125 - Took Forever But Here It is!

tbrown · Nov 15, 2023

Aragocrete/Egg Crate hybrid DIY Frag Racka

So I started an experiment! I have made some Aragocrete rocks in the past and they're doing swell. I made an Aragocrete cover for my PVC return pipe inside the tank and it's also doing swell. However, there have been some recent discussions about frag racks and I have several egg crate light...

www.reef2reef.com

Fish Styx · Nov 15, 2023

tbrown said:
Ok, at @rmorris_14 suggestion of lots of horrible pictures, I decided to go ahead and make another Aragocrete Rack for up to 3 Bowers or 3 of my Blastos or whatever I decide - maybe Favia or something? Ok, enough delay - pictures and instructions!

I started with a piece of egg crate lighting diffuser and cut a piece big enough to hold what I want:

Then, using a heat gun I heated the egg crate at the points I wanted to bend and bent the legs at a 90⁰ angle (don't over heat the egg crate or it will warp, don't under heat it or it will crack while bending):

Next, I added a base of moist aragonite sand (not soaking wet, not dry - just enough to stick together) to the curing container so that it will touch the base of the rack, placed the rack in the sand and filled in around the edges for where I want the Aragocrete to be and add the dowels:

Next I clean the old, dry Aragocrete out of the mixing bucket (set aside for later projects!), added about a cup each of Portland cement and aragonite sand and mixed well:

After mixing well I add water a little at a time - you want the consistency to be chunky but stuck together good - not enough water and it'll be crumbly, too much and you'll have pudding with no texture on the rack. I then add some water softener salt (smaller pieces make smaller "craters", bigger pieces bigger "craters") and mix thoroughly, then coat the exposed egg crate:

Now, the work is basically done so I remove the dowels and cover the rack with moist aragonite sand fully at least an inch over the top, replace the lid on the curing container, and wait 24-48 hours for it to dry enough to handle (this picture is VERY important):

Usually, after 24 hours I'll go ahead and pull the finished project out to air dry for a couple of days before putting it in a bucket of water to start the leaching process.

Even if this was TLDR, at least it had some pretty (ugly) pictures!

M O I S T....

Fish Styx · Nov 15, 2023

tbrown said:
Yeah, Paul messaged me. So stoked!

What did you win?!

stoney7713 · Nov 15, 2023

tbrown said:
It's linked in my first post.

This is the frag racks I made with egg crate and Aragocrete.

Build Thread - 125 - Took Forever But Here It is!

Yep. I told her that the box is full of live animals. She said I can expect it tomorrow. I said "What good is a box full of dead animals?" Exactly. I've had those conversations with shippers. One of the reasons i hate ordering.

www.reef2reef.com

Like I ever look at first posts! LOL

tbrown · Nov 15, 2023

Fish Styx said:
What did you win?!

$50 to Lakeside Reefer. He's got some crazy cool corals.

Fish Styx · Nov 15, 2023

tbrown said:
$50 to Lakeside Reefer. He's got some crazy cool corals.

Nice. Congrats!

Slocke · Nov 15, 2023

Duh duh duh duh deduh duh deduh….

F i s h y · Nov 15, 2023

Fish Styx said:
M O I S T....

Twss

tbrown · Nov 15, 2023

Slocke said:
Duh duh duh duh deduh duh deduh….

The Electric Daisy is going to cover that front leg soon.

Reeflix · Nov 15, 2023

Slocke said:
Duh duh duh duh deduh duh deduh….

I still don’t see it

rmorris_14 · Nov 15, 2023

F i s h y said:
Twss

billyocean · Nov 15, 2023

Fish Styx · Nov 15, 2023

Reeflix said:
I still don’t see it

Reeflix · Nov 15, 2023

tbrown said:
My actual view this morning. See the deer?

No? Unfortunately neither do I...

Just like everyone else, I sat here and zoomed in on the photo for about 10 minutes before giving up and then seeing the “no? Unfortunately neither do I”
And going “omigosh I’m so dumb”