Reusing crumbling DIY dry rock in a new batch

[saltwater guy]

So I made an attempt to make some DIY dry rock that seems to have come out a crumbling mess.I have some frag size pieces that will be ok. I'm wondering if I can use the crumbled sand/cement leftovers to be reused as part of the base for a new batch.Since it's aragonite and cement it should be ok as new filler.I used No salt in this batch and don't plan to use any in the next.Sound ok?

 

[tbrown]

So I made an attempt to make some DIY dry rock that seems to have come out a crumbling mess.I have some frag size pieces that will be ok. I'm wondering if I can use the crumbled sand/cement leftovers to be reused as part of the base for a new batch.Since it's aragonite and cement it should be ok as new filler.I used No salt in this batch and don't plan to use any in the next.Sound ok?

You can reuse it, yes.

What was your ratio? If it crumbled I'm wondering if you used too much aragonite and not enough cement. I mixed 1 part of each and then added some water softener salt crystals at the end right before adding to the curing container and let it cure for 24 hours in sand then another 24 to 48 in the open air.

 

[NVYCPO]

I have made my own in the past using white portland cement, crushed oyster shells, (and anything else you want like crushed shells, a little arogonite ect..) and mixed with water softener pellets. Mix and mold in a bin filled with wet pool sand and let cure. Once cured, let them soak in a tote filled with water using a power head to desolve the salt pellets. (need multiple water changes using fresh tap or RODI water).

 

[saltwater guy]

After looking on youtube and reading articles on R2R,I used about a 3 aragonite/Pellet size crushed oyster shell to 2 parts cement. I may have rushed extracting the "rock" a bit.After 5 days in the molds,things are looking better.I'm letting the rock air dry now because the rock was sitting in some water on the bottom. I'm pretty sure I got a little too much water in the mix as the rock slumped more than I wanted. I'm thinking of mixing up a small batch of the crumble with more aragonite and cement to stack these bits together to get more height to these leftovers.