Anyone using homemade live rock in their tank?

[dc5842]

So I'm new to the hobby and in an effort to save some initial $$ I have tried to make my own rock in my garage. It's a portland cement, rock salt, and oyster shell mix. I have about 40-50 lbs so far and it is curing in water which I change out about once a day or so. The salinity is 0 now and I'm just waiting for the PH to level out. I have a couple of questions for those of you with more experience than myself.

Has anyone made all their own rock before and started a tank with success? Is making my own rock something that's going to end up hurting my tank in the future, costing more money, time, and frustration than it's worth? If this is something that can be a success, can I start the tank with the rock I have currently (40-50 lbs for a 120 gallon) and as I get more add to it since it shouldn't add any bioload to the tank because it's not actual live rock?

Any help and pointers you guys can offer is very much appreciated. I'm excited to get started with this hobby but I don't want to mess anything up.

[Timfish]

Yes it can be a success. This is a tank I had to build in place and used white portland for the rock wall. The wall is about 2/3 portalnd with limestone rock and coral frags with crushed coral and shell worked into the surface. What's interesting is this tank had very good coraline algae growth. I would clean off a spot on the acrylic and a week later there would be a 1/4" diameter circle, the only supplements were CaribSea's Purple Up and Aragamight. The tank sat with freshwater in it for about 3 months while construction in the condo was finished. When I started it up I used about 50 lbs of live rock and live sand and didn't see any ammonia or nitrite and the pH and alkalinity always stayed high.

[dc5842]

That's good to hear. I went to a LFS the other day, won't say who, and they brought me down on my idea to make my own rock. Said my fish would all die and that he wouldn't even sell me fish if I went this route. I'm glad to hear that someone else had some success with it. Do you think it's ok to add more rock as it cures to an existing setup? I'm excited to get started and would love to use the 40-50 lbs I have to start my 120 but not if it's going to cost me later. Thanks for the post. Made me feel much better. Anybody else experimenting with their own rock?

[JasonJones]

I would be interested in hearing who that person is because they are flat wrong (I have my guesses). My tank is run with all DIY rock and I think the tank is doing pretty well.

There is a thread in this forum and one in the DIY forum discussing DIY rock and rock walls.

[theresa]

2+ for Jason, I am doing the same and having no trouble. I have two rocks in my tank now for the past three months everything is doing well. I am now waiting for my new tank with the rock wall to cure, very excited about getting it reef ready. Please look at the DIY. If you should want to build some rocks or rock wall, I have the stuff and welcome to come over and make rocks.