aragocrete experiments

so we decided to start messing around with some aragocrete recipes as it seems everyone has a differnt opinion of consistency.just messing around at first getting a feel of the stuff.first some rocks then some frag plugs then maybe some whole aquascapes.
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if you do this and have yet to experience cement on your hands for long leriods of time i recomend gloves.
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this time i used some old fine crushed coral for this mixture along with some portland cement and made sure that the coral was evenly coated and a ratio close to what i have heard works well.i wanted to use some crushed oyster shell but i didnt have any this time around.
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here the hamstern and i have the remaining mixture shaped into a face wich i am sure will be decorated apropriatly with coral.

most of thermstion i have gatherd says to make a mixture of apropriatly sized crushed coral with portland cement at a ratio of 5-1 or 4-1 and add oyster shell to acheive the desired consistency.after shapes are made and the cement is alowed to sure slightly the pieces are taken out and rinsed of any excess residues and unstable sand or rck then alowed to dry.after the dry they then need to be cured in water for over a month sometimes two.this is achieved by changing the cement saturated water every day or two during that time.i would imagine that this time frame of changing water could go a day or two more if the curing resivour was of a larger volume.then after the long curing process and after the PH is no longer fluxing from the aragocrete then it is good to go into the tank.
its quite the process.

looks cool, I bet the initial curing could be sped up a bit by a rinse with vinegar. the weak acid will etch the cement a bit, probably speed things up?

my wife did a big project at work a few years ago trying to design a concrete that withstood constant exposure to acid, so that's why I think acid would eat at the cement a bit.

i will see if they have some vinegar at the $ store as this probably will speed up the curing process.i should try two buckets one without vinegar and see if it is worth it.i am also wondering what the excess water will do to the plants long term.i will try it on a patch of plant life before i use it as a water for my yard.i am presuming before hand that it will cause some death from the alkalinity.

check out our frag plugs...pretty cool.we will make some with a differnt mold later but for now i want things to be as cheap and ghetto as possible.just gonna cover em in coral anyways
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This is very cool. I wonder is there any way you can make those magnet frag mounts that they sell and do they scratch acrylic? How long until you think they are cured?

from waht i have read it can take a month or more to fully cure.i am thinking i am going to do the tiolete method of flushing them or leave em in the rain might work better. as fara s the magnets go i dont see why i couldnt make some but i would think they would scratch acrylic but not glass.not too sure yet.i need to find some cheap powerfull magnets wich from my understanding those two things in conjunction dont exist.

Well in any case i can't wait to see some coral on those frag plugs.