanks for the advice
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Old 02-15-2011, 06:42 AM
wolf_bluejay wolf_bluejay is offline
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Default try a bit of salt

when I did a bunch ages ago, I found that after the PH stabilized out in fresh water it would spike again in salt.
I would add some salt to the water (if you want to be cheap, just use rock salt) and watch the PH again. Mine spike up to 11 after adding in the salt, and took about 2-3 weeks to come down again.
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Old 02-15-2011, 07:01 AM
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Come to think of it, years ago i had the same problem as Wolf_bluejay.

Quote:
Originally Posted by wolf_bluejay View Post
when I did a bunch ages ago, I found that after the PH stabilized out in fresh water it would spike again in salt.
I would add some salt to the water (if you want to be cheap, just use rock salt) and watch the PH again. Mine spike up to 11 after adding in the salt, and took about 2-3 weeks to come down again.
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