Aragacrete questions (3 Viewers)

[ichthyogeek]

I've been looking into making my own reef structures - the current structures I have just aren't doing the job I want them to do at this point. I don't work with cement. So to start:

https://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1661885

DIY Live Rock?

after some searching i found DIY LIVE ROCK....... now what is everyones opinion? I found that ......1 pt. white portland cement, 2 pts Crushed oyster shells, and 3 parts ROCK salt? What risks are involved with the rock salt? Is this a bad idea? Has anyone here done this? What risk is...

www.tcmas.org

sand from menards

is this the stuff that everyone has been looking for at menards? http://www.menards.com/main/building-materials/landscaping-materials/ground-cover-materials/white-play-sand/p-1934742-c-5648.htm

www.tcmas.org

I've been going off of these links. I think I have a basic recipe of 1 part portland cement, to 1 part perlite, to 2 parts aragonite/crushed coral by volume, adding water as necessary.

What I'm currently confused about, is the different types of Portland Cement. I do not need a 100 lb bag of cement. I do not want a 100 lb bag of cement. And it's hard to find a 50 lb bag of cement. I've found Tech-Mix's Portland-Limestone cement, and Type 1L cement, but I'm not sure if those are what I'm looking for. Would anybody know if Type 1L cement would work for making aragocrete?

Additionally, I'm confused: does adding salt to the mix of cement + perlite + aragonite actually make the rock more porous?

 

[asifiqbal2]

Adding salt does make it porous, the idea is once you soak it the salt melts leaving pores in the rock

 

[Jposch]

I have a small bag of stuff I got at menards thats white and has no sand in it. I'll take a Pic later today. Used it for making tiles and such until I found ceramic tiles cheap enough to not be worth the time. Cures much quicker than regular cement,

You can always tell man made rock from natural, so don't have high hopes there. Lol

 

[ichthyogeek]

I have a small bag of stuff I got at menards thats white and has no sand in it. I'll take a Pic later today. Used it for making tiles and such until I found ceramic tiles cheap enough to not be worth the time. Cures much quicker than regular cement,

You can always tell man made rock from natural, so don't have high hopes there. Lol

Eh, it's my aquariums, so I'm okay with it not being perfectly natural looking lol

 

[Jposch]

"Unsanded grout"
This is the only white cement I've found without randim sand mixed in. Of course, it'll color up wirh time, ao perhaps gray cement is fine as well for you. Either way, you'll need alot of water to cure completely. Alternatively, you can just soak in rodi, and add an acid, like HCL to keep the pH to around 8. Its done when the pH stops rising. Dont drop pH too low, or it'll dissolve and crumble. I found this method less wasteful and less work thatm changing the water daily with rodi. Tap water will "infuse" silicate, iron, lead, etc. Into the rock.