Diy purple rocks ????

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Scott Bice

Scott Bice

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So I have all my rock work ready to go into my new tank and wanted to know if anyone knew how to paint the rocks purple so I don't have to go through that ugly stage of a new tank.
 
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Scott Bice said:
So I have all my rock work ready to go into my new tank and wanted to know if anyone knew how to paint the rocks purple so I don't have to go through that ugly stage of a new tank.
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Purple rocks will not avoid the ugly stages in a new tank. A very long cycle will. I would not paint the rocks with anything, ever, unless you are wanting a really ugly tank later on. I'm not certain what is used on the ones that you can buy already colored but I suspect it is food grade epoxy based. Even if you attempt an epoxy coating the pigments have to be reef safe as well. Also, you do not want to seal up the pore structure of the rock. Just buy the premade stuff or exercise some patience. You will need an overabundance of it in this hobby.
 
P-Dub said:
Purple rocks will not avoid the ugly stages in a new tank. A very long cycle will. I would not paint the rocks with anything, ever, unless you are wanting a really ugly tank later on. I'm not certain what is used on the ones that you can buy already colored but I suspect it is food grade epoxy based. Even if you attempt an epoxy coating the pigments have to be reef safe as well. Also, you do not want to seal up the pore structure of the rock. Just buy the premade stuff or exercise some patience. You will need an overabundance of it in this hobby.
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Apurplereef. Seems like there doing a pretty good job of it. I'm just looking for a lightly color in the rocks before everything goes in. I used quite a bit of cement to glue everything together and it's super ugly the way that it is.
 
Deltec
Food dye? Or Ritdye? I’ve used Rit clothing dye to recolor a bunch of other things. But no idea if it would be safe on reef rock.
 
Deltec
There is no indication of what they use or how it is applied. Patience is what you will need more than colored rock. I'm sure that you could eventually figure out how to do it but you have to weigh the pros vs cons in doing so. I say leave the coloring up to the pros and just cycle the living heck out of your rock. Mine cycled for 4 months in bins outdoors and I never experienced the new tank syndrome so often associated with setting up a new tank. The coralline grew while cycling. Find some mature rock to seed the coralline growth and wait very patiently. Best of luck.
 
This is what I'm working with
1561327392533.jpeg
 
ReefBot Lab, Automated Water Tester
It will get color. Green and brown probably first. Coraline will be introduced as you buy cuc and corals. You can scrape some shells or try arc reefs pink and purple supplement. Some have good luck with it. It won't take too long to get color. I wouldn't try to color them in naturally with anything.
 
Nutramar Foods
So what I think I'm going to do is leave it out side for a few days and hose it off everyday. where I live it's been 100 plus degrees so it should cure very fast. And if there is anything that's going to leach out of it I'm hoping hosing it will remove most of it.
 
All I can say is Good Luck.. I hope it all goes well for you. To much risk for me.
 
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The more that you coat the rock in epoxy, the less that it will act like live rock and allow bacteria and microfauna to live in the interior. The magic of live rock is not on the surface.
 
I vote start over and let it color itself over time. Everything in this post seems like a bad idea. Patients is key in this game. There called “ugly stage” for a reason.
 
I have also seen live rock for sale that is already red in color Fiji rock I believe.
 
Top Shelf Aquatics
Scott, I was reading your thread here. I’m curious to find out how everything went with the rocks and the tank. I’m trying to color some dry rock, and used live rock. May I ask what products you used specifically to color the rock? Looks like you did a really good job. No time to waste when you need that purple! Please send me more info about what products you used and what I should look for. (Also, if you have had positive results with your project, please let me know.) Purple is better than brown or green ANY DAY ⚓️
-Thankyou,

-Mike aka MINNOW ME
 
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