Aquascaping with cement/mortor

ReefCheif

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#1
Im getting ready to re do my scape in my home tank and Im going with a fully branch / tonga style scape. Im wondering about scaping with mortor/cement, whats OK to use and whats not OK. Ive never scaped woth cement, ive never done a somewhat
floating branch scape either, haha.

Ive found nunerous brands of aquatic specific cement, most of which seems a bit over priced.wondering if i can buy something locally.
 

SynDen

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#2
I used white portland cement mixed with some crushed coral and reef sand for much of my scape. I still have quite a bit of it if you want some.
Once the cement is set you will need to soak in water for quite a while until the ph stabilizes though
 

ReefCheif

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#3
Ill let you know. Im trying to get ahold of the boss. I remember he recently did the scape in one of our big acrylic tanks and used cement, hoping we have some at the shop
 

SynDen

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#4
kewl ya I have plenty if you dont. I had bought 2 bags for my scape some time ago, but only ever used half a bag
 

ReefCheif

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#5
Right on, i cant recall seeing any around the shop at any point so Im sure ill be hitting you up. Thanks bro
 

DyM

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#6
I used the E-Marco 400 aquascape bonding kit. It dries much harder than the rock you're bonding. It's portland cement, fine sand together and a polymer bonder for the water. I felt it was worth the money.
 

TheRealChrisBrown

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#7
I used the E-Marco 400 aquascape bonding kit. It dries much harder than the rock you're bonding. It's portland cement, fine sand together and a polymer bonder for the water. I felt it was worth the money.
Interesting, did you use acrylic or fiberglass rods with it?
 

ReefCheif

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#9
I ended up deciding on a different direction. I actually built the scape outside the tank and surprisingly it’s incredibly stable. Im just gonna use putty for the accent branching pieces coming off the main structure. Ive read too much about these cements needing to be cured for a while to avoid any PH issues amd i jist dontnhave time for that.
 

DyM

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#10
Interesting, did you use acrylic or fiberglass rods with it?
No rods needed for how I set up. Kind of did what Josh mentioned - built the rock scape so most if it naturally fit. I wanted to ensure though since my tank was empty to cement rock sections together for long term peace of mind. I found the puddy breaks down after about 5 yrs; had an arch in my old setup and it fell apart a few times.
 

MuralReef

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#12
When I did the scape in the library I used the white acrylic rods from Plasticare. They were pretty thick like 3/8" and I use a 1/2" masonry bit to drill the rock. I didn't use any cement, epoxy, or other adhesives. The acrylic is flexible enough you could do an arch. I've seen others use them behind the arch and zip tie it to the rock to keep it in place. At least you would have added stability if the putty broke down and by then the unsightly zip ties would be covered with coraline algae. You could also order zip ties in a color specific to try and match the color of coraline or the color of your rock.
 
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