Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I would like to drum up conversation about some other DIY subjects. We made our custom designed "aquascape" for our large reef to look like what we saw on a real reef while diving in Hawaii. Any one else tried or curious about getting away from the "rocks in a box" looking reef? We used regular cement, crushed oyster shell, and aragonite sand. There is a picture in the photo gallery area. The tank is fairly new yet and we are at the tail end of a dinoflagellate problem and haven't added our live rock until the dinos are gone (didn't use ro/di water in the beginning-big mistake). A slightly barren look right now but all the better to see the man-made rockwork.
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S. Chandler

I've thought about it, but I'm more of a plant guy myself. All that calcium in the cement would make me nervous. Also, I've mixed cement before, and smelled what seemed like ammonia. Maybe that'd help a tank cycle without fish... maybe it'd do nothing, or be a bad thing.

I'd reccomend cement DIY rockwork only for people who won't cringe at dropping a cinder block in their tank.

DIY, however, is always something I enjoy. If I ever do a hard water type tank, I'll probably start by decorating with a cinder block. LOL.

Till then, I'll stick with using silicon to make slate rockeries out of old trilobite fossils (what fun!)

Cement rock needs a long curing process before you should use it. We cured ours for 2 months in freshwater then again in Saltwater.
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S. Chandler

I would love to create a rock sculpture like that, but I have no idea how. My tank is freshwater. Also, is your tank a big L shape, or is it 2 diff tanks. Also, my turtles would be climbing on the rocks, is it pretty durable?