Quikcrete hydraulic cement

[SirReefa]

Heey..
I have been out of the Reef industry/Coral Propogation for some time now (but WAS 'The Heavyweight'), so MY INFO may be a bit 'out-of-date'.. But.. When necc. my 1st choice was the 'maleable' Putty (that came in a stick).. Several of the options available today actually harden under water & are totally 'inert'.. I have used a 'great deal' of hydraulic cement, but NOT IN the tanks.. I can say (without question), the BEST is UGL's 'Fast Plug'... A product in their 'Drylock' line.. I'm certain You can get all the info you need about this cement from UGL's customer service.. I can assure you that It's THE BEST hydraulic cement available tho..
Hope this helps a bit?..

 

[WetPets]

Nyos also makes a cement.

 

[WetPets]

For the stick epoxy I like the two little fishes one. It dries purple so it blends in pretty fast.

 

[jkopfishman]

I used it and made an awesome aquascape with it. It unfortunately crumbled apart after about a year and left a giant mess. DONT USE IT!!!

 

[WetPets]

That is good to know thank you i have not used it.

 

[Spitty]

I ended up using the Marco cement. It has held up well so far, 1.5 years under water.

 

[Buggs1972]

Thanks for that acrylic fortifier number. I may go this route, a heck of a lot less cost

Did you mix the fortifier with water? 50/50?

I have used quickcrete water stop hydraulic cement with quickcrete concrete acrylic fortifier (No. 8610) to mortar rocks together to create shelves and arches. I used it sparingly and as mentioned above it dries super fast so I only mixed enough for each joint 1 at a time.

Did you mix the fortifier with water? 50/50?

 

[ApoIsland]

Hi all, just wondering if anyone has used the hydraulic cement from Home Depot to aquascape? I’ve read that people have used it but I am unsure if it’s really safe. Any thoughts?

Quickrete Hydrolic cement does work just fine if you can actually hit the correct mixture with water. I still have rocks glued together with it 5-7 years later. Unfortunately I failed with the vast majority of mixtures I did and most of the cement crumbled between 3-9 months being in the tank.
A much much better product is thoro brand thorite rapid vertical cement (recently underwent name change) This stuff is basically idiot proof regarding the mixture. I have rocks going close to 10 years now with this stuff. Commercial aquariums also use it.

I cheaped out and tried the quickrete and really wasted a lot of time redoing rocks that fell apart.

The product that tops all cement though is expanding pond foam. I have been using great stuff brand for the last few years and will never go back. So much easier and cleaner. Also only have to let it completely dry for a day and you can put in tank with no ill effects. you should never put any concrete in your tank without curing in water for weeks or you will get a ph spike.

 

[cvrle1]

Quickrete Hydrolic cement does work just fine if you can actually hit the correct mixture with water. I still have rocks glued together with it 5-7 years later. Unfortunately I failed with the vast majority of mixtures I did and most of the cement crumbled between 3-9 months being in the tank.
A much much better product is thoro brand thorite rapid vertical cement (recently underwent name change) This stuff is basically idiot proof regarding the mixture. I have rocks going close to 10 years now with this stuff. Commercial aquariums also use it.

I cheaped out and tried the quickrete and really wasted a lot of time redoing rocks that fell apart.

The product that tops all cement though is expanding pond foam. I have been using great stuff brand for the last few years and will never go back. So much easier and cleaner. Also only have to let it completely dry for a day and you can put in tank with no ill effects. you should never put any concrete in your tank without curing in water for weeks or you will get a ph spike.

Thorite rapid vertical cement is now called MasterEmaco N 426. I believe that is exactly same what E-Marco 400 is, but just a lot cheaper. In terms of cement curing, thats not true for all cement. Quckrete hydraulic doesnt need cure time, and will not raise your ph. I used quikrete hydraulic cement on several pieces. Rock is cycling now, but it looks like bond was strong. I had a test piece and I couldnt break apart 2 pieces when I cemented them. I mixed it with water/fortifier solution. I also used fiberglass rods, so cement is more to hold rocks in place and not structural. I am hoping by not having weight applied to it, it will be fine and not cruble with time. Will see how it goes.

 

[ApoIsland]

Thorite rapid vertical cement is now called MasterEmaco N 426. I believe that is exactly same what E-Marco 400 is, but just a lot cheaper. In terms of cement curing, thats not true for all cement. Quckrete hydraulic doesnt need cure time, and will not raise your ph. I used quikrete hydraulic cement on several pieces. Rock is cycling now, but it looks like bond was strong. I had a test piece and I couldnt break apart 2 pieces when I cemented them. I mixed it with water/fortifier solution. I also used fiberglass rods, so cement is more to hold rocks in place and not structural. I am hoping by not having weight applied to it, it will be fine and not cruble with time. Will see how it goes.

Ha. Thanks for the info on curing quickrete. Good to know that not only did I waste a bunch of time building formations that eventually fell apart, I also wasted a month curing it

 

[cvrle1]

Ha. Thanks for the info on curing quickrete. Good to know that not only did I waste a bunch of time building formations that eventually fell apart, I also wasted a month curing it

I cant take credit for that info. I got it from @Flippers4pups who used quikrete several years ago and shared his info and findings

 

[Flippers4pups]

Yep, mine after 5 years is still strong and holding. Once again, with any of the cement mixes, I would still use fiberglass rods to strengthen the joints like I did.

Small batches at a time, has a working time of around 5 mins. Mixed to the consistency of wet mud. Work quickly with it and pack it between the rocks, fiberglass rod and all the nooks and crannies. Let it sit undisturbed overnight.

One thing to remember is the joints need to be good size in relationship to the rocks your joining. Small joints, more chance of fracture.

This is the support structure of the picture below with the red montipora growing on it.

 

[cvrle1]

Thats exactly what I did. I used driveway markers and then cemented pieces together. Most of the rods are deep enough in both rocks that the are really holding all the weight. Cement for me is more to keep rocks in same place and to cover gaps between the 2 pieces. There are 2-3 rocks that I didnt drill, as they were too small for rod to be inserted, so those are held by cement only.

Having read a lot of info that you provided on how you used Quikrete and rods really made this a lot easier job to do, so thanks for all the help, even though you didnt know you helped me out haha.

 

[sfin52]

@Paul B. Paul makes his own rocks. I'm sure he has some very useful insights

 

[ApoIsland]

Yep, mine after 5 years is still strong and holding. Once again, with any of the cement mixes, I would still use fiberglass rods to strengthen the joints like I did.

Small batches at a time, has a working time of around 5 mins. Mixed to the consistency of wet mud. Work quickly with it and pack it between the rocks, fiberglass rod and all the nooks and crannies. Let it sit undisturbed overnight.

One thing to remember is the joints need to be good size in relationship to the rocks your joining. Small joints, more chance of fracture.

This is the support structure of the picture below with the red montipora growing on it.

Thorite or N426 as they call it now is so strong there is no need for rods or any other support. I have heavy branching extensions that are almost 10 years old with that stuff. If the tank wasnt covered in coral I could send a pic. Thorite is a lot more expensive than quickrete and definitely reauires the long cure time but you have no chance of failure with that stuff.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Thats exactly what I did. I used driveway markers and then cemented pieces together. Most of the rods are deep enough in both rocks that the are really holding all the weight. Cement for me is more to keep rocks in same place and to cover gaps between the 2 pieces. There are 2-3 rocks that I didnt drill, as they were too small for rod to be inserted, so those are held by cement only.

Having read a lot of info that you provided on how you used Quikrete and rods really made this a lot easier job to do, so thanks for all the help, even though you didnt know you helped me out haha.

That's what it all about! Glad it worked for you!

 

[JohnMzreef]

I really recommend that you avoid hydraulic cement. I tried it and its not toxic but it starts to crumble apart and you will have to suction it out. Now hoping that my rock structure does not fall apart...
I really wish I had just spent the money for a product like marco cement.

 

[cvrle1]

I really recommend that you avoid hydraulic cement. I tried it and its not toxic but it starts to crumble apart and you will have to suction it out. Now hoping that my rock structure does not fall apart...
I really wish I had just spent the money for a product like marco cement.

It definitely does have steep learning curve, but I dont think we can say it just flat out doesnt work. As can be seen above it does work fine, but it is not as easy to work with as emarco N426 for example. Hardest part about it was getting right mixture and working in small batches fast. I had issues at 1st as I had to much liquid. Then I made too much of it, so more than 1/2 dried in my mixing bowl. There was definitly trial and error, but I think once you find that sweet spot, it works well. I am glad that I did use it, as I wasted a lot of it as well. I didnt care though, as cost was so small compared to E-Marco cement and other "aquarium" cements out there, and I had a lot of it as well. My test piece, I used hammer on, and I couldnt break 2 pieces appart. rock actually cracked in completely different spot and broke off, but cement held together. Time will tell if I made right choice, but so far so good.

 

[fishguy242]

thanks for the info all @Katrina71 .. @Scratch08..take a read here

 

[Scratch08]

It definitely does have steep learning curve, but I dont think we can say it just flat out doesnt work. As can be seen above it does work fine, but it is not as easy to work with as emarco N426 for example. Hardest part about it was getting right mixture and working in small batches fast. I had issues at 1st as I had to much liquid. Then I made too much of it, so more than 1/2 dried in my mixing bowl. There was definitly trial and error, but I think once you find that sweet spot, it works well. I am glad that I did use it, as I wasted a lot of it as well. I didnt care though, as cost was so small compared to E-Marco cement and other "aquarium" cements out there, and I had a lot of it as well. My test piece, I used hammer on, and I couldnt break 2 pieces appart. rock actually cracked in completely different spot and broke off, but cement held together. Time will tell if I made right choice, but so far so good.

I second the steep learning curve and mixing it in very small batches. I too wasted my first few batches from experimenting with consistency and drying times. When mixing my hydraulic cement, I used an acrylic fortifier/bonding agent mixed with water, 3:1 ratio water:fortifier. I dont have my structures in my tank yet, but they have been in a brute can with salt water for almost 2 months now, they are still holding strong. Time will tell but so far I'm happy with mine.