Aquascaping ideas....

I love aquascaping. Always looking for better different ways to make things look interesting. Talking with "Boomer" from Reef Central. He has roots in Duluth and frequently comes to our club meetings. What a wealth of information.

So I have been mulling an idea around for a while: collect chunks of limestone, many rocky bluffs in places as close as EuClare Wis, it has strata and comes naturally in convenient slices. Then drill, (it is very moldable) carve, and sand blast for caves and crevices and ledges. Assemble like lego with rods for support. Cycle normally, (I like to cycle in big tubs in the back yard during the summer sun)

My rock builds from a year ago went well. Matt is having trouble with his leeching ph, but mine are stable, nicely coated with Coraline and have done very well. As good or better than store bought. (I have roughly a 50/50 mix of home made vs. LFS.)

I also asked him about rocks collected from Lake Superior, he said "oh sure, that would be fine. Any iron in the rock would not be adequate to cause any kind of algae problem" (we discussed GFO vs iron in tap water) He cautioned get them very clean and cycle normally. I have gathered some nice rock bridge characteristic rocks but hesitated to use them.

Any ideas from the gallery?

For the record, that would be BOOMER saying "Oh sure, that'd be fine" to Lake Superior Rocks. I tend to say NO, no rocks you source yourself unless you know exactly what you're getting. Too much potential for problems in my opinion.

And yeah, my DIY rocks, same recipe as Nick's, won't cure

Just use BRS rock and dont worry about it.

give them an acid bath. that should kil everything other wise do lke andre said get some eco-rox from BRS

I don't trust anything in my reef that couldn't be found on the real reefs. DIY rock is a bit scary for me since it needs the cure times. Many have done it, but with BRS Eco-Rock I would never be able to justify the risk with such cheap rock out there...

If I had any input I would vote to keep the limestone from superior as far away as possible. You have no idea what is in that rock, especially if it was in the water near the shore. Just a risk I would not be willing to take.

+1 for BRS. They have nice shelf rock too which it sounds like you're looking for.

The Real Reef rock is "spendy" as folks say up here, but that's another option to consider. One thing I know about collected limestone is that not all limestone/coral skeleton deposits are equal...some will leach phosphates.

Marco Rocks, BRS Rocks...both are dry quarry sourced and have many, many happy customers.

My point is to sculpt the rock, Rather than using random pieces from whomever. I want to be able to sculpt and form specific formations.

Get the dry rock from BRS. Combine that rock with a dremel, epoxy, and acryllic rods and you can make just about anything... If you need it to be really sculpted, consider looking into making something out of ceramic. You can use the same techniquest as when building your own rocks with cement, but you'll need some sort of kiln to harden it...

Just ideas, but I'd still be against the limestone personally. But hey, there's people who are successful doing things many different ways so maybe it's fine...

Nick, there is a ceramic place on the west side when I drive from my place to Josh's...maybe they could fire stuff and be a source of acceptable materials?