DIY frag disc, reusing old sand.

Mark2480 · Jan 26, 2017

Not to long ago I broke down my bio cube and figured well why throw away the sand. So I cleaned the sand up and decided to make some frag discs. I wanted a clean look to them so i went with just 2 parts fine sand and 1 part white portland cement. I found some silicone ice cube trays for $5 a pair and used different size Dixi cups as molds. After pouring in the mixture I added sand on top of the disc and let them set. Since I didn't need them I let them dry out and cured them for about three to 4 weeks. The ph was about 8 after 2 weeks but I was not in a rush so I let them sit. Anyway just wanted to share how they came out. Not bad for reusing something I was going to throw out and I guess I will not have to buy any for a long while.

Dragonreef202 · Jan 26, 2017

Very nice What's the first coral are you going to break in your new product with?

Mark2480 · Jan 26, 2017

Thanks. I just did this for fun really, but I have some encrusting corals that I like to put on the round disc. I will most likely give some away to the fellow reefers in my area.

Maddlesrain · Jan 26, 2017

Super cool!! I'm going to have about 100 lbs of old sand here soon, so maybe I'll give this a go. I like the idea of reusing, and these look great!

Pola0502ds · Jan 26, 2017

Can you share exactly what the curing process is? And do you literally just get portland cement and do a 1 part cement to 2 part sand mixture? I am going to have a ton of sand available soon and would like to do this.

Mark2480 · Jan 26, 2017

Pola0502ds said:
Can you share exactly what the curing process is? And do you literally just get portland cement and do a 1 part cement to 2 part sand mixture? I am going to have a ton of sand available soon and would like to do this.

Yes I just used 1 part white portland cement and 2 parts sand. The sand I had was fine grain but I have done this before with larger grain sand. With the larger grain sand the plugs will look a bit more textured. As for the curing I put them in a bucket with water and just change the water when I remembered to. Its better to do it once a day but I really didn't need them so i just did it whenever I was by the bucket. Depending on the ph of the cement and how many you do at one time it usually takes about a month for the disc to be cured. After the first 24 hours the ph in the bucket was 14, once they sit for a day and the ph does not go over 8 then to me there done. There are other ways to cure them but that's how I do it.

klesel · Jan 26, 2017

Very cool

Mark2480 · Jan 26, 2017

klesel said:
Very cool

Thank you.

domination2580 · Jan 26, 2017

What about phosphate?

Mark2480 · Jan 27, 2017

domination2580 said:
What about phosphate?

Being that the plugs are not that big I would think any phosphate in the cement would leach out during the curing process. I have never tested them for phosphate at the start of the cure but I did test the end product once and the water read 0.01 on the hanna checker after letting them sit in rodi for two days.

domination2580 · Jan 27, 2017

Mark2480 said:
Being that the plugs are not that big I would think any phosphate in the cement would leach out during the curing process. I have never tested them for phosphate at the start of the cure but I did test the end product once and the water read 0.01 on the hanna checker after letting them sit in rodi for two days.

Interesting

domination2580 · Jan 27, 2017

Mark2480 said:
Yes I just used 1 part white portland cement and 2 parts sand. The sand I had was fine grain but I have done this before with larger grain sand. With the larger grain sand the plugs will look a bit more textured. As for the curing I put them in a bucket with water and just change the water when I remembered to. Its better to do it once a day but I really didn't need them so i just did it whenever I was by the bucket. Depending on the ph of the cement and how many you do at one time it usually takes about a month for the disc to be cured. After the first 24 hours the ph in the bucket was 14, once they sit for a day and the ph does not go over 8 then to me there done. There are other ways to cure them but that's how I do it.

Now when you cured was it rodi or salt...