320g build/journey/experiment DIY :-)

[reefwars]

I really liked your homemade liverock idea and I'm gonna try it out over the next few weeks I'm going to gather up materials next week and you'll probably here from me asking what went wrong lol looking forward to love projects like this

[Greenmaster]

Originally Posted by lockrookie

be careful on "glueing" the rocks in place it makes for harder future aqua scaping. what some ppl do is drill holes in the rocks and ad plastic pegs to hold them in place then you can take them apart and move if need be in the future. i tried using frag putty to hold a few rocks in place as well and it doesnt seem to stick and just pops apart. most of my rocks are just carefully placed as to not cause a rock slide.

but since you are doing the waiting game set up a mock tank out of carboard or wood and pre plan your aquascape gives you time to get that litle bit of perfection without getting as wet

As I said if I have to I will glue... don't plan on it though... but I'm taking my rocks out tomorrow so I will have lots of time to try and figure out what I'm doing.

Originally Posted by reefwars

Large plastic tie straps work well with small pieces and mixed with acrylic rods for bigger pieces just drill some holes it's how I kept my eel from toppling over his mountain lair when I had him

I may use the tie straps and rods but I will see first how well I can stack them.

Originally Posted by reefwars

I really liked your homemade liverock idea and I'm gonna try it out over the next few weeks I'm going to gather up materials next week and you'll probably here from me asking what went wrong lol looking forward to love projects like this

I find making the rocks a blast... one thing to keep in mind is in my video I said 1 part cement I would not do it again with less then 1.5 parts.

[reefwars]

What did you find when using just one part? Is there anysize restrictions to rock or larger pieces just take longer to cure??

[Greenmaster]

Originally Posted by reefwars

What did you find when using just one part? Is there anysize restrictions to rock or larger pieces just take longer to cure??

Just one part would cure faster... I just found there wasn't enough strength. The rock with just one part tends to be flaky and weak (the outsides of the rock tends to flake off little by little... it's a pain)... 1.5 parts is about the sweet spot where it is still very porous and has enough strength. May take a little bit longer to cure but it's worth the wait.

[DCDN]

Cant wait to see this filled. Tagging along

[Greenmaster]

Originally Posted by DCDN

Cant wait to see this filled. Tagging along

Welcome aboard

So I was thinking (always trouble when I do that) solder is a pretty good conductor of heat... and it's a lot cheaper then thermal compound I'll just solder the pipe to the aluminum... so I attach all my pipe to the aluminum and all the corners, so I have a nice long single line... I start to solder and I solder the elbow to the small connecting piece then to the other elbow... seems a little difficult but I figure it's just cause I haven't done it in a very long time... then I try to solder the elbow to the long line... not happening... I keep trying anyways... after about 5 min of going "What the heck!" I figure it out... (most people know that to solder you need both pieces to be hot enough to melt the solder so it can "stick") Well it turns out that my aluminum heat sink works well with no solder or thermal paste as it wont let the pipe attached to it heat up enough to solder it. Now I'm going to have to take all the pipe off and solder it before re-attaching it. What a pain. oh ya and there will be no soldering the pipe to the aluminum. (live and learn... darn heat-sink works too well.)

[Greenmaster]

Here is my DIY rock in the ocean and laid out on my lawn.




The rock in her hands is the one she made

[delo978]

It's looking good can't wait to see it in person if you still need a hand to move it later give me a shout I'm just up in Comox by the Air Force base.

[Greenmaster]

Originally Posted by delo978

It's looking good can't wait to see it in person if you still need a hand to move it later give me a shout I'm just up in Comox by the Air Force base.

You bet... there isn't much to see at the moment though... I have a ton of work ahead of me. But I will definitely call you when I go to move the tank... a tank that weighs 1000lbs with about 100lbs of rock inside definitely needs many hands...(but they all need to not be underneath...)

[delo978]

lol want me to call on the airforce boys