Curing DIY Plugs
 

I recently made my first batch of frag plugs using hydraulic cement. They are currently curing in the back of my commode. How long should I leave them there before placing them in my frag tank? TIA

10 weeks work for me...the good thing about commode curing is you don't need any power heads :) before you put them in your frag tank be sure to let them sit in a soap dish for 3 days...

hydraulic cement Don't need to cure as much as regular cement. check your ph in a week.

yeah my portalnd plugs have been i the toilet for about 6 weeks...still very low range PH...:(

what the heck is a commode?

Too late for leaving them in a soap dish for a couple of days. I placed them in the commode the day I made them and they are all still in one piece. The hydraulic cement hardens very quickly. I was able to pop them whole out of the mokds 20 minutes after pouring them and all came out in one piece. The ph in my toilet or do I need to place them in some saltwater and leave for a couple of days and check ph of that water? Hate to sound ignorant, but this is the first time I have attempted.
NanoReefWanabe>commode is the same thing as a toilet. Down here in the south, the toilet might just be the little brown shack out back! LOL!!!

Take them out and put them in a bag with some RO water. You know the pH of RO. After 30 min or so if the pH is way up you know you need to cure them more.

Thanks Impur, that makes sense!

I have another question. When I am making my ro/di water, could I run the wastewater into the back of the toilet? That would increase the amount of water the plugs are exposed to. I know nothing about plumbing. Can the back of the toilet overflow or will it flush automatically when the level gets so high?

The toilet tank has an overflow built in. It will go down the drain so you are not really saving anything. Plus you would be soaking your plugs in all the nasties the RO unit pulled out. More risk than its worth IMO.

I am not really trying to save anything, but just to flush the plugs with more water. I used tap water until a few months ago, when I began to use RO/DI just because I won one as a door prize at a reef club meeting. Our tap water here is very pure, with very few nasties.