Curing Aragocrete Frag Plugs

[spyro]

Reefers,

I got a "recipe" from the GARF website for making frag plugs from Portland cement and playsand (attached below). This particular recipe says to leave the plugs in the mold for 24 hours and then to soak them in white vinegar for 12 hours. I then says to "rinse" the plugs in fresh water before you use them. By rinse I assume they mean run some water over them for a few seconds.

However other recipes say to cure the plugs in fresh water for weeks. So do I need to cure them for weeks in water or can I cure them for 12 hours in vinegar and then just "rinse" them in water ?

Regards,
Chuck Spyropulos

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MAKING REEF PLUGS:

MATERIALS:

Carib SeaTM aragonite sand.
#3 portland cement

INSTRUCTIONS:

Presoak the mold in water for 1 hour.
Mix 5 parts Carib SeaTM aragonite sand with 1 part portland cement.
Set the mold on a smooth surface and pour in 1/2 tablespoon dry aragonite into each hole.
Pour the aragacrete into each hole in the mold.
Let the aragacrete set for 24 hours before you push the reef plugs out.
Soak the reef plugs in white vinagar for 12 hours and rinse them in fresh water before you use them.

[Rick and Sandy]

Further reading on GARF's Web Site (ie: Making Rocks/Arches), states:

When all of your rocks are complete then it is time for them to be cured. Leroy Headlee recommends putting the rocks into a kiddy pool or another container that will hold all of your rock and enough water to cover them. In the kiddy pool you can run a garden hose to the pool and poke an exit hole to water any thing else in your yard. We recommend water change daily or as much as possible (the more the better) for six to eight weeks. If you do not cure the rock it will mess-up the pH levels in your tank, which can be detrimental to the life in your reef.

Summary: Cure for 6-8 weeks. Since the 'Plugs' are basically the same as the rocks/arches, you might be better off w/a longer cure period.

[Marco67]

Just toss them in your toilet tank for a month or so. They will get frequent water changes, And help conserve water by cutting down the volume of water on each flush.

[Pyrojon]

Keep in mind that they reason your plugs will screw up your water chemistry is due to their very high PH. The plugs will leach out chemicals that will raise the PH of your water and you will have problems. You can speed up this process by soaking in vinegar (low PH) or by simply soaking in water for a very long time.

All that said if you are only adding one or two plugs to your reef at a time, assuming your system is healthy, then your system should naturally be able to handle the extremly slight increase in PH. My guess is you wouldn't even be able to measure it with a PH Tester.

If you want to play it safe, you could follow all recomendations given. Soak in vinegar for a day, then drop them in your toilet tank for a few weeks.

[gumhead]

Are you gona throw all your frag plugs in the tank at one time??? No, so why cure them? When I do a fraging I usually only use 5-10 plugs for the job. With that little amount it doesn't effect my pH what so ever. I have never "cured" my plugs and had no problem. If you were making your own rock, thats another story with that much volume.

Don't waste your time... Keep it simple...

[spyro]

Reefers,

Thanks for all your replies. My water volume with my frag tank, sump and refugium is around 400 gallons. I am only making 10 frags at most for now so I think I will just use ten of the plugs right out of the mold and soak the rest (80 plugs) in vinegar overnight and then soak them for a week in the toliet tank. I will keep an eye on the pH and I plan not to replenish my kalk in my reactor until I am sure that the plugs do not effect the pH to greatly.

Gumhead, that makes sense...a small amount of Aragacrete is probably not going to make a difference in pH of a relatively large body of water. If I were making Aragacrete rockwork then I prbably would have to worry more and do the full "soaking" before placing any rock in the tank.

Thanks again everyone!


Regards,
Chuck Spyropulos