AQUARIUM DRYROCK TOO EXPENSIVE? : try these DIY ROCK shapes!! 

I must admit I didn’t get to finishing that video. I referenced it, in a Palau video, as I pulled the rocks out, but probably should go back and rectify that

Cheers Gil Not my original idea , but I’m happy to steal it!

Thanks Pseudechis I think once they are incorporated into the aquascape I have in mind. They’ll perfectly blend right in

That’s fantastic! Well done. A couple of tips: if you used true live sand, the bacterial life may die off from the cement, or the freshwater soak. I guess you could do a saltwater soak, but if you’re using artificial seawater, it might cost a bit, as you need to dump and refill the soaking tub, every few days initially. If you live by the coast or a saltwater river, you could find a secluded safe spot and put the rock in a crate with a rope to soak. That would maintain the bacterial load, and season it with wild strains. I did that at my local marina

You’re very welcome, I’m glad you got something out of it

Thank you for checking the video out!

Mate I’m excited to start this build. I just got the official go ahead from my wife this past weekend!

That’s the go David! Give it a go. My best advice is to be eratic with your application of the mix…. It’ll give a more natural look

You’re welcome! Have a crack, it’s really easy to do.

Thanks Tony Are you going to have a go at it?

Go for it. If you think you want to try something new, just do it. Life’s too short to not have some fun!

Thanks for your support! Where abouts are you in this little world of ours?

@@australianaquarist the East Coast of the USA. North Carolina.

I thought you may have been in the USA! It’s a great thing how RU-vid connects people across the big ponds!

@@australianaquarist most definitely. I love it. I have family in Australia actually though. Have yet to make a trip there though. One day for sure.

@queencityreefs only 18 hours on a plane, and then free accommodation! Where are your family living?

I thought you were going to offer them to me for a sec!!

@@australianaquarist I've had many ask me for it in the past, have you ever tried pumice stone? I've used it as a filler before, I know there is a lot of that down that way, I know how hard it can be to get coral these days, it took me a long time to collect it up, I used to know a bloke in whole sale that would give me all the left overs cheap he was local to me so I would forever hit him up, it's amazing how much you can use in a large setup.

Yes. Many years back I used this in my tanganikan cichlid display. Just soak the rock in freshwater, and keep changing the bath water until the pH drops to 8.4 ish. It’ll be over 9 at first. Alternatively, I’ve put rock in a freshwater creek nearby to leach excess hydroxides- no need to for water changes.

I generally soak them for minimum of a month/ which has correlated generally with the time duration of my tank construction. I did once use them only after 2 weeks soaking , and didn’t see any noticeable pH spike in the system, though it was a 1500 litre water volume. In regards to weight…. I guess it depends on the amount of perlite you use. I haven’t weighed them , but as an idea, a rock the size of a shoebox, I can easily lift with one hand. I recently installed them into my new giant build and fixed them to the support structure at only one or two points. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rytE6OBH4aQ.htmlsi=hAwpllYC5_QSKUX9 So far non-obvious negative effects. I did a bit of reading on perlite, and when found that it is used in beer filtration, I felt that it should be safe for use ! Cheers

Thanks for the info! I’m playing with the idea of a “floating” scape for my next tank and researching ways to make it light e long to float off the back glass

@ReefDudes nice! I feel that you would be only limited by the strength of the magnets, used to secure the rocks to the back ( if that’s your approach). Ideally you would have a way to mechanically fix the rocks to the rear wall, but of course, this is the limitation of glass aquariums. Some sort of internal “ false” wall made from acrylic or pvc, would allow epoxy bonding the rock to the wall, however then you’ve got the issue of bonding the false wall to the actual glass wall behind it. Possibly, strategically counterbalancing the projected lightweight rock, with heavier pieces low and somewhat counter weighted to the rear direction, would be simpler, but not quite the “floating “ aesthetic.

No , not really. As long as your source water isn’t crazy in heavy metals or phosphate, I don’t see a problem. Of course, water with a high pH would reduce the ability of it to leach the excess hydroxides out of the rock, however that is rare in Australia ( maybe South Australia?). The cement was just the Off White cement from Bunnings.

I’m in Coffs Harbour NSW

I looked into perlite, and naturally there’s no mention of its use in aquariums. It is however used in beer filtering, so being food safe I decided to give it a go.

Hey Kyle I have thought about the colour oxides in the past, which are synthetic iron oxides, but I’ve been worried about heavy metal contaminants and so haven’t gone further. I find the biofilms, sponges and coralline colours the rocks up naturally, fairly quickly anyhow. Is it for freshwater or saltwater , that you are thinking about?

Hi Flipper Yep, I’ve done that method also. The only downside is that they aren’t porous, and don’t contribute to the biological stability of the filtration. I’ve also found that urchins, bristleworms, blennys, pufferfish, triggers , etc take chunks out of the foam. The rocks then start to look shabby and degrade as water penetrates the closed cell structure. I use the spray foam to help when holding rocks in aquascaping and to fill voids around caves etc. I think the spray foam method would be ok in many freshwater setups, without plecos etc

@@australianaquarist thanks for the reply and the information.

Absolutely. You still need to leach the excess hydroxides out of the rock, by soaking it in freshwater (rinse and repeat) for a few weeks. Test the pH of the bath water, and when it comes down ( from around 9 initially) to 8.2-8.4 - Malawi vs tanganika) it’s good to go

I buy them from my rural supply store- either elders or Norco. You could find shell grit at private pet stores, perlite is at Bunnings but only in small bags, and coarse rock salt at the supermarket. Obviously it’s cheaper and the bags are bigger if you go through something like a rural store.

Do it John Do you have a LFS in Alice that can get stock in for you?

@@australianaquarist unfortunately not, but I can get fish sent down from Darwin