Thank you so much! My first attempt at making some LR was a huge failure but your video showed me exactly what I was doing wrong. I put way too much water the first time, I had no idea you could use so little water. I have my rock sitting in sand now and I'm gonna give it the weekend to harden up. Your video is the best I've found.

Saw a recent video where they conducted tests on different sizes/densities of oyster shell for biocolonization and the smaller the better, so well crushed shell is the best option. And the best mix ratio they found was: 1 part water 2 parts portland cement 6 parts oyster shell

All these years later and this video is still great ... too bad he never made any more videos ..

I make my rock in the spring right before I open my pool up then I just put all the rock I made in the swimming pool. Does 2 jobs for me. Cures the rock and keeps my pool PH up so I don't have to buy PH up for my pools. The chlorine doesn't hurt the rock. Then at the end of the summer I take it out, soak it in some bleach water just to make sure no algae survived on it. Then wash it and let it dry outside for a few days.

Best looking rock of any of the videos I have watched on the subject. Nice job. I never would have thought you could make it so loose and porous like that.

I've made about 100 lbs of this for my new 90 gallon tank. It took about 3-4 months for my ph to stabilize. I'm slowly adding it to 50ish lbs of cured live rock from my 55 gallon tank thats been running for about 7 years. It is working flawlessly, pods have been seen living in the pores of the rock! Starting to get some purple coraline growth and looks amazing. I will say that it took several months in the tank for the stark white to get some color to it.

Thanks, that's the reason I made the video (after watching 100's of them). I'm not into making videos, just wanted to cut out all the fluff! Any questions just email me Tenneseevols (at) suddenlink (dot) net , Subj "Live Rock"

Great method! My suggestion for curing smaller rocks is to put them in the reservoir of the most used toilet in the house. Multiple water changes everyday could possibly take it down to 2 weeks.

Easy and beautiful! Thanks a million for this! I'm gonna try this.

Thats beautiful, very crafty. It has a nice natural sea look to it.

Very cool! It's inspired me! Thanks for sharing.

@alexrex20 Thank you Alex, most the videos I saw were too long with too much information stretched out over 2 or 3 videos, so with a little video editing I wanted to make one that was to the point and easy to grasp, for for some reason the pop-ups I added via You Tubes video editor do not show unless viewed via a computer? Anyways, thank you for the comment.

Awesome video--you made it look so easy. I can't wait to try

Neat stuff! I see myself making this stuff soon.

@mgkdcx As far as the salt goes; The large rock salt crystals for water softeners seems to be the best, I tried using regular rock salt and the porousness of the rock was not good enough. I am not sure how important the ratios (like 3-1-2) are, I found the ratio of 3-1.75-2 worked well with the type of oyster shell, cement, large rock salt I was using, the important part is that the rock will not fall apart after 36 hours of curing, the large rock salt will help insure the porousness.

this is how the ecological live rock is made ,verry good ,informative video

wow..awesome diy video!!!! thanks for info sharing

This was a great video! BUT, I was wondering about measurements and ratio of cement to ;oyster shell, as well as water... Narration would have made this video even better. I'm going to try this out because I have a good idea how to build what I want for my new tank now... THANKS!!!

I could be wrong as I'm new to this, but I think the idea is to leach out the basic minerals to a stable point. "Hungry water" (soft or distilled) would do this best/quickest. Could switch from distilled to something not so hungry (harder) towards the end (like after 6 weeks?). Still though, I'm ignorant, is it the cement that's causing the pH rise? Nah, must be the oyster shells, right? Or both? Why are we even using material that alters pH?

best video I found on the topic!!

@jjamontan Eventually, I have a millions of things going on right now, my tank is coming along fine, I will post a follow up video as soon as I can. Sorry for the lack of a follow up video, I can't believe I even have time to write this :)

dang dude perfect, and thanks for help saving the reefs and ocean from being cut up and ripped off, gonna make some of these for sure. thank you! SUB

Nice job. Straight, to the point, no b.s.. I will be trying this myself soon. Thanx.

VERY nice. This looks better than the man-made rock I bought from someone. It was more of a grey color, but I like this color, more of a white color. I will definitely be trying this.

Love this video.......... has anybody had this type of live rock in there aquarium for more than 2 years........... my concern is any type of leaching from the cement into the water......... I have a saltwater tank with some corals and I would love to move some of my live rock into my sump and use this type of live rock for my decoration in the main tank............thnxxxxxxxx

Wow, it took me much longer for a cure, good job!

that's a great tip!!! there is no wasted water and it gets the job done... i only wish they made toilet tanks big enough for my 3D cement backgrounds...

@Itsiebit I watched many video's on youtube, tried a few of them, with terrible results, so after a few trials and errors I came up with this recipe and decided to make a simple vodeo showing what I had learned.

why it's called live? it grows? all I see is cement holds the shells

@polievets1- I take small pieces of live rock that are covered with the types of coralline algae I desire, take a small bowl of tank water and with a small knife and do scrapings of the coralline algae into the bowl. After you are finished sprinkle the scrapings over the man made liverock an it will greatly facilitate the growth of coralline algae over the new man made rock, you will have to dose with the normal calcium and other suplimates.

Nice !! video, definitely will try do the same I need rock for my 65 gallon, prices are ridiculous so this will help who's play that music? Very cool sound .....

They bgm gave me thrills

Good video.... Just one question... Does it hold kh in the reef stable cuz I know some people who are struggling to keep it above 5 dkh using that type of rock

oh man, where have you been all my life?

For Oyster shell.. look for a farm feed store in your area. For White Cement look for a White Cap supply store.. HD or Lowes will most likely not have it... solar salt can be found at lowes or the Farm and feed store

Im gonna try it, but using beetroot juice to give it a purple color

I will, as long as it is cured well. :)

thanks for taking the time to make this video. this is the best DIY Live Rock video on youtube. :)

good job

If you watch it on a PC it will show everything I think you are wanting, for some reason it does not show the words I typed with youtube video editor on mobile devices or tablets ?

I am not really sure, I don't know what ingredients make quickrete Portland cement different from normal Portland cement, but I do know that the white portland cement make a nicer looking rock than the grey portland cement. Does the quickrete come in white?

i used quikcrete and aquarium gravel.To make the caves and tunnels i used the sand i was casting with. I had pretty good results after a couple tries and After two weeks with two water changes a day. the ph level is below the level of my marine aquarium and is about the same as tap water.

Nice work 👏

hello I am new in KZfaq and I like you channel and video

I could not find white Portland cement when I made my rock. So when it's wet, it looks like grey cement. But whiteish when dry. I really hope coraline grows fast over all of it.

Excellent Video John. I'm thinking of setting up a tank and was just wondering....once the PH is normal, If I went with 80% DIY stuff and 20% cured live rock, could I put this straight into the tank along with the bit of cured live rock and would it then gradually become proper live rock and filter the tank as normal?

seen a few like this others state you need special sand for the mould, what did you use please?

@macmainuk I think only african cichlids could handle the PH of the water with the crushed oyster shell, in fact my son's 90 gallon african cichlid tank has the same crushed oyster shell as the bedding.

Sir very beautiful

I picked up my large rock sale at the Home Depot in the water softener isle.

Is it likely any calcium from the shells get into the water through the cement?

#1 I believe he's talking about the salt that you'd buy at Lowes or Home Depot or a hardware store or from a water treatment specialist. It's salt that is used to treat tap water, more common in places where a lot of people still use well water. #2 is YES because you are curing the Portland cement, not the oyster shells or crushed coral

No actually, it looks just like regular live rock, this way of making it really looks natural, the coralline algae from the natural live rock is starting to cover the man-made live rock, I am very happy with it.

Good video nice music too

Thanks for this video. I’m going to be trying this very soon. Maybe I’m going to add some beach sand or crush coral to the recipe. Question, I notice that you mention the water quality is the key for the time of curation. I have a water purification system in my house (we have a big problem with hard water in my county). That means no chlorine and lower PH (on the 7.35 - 7.45 range). Can this means that my rocks will cure faster?

The high PH is from the cement not the salt. The salt dissolves to form a more porus surface. There is no way around the 30-90 day curing you just have to be patient

Very cool

very real... good job!!!😎

I thought you couldnt use cement for aquariums

Why did you use salt? Does it makes any significant changes to it?

Yes most defiantly can, just more expensive.

Regular coarse salt would work? Or its got to be this for water softners?

Just be patient young skywalker :)

i dont know i just searched for Portland cement on home depot website since that is where i usually go to get stuff. Ill have to check the store for white then. The difference is only color correct? only Portland cement is useable? no multi-purpose?

I was shocked that you used your bare hands to mix this - please use rubber gloves>>>

Is it music from "Fargo" ?

I will try it then. Do you have to use white portland cement?

No, the ice would mess up the concrete mix. You would have a concrete puddle :)

What's the point of the salt? To increase porosity once it dissolves out?

Is the white cement safe for fish?

What kind of sand for mold? Can i used ordinary sand? Like used in building house

@mgkdcx As far as the sand goes, I could not figure out what benefit would be obtained by adding the sand, if your rocks turn out better with sand than without please let me know. I would cure the rock in a spare tank or large trash can, with frequent fresh water water-changes, check the PH of the tap water from your water supply, when the curing live rock no longer effects the PH and the PH is back to original tap water; your rock is cured, this usually takes about 90 days.

Pardon my ignorance, as I don't understand the word, curing, nor anything about cement, and I'm quite new to all this... When you speak of curing the cement, do you mean that it is the cement which leaches basic minerals that cause the pH spike? I thought oyster shell or crushed coral would also leach such things... It does, doesn't it? Is it that the cement's affect on pH is just so much greater that we ignore the other elements?

Very cool. How does it affect the water chemistry?

77Hi John, first of all that's for the info I make about 100 pounds of rock using your recipe. Some of the rocks came out awesome , most of the others were pretty nice also. Anyway I was wondering how often you changed the water. My rocks have been curing 3 months and the ph is still through the roof. I change the water 3 times a week.

With Chichis, yes.

Any idea how to start life on that rock I mean what steps after PH is OK just put in aquarium? any additives like may be algae spores or ... I am kind of new in that aquarium business Thanks!

Have you tried use any reef sand or aragonite?

Hey! great video, simple! quick question (for saltwater tank). I can't find the Water softener salt. All places i ask think i'm nuts. What is it? Can i substitute it with aquarium Red Sea Salt or anything? #2- If i use crushed coral do i still have to cure it?

I had a friend the lives over in another county and his took 9 months! The water where I live allowed me to do it faster, but no matter where you live... it will cure, just be patient :) How is it coming along now?

Once this is put in the aquarium and frags added to it, will it look like real live rock (not look bleached)

Add some permanent color to the mix and let it cure and I'm buying lol

Hi, can this be coated with epoxy / fiberglass resin or such? 60 - 90 days wait, then still possibility PH is through the roof??? Thx

and i got my oyster shells form ebay bc i dont have a feed store that cares wht i need where else can i get it

I made some of this rock with same recipe and everything and 6 months later it's still at high ph, did a ton of water changes w/ strong power head in the container.. Not sure what I did wrong but I was disappointed =/ Really expected to have my larger tank running by now.

after about 6 months in the tank you will have no problem with the color.

Well... i have a question and a problem... i did those rocks with white cement, coral sand and, dead coral, and some salt BUUT... the place where i did it with sand fucked me literally. When i take the rock out all these sand were hooked ON MY ROCK ! how can i take all these sand from my rock ?!?!?!? it's hooked with the cement.... HELP PLEASE !

wht is the best way to do this. bc im going to start my saltwater tank when i can get rid of my fire belly toad. can i put the rock in my tank after it gets done drying

why we had to use oster shell/can we use some thin else ??

so does the salt just dilute and makes porous rock?

do i have to use crushed coral or oyster shells or can i use something else bc i can not find any of that any where i live

mine has been in my tank for over a year and you can not see the difference between it and other added live rock pieces.

I can't find white Portland cement, I live in Charlotte NC, any ideas where I can look besides Lowe's or home depot? Thanks

Can crushed Coral be used instead of crushed oyster shells?

can this recipe be used in fresh water setup without salt

how does the concrete not fill in the holes of the porous shells?

I will have a new reef aquarium so far this its a good way to safe some money on live rocks , but do we have to use salt water to cure them or can I use Ro water to ?

How do you keep the sand in the mold from sticking to the rock/cement?

where do they sell oyster shells? especially in a bulk bag...

How does it look in the tank? Like any other live rock or does it stand out a bit?