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#1
02-15-2011, 02:40 AM
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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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Ben -Sometimes I wonder who is looking at whom through that glass?- 
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#2
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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180 starfire front, LPS, millipora Doesn't matter how much you have been reading until you take the plunge. You don't know as much as you think.
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#3
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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#4
02-15-2011, 04:49 AM
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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
__________________
Ben -Sometimes I wonder who is looking at whom through that glass?-
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#5
02-15-2011, 06:42 AM
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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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#6
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:
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#7
02-16-2011, 02:58 AM
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I did have them in salt about two weeks ago for about a week and no spike so I went back to freshwater curing. I am pretty sure they are cured because I have 2 batches curing in two seperate tanks and they have both been holding at 8 for weeks now....I am going to soak for one more week and start the tank up I think...see how it goes?
__________________
Ben -Sometimes I wonder who is looking at whom through that glass?-
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#9
02-17-2011, 04:29 AM
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i tried putting some of my diy rock that i thought was stabilized in my nano. not much just a bigger piece or 2. I had a powerhead incident that blew half the water out of the tank and the heater really heated up the remaining water and the ph went through the roof. back in the bin went the rock.
I wonder if cooking up the heat on it would speed up the ph leaching
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#10
02-17-2011, 05:53 PM
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It would be interesting to do an experiment and see if heat would affect the curing process. I am going to make some more rock this summer and I found a nice place in a creek where I can let it sit for a month or two and let nature do its worst to the rock then I plan on letting it dry cure in the sun for 2 weeks or so to let the sun bleach the rock even whiter and make it look more like dry reef rock.
However if you read this article (http://www.oystercrete.com/Journal/?p=74) they did not do any heat treatment ideas but the result of there study is that only water volume affects curing time.... Thanks again for all the imputs keep them comin.... I will keep this post updated as to the status of my rock and my findings as far as seeding.
__________________
Ben -Sometimes I wonder who is looking at whom through that glass?-
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