Thinest to bind rocks together

pdxmonkeyboy · Oct 25, 2019

So i was going to buy portland cement and acrylic additive to make my own marco cement but then it dawned on me... thinset is basically just that. Concrete and an additive for adhesion.

Anyome try this?

Thanks for any info!

pdxmonkeyboy · Oct 25, 2019

nobody?

boostedbeast · Oct 25, 2019

I always use GE silicon #1 to attach rocks together. Its easy to work with, cheap, can be taken apart in the future if you want to re-aquascape, and has no effect on the water quality.

pdxmonkeyboy · Oct 25, 2019

Yeah, I plan to use that but I want to build some shelves and what not that will likely exceed to capacity of silicone.

pdxmonkeyboy · Oct 26, 2019

Anyone?

ca1ore · Oct 27, 2019

Silicone doesn’t stick particularly well to rough surfaces and takes a good week to properly cure. Thumbs down for me. I know there are folks that have used hydraulic cement, though I have not. Maybe check the DIY forum. Personally I just make sure my rocks are balanced and stable an then use a few strategically placed blobs of epoxy putty. Either D&D or water weld are best because they are stickier and hold better.

jsvand5 · Oct 27, 2019

I mostly just dry stack because I always seem to find a reason to pull something back out at some point but for the few pieces that need to more firmly secure I use this. Works really well. You can tint it to match the rock color reasonably close.

jcricket · Oct 27, 2019

pdxmonkeyboy said:
Anyone?

I have used concrete products in building my KOI ponds. I can tell you there are several weeks(minimum) that I have to let the ponds sit before I can add fish. This is after they are built, then filled with water, then typically a massive water change(like 85%) then sit again to cycle. The reason is the concrete products leach out something, I believe it is lime. It really can spike the ph in the water. With a little time that diminishes and all is fine. I think it would work well with reef tanks too, you would likely just fill the tank with plain water first and allow it to do its leaching. Then go from there. Just my $0.02 worth

boostedbeast · Oct 27, 2019

Silicon is some strong stuff but theres a few things you have to do to get it to work properly. First the rocks have to be totally dry. I put mine in oven at 200deg for atleast 30min. Second you have to brush the loose debris off the rocks. Third you cant be stingy with silicon. Best part is its cured in 24-48hrs and is ready to go in the water. If you've ever tried to remove a part from a engine that was sealed with it then you know what I mean.

jcricket · Oct 27, 2019

I looked up some stuff called marco 400. I think it is thin set with a polymer additive. I talked with a LFS and they agreed completely. My 180 is currently being set up. I bought some thin set and polymer additive from the HD. I am going to try it. I'll do some testing on the water and se what happens with ph and salinity. I'll let you folks know.
Mark

Idoc · Oct 27, 2019

pdxmonkeyboy said:
So i was going to buy portland cement and acrylic additive to make my own marco cement but then it dawned on me... thinset is basically just that. Concrete and an additive for adhesion.

jcricket said:
I looked up some stuff called marco 400. I think it is thin set with a polymer additive. I talked with a LFS and they agreed completely. My 180 is currently being set up. I bought some thin set and polymer additive from the HD. I am going to try it. I'll do some testing on the water and se what happens with ph and salinity. I'll let you folks know.

I used some hydraulic cement from Home Depot for several of my rocks. The stuff almost instantly started to harden before I could get it into place around rock connections. I had to make it in small batches. But, after a couple of years, those connections are loose in the tank or have already broken apart. I'll have to look into this Thin Set with polymer additive you are talking about. Post a pic of the packaging so I can see exactly what it is.

jcricket · Oct 27, 2019

this is what the marco 400 states

E-Marco-400 Aquascaping Mortar Complete Kit - Grey

100% Non-Toxic - Triton ICP Tested Have you ever wondered how they make those remarkable aquascape structures? MarcoRocks E-Marco-400 Aquascaping Kit is how! The kit includes everything you will need to create your own morter that is specially modified to keep the joints from becoming brittle in...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

I bought a fast setting thin set("custom" is the brand) and a 2.5 gallon container of liquid polymer. You use the liquid instead of water. I have enough to do 25lbs of mortor and it costs about $45. The marco cost $45 for 5lbs,.
I'll see if I can find my camera and post a few pics.

Mcgregor19 · Oct 27, 2019

I’d be worried about the thinset leaching stuff out of it to be honest

pdxmonkeyboy · Oct 28, 2019

I suspect that the marco cement is just thinset..

You can make the same thing with portland cement and acrylic additive. The acrylic is what makes it stick.

jcricket · Oct 28, 2019

Hey folks,
I have been doing quite a bit of ready and checking. The thin set and polymer combination I do not believe is the same as the E-marco 400. The polymer/thinset is done with a water base. It could never cure under water. However the E-Marco does. It has to be an epoxy based material. I did find this at the HD

Search Results for Epoxystuk at The Home Depot

www.homedepot.com

this is a grout that is epoxy based. It might work for our applications

My opinion, however, is that with as much money and time and effort that I have invested into my setup, I am not going to try and cut corners on these last steps. Yep, its $100 more, but my thousands of dollars in coral and fish will not get hurt. I am going to give up on the thinset idea.
best of luck to you folks!

pdxmonkeyboy · Oct 28, 2019

jcricket said:
this is what the marco 400 states

E-Marco-400 Aquascaping Mortar Complete Kit - Grey

100% Non-Toxic - Triton ICP Tested Have you ever wondered how they make those remarkable aquascape structures? MarcoRocks E-Marco-400 Aquascaping Kit is how! The kit includes everything you will need to create your own morter that is specially modified to keep the joints from becoming brittle in...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

I bought a fast setting thin set("custom" is the brand) and a 2.5 gallon container of liquid polymer. You use the liquid instead of water. I have enough to do 25lbs of mortor and it costs about $45. The marco cost $45 for 5lbs,.
I'll see if I can find my camera and post a few pics.