What cement do you use for rock structures?
- Thread starter Jhuneke
- Start date
as i have been researching some reefers have been using specific cement mixes with high success. some motar mixes are very toxic from what i have been reading. Also I would not add or recommend adding something into the tank without knowing for a fact it has finished leaching phosphates. were you testing your phosphates along the cure process before adding? I would love to invite you to our next meeting. Your input would be highly valued in our conversations.
I let the rock work cure in my garage for the time. When I added it to the tank I let it cycle for almost two months. Everything tested out fine. Even after adding livestock, PO4 and PH stayed in check. I'm currently monitoring everything, nothing has shown any signs as far as livestock is concerned. It really just is the algae, Diatoms specifically, which is silica based.
so you let it cure for two months in saltwater in your garage for two months then cycle for two months in your tank?
what made you decide that it was time to add it into your display tank? were you testing. From what ive been reading you have to test the curing process so that you can see it go up and down in phosphates and it can take up to 3 months.
what made you decide that it was time to add it into your display tank? were you testing. From what ive been reading you have to test the curing process so that you can see it go up and down in phosphates and it can take up to 3 months.
No, I let it cure dry, the information on the product stated it takes 30 days. I let it cure 60 days because I was in no rush to set up the build. Once I was ready I placed it in the tank and filled her up. I tested it at the one month mark and again just shy of two months, everything checked out. 3 months after that I began to see things change.
in my personal experience phosphates are not the issue, its the lime used in the cement that causes PH spikes. you need to let the lime leach out by curing it in water. a lot of water changes are needed to increase the concentration gradient to let it leach out better. the less lime in the current water the better it will pull it from the rocks, as the water holds more lime the water will not pull the lime out as fast because it is saturated already.
