DoucetteJ Posted April 4, 2015 Report Share Posted April 4, 2015 Hey guys and gals just thought I'd post a shot of my new tank setup. Custom stand build and diy rocks made out of plastic cups and styrofoam covered in Hydraulic cement with black cement die. I'll be putting in hopefully some african cichlids, mostly peacocks and haps and maybe some yellow labs, not sure yet. Cheers, Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted April 4, 2015 Report Share Posted April 4, 2015 Looks good. I know of using standard cement for our hobby but never heard of using hydraulic. Will the admixtures leach into the water or is it a stable product even if the water will be slightly acidic - slightly basic? Some of the hydraulic manufacturers even list their admixtures as propriotary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoopkamol Posted April 4, 2015 Report Share Posted April 4, 2015 Think hydraulic will up ph slightly. With Africans shouldn't be an issue. Only thing I'd worry about is possible leeching of other chemicals. Never used hydraulic before either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoucetteJ Posted April 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 I've heard of people using it for their diy backgrounds... So far seems the PH went up a bit.... no fish yet so not sure if anything lethal is leaching but I do see what looks like mold leaching off of it... rubbing it with my finger it seems like it's a cloudy type thing.... seems to be like calcium type stuff... never did regular cement before so not sure if regular does the same... I have some older ones and some newer ones.. the older seem to have stopped this process the newer ones are just starting to leach. I'll let you know when I get a fish in there how they do... the PH though did not jump very high.. stayed below 9 and is now around maybe 8.0/8.2 I heard others have used hydraulic with success and only a few days leaching time vs weeks/months.I'll post if fish I add die off haha hopefully they don;t, waiting for my ammonia to drop down before I add some.Jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psylant Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 I'd do tons of hugewater changes before I added anything to the tank. That's just me. Looks cool though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoucetteJ Posted April 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 (edited) I now have 5 acei in the tank and the ph has stabalized to around 7-7.5, that's with a 8h wait between tests... the fish seems fine other than being a little stressed since the tank is still cycling but they seem good So all in all it probably took about 2-3 days underwater to stop leaching ph... any extra rocks I make I'll stick them in a 5 gallon for a week before adding to the main tank.FYI I did do a bunch of 50% water changes for a few days in a row. Edited April 7, 2015 by DoucetteJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoucetteJ Posted May 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2015 (edited) Just an update on my tank. The rocks are doing good, no more leaching no weird side effects. Takes about 1 week of soaking in a rubbermaid to get the leaching out but then good to go. Here is a vid of the tank with my acei's in there and a egg tumbler with a bath of fry Only thing is the rocks are rough and as you can see some of my fish have scratches on their sides from rubbing into them accidentaly. Edited May 25, 2015 by DoucetteJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwhiskey Posted June 23, 2015 Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 How long did it take for them to cure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoucetteJ Posted June 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2015 about 1 week, water changes daily.... did some more and it took a week in a tub outside with water changes... cures faster with warmer water ie sitting in the sun... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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