Creating your own ceramic frag rocks?

[MikeyZo]

My wife is a HS art teacher and as such, has access to a massive kiln. Has anyone ever tried making their own frag rocks for their tank? If so, what do you use that’s reef safe?

 

[tbrown]

I haven't done this with ceramics but I made the majority of the rocks in my current and previous tanks using aragonite sand and Portland Cement. The process is called Aragocrete.

 

[tbrown]

 

[MikeyZo]

I haven't done this with ceramics but I made the majority of the rocks in my current and previous tanks using aragonite sand and Portland Cement. The process is called Aragocrete.

Does that need to be kiln dried or just cured on its own? Do you need to do anything else to it or is it reef safe from the get go?

 

[tbrown]

Does that need to be kiln dried or just cured on its own? Do you need to do anything else to it or is it reef safe from the get go?

It needs to be cured. There are several walk-throughs online for it. I have a thread I started on here.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/aragocrete-egg-crate-hybrid-diy-frag-racka.976153/
I have a "normal" walk-through on my old build thread, this one is for racks made with Aragocrete and egg crate but the process of making Aragocrete is still the same.

You make it, let it dry for 24-48 hours, soak in freshwater with changes until pH stops rising/spiking, and then you can either plop it in your tank or soak it in aged saltwater to get some bacteria and pods started.