Expanded Clay media and stuff

Fish Fingers

yes i do use seasol and cleated iron and im getting good results considering the growbeds age. I understand that a new system is better off being above 7 then under it as its only ever going to go down. I was just making the point that hebel or any concrete product is going to be over alkaline and based on my experience not suitable.
Thanks for easing my mind Rupe as i had tried hydrochloric acid but after the first few litres i decided it made no difference as it just buffered back within 4 hours or so.

oldute

Sorry if its mentioned elswhere but:
What does it cost in Perth these days to fill a standard Backyard Aquaponics bed with expanded clay??
At the moment I have a standard bed with pea gravel and was thinking of getting another bed, emptying half the pea gravel into the new bed and then topping both beds up with expanded clay. Is this a good idea?
Dave

RupertofOZ

Perfectly fair idea Dave... a standard BYAP growbed requires 10 bags of expanded clay...

You'll pay anything from $30-$40 per bag... ask Joel for his best rate... :wink:

Zman

How long does the expanded clay last? Does it get "dissolved" over time at all?

RupertofOZ

My blue barrel system must be near five years old... never done a thing to it... expanded clay balls just as they were on day one...

iheart801

Zman wrote:

How long does the expanded clay last? Does it get "dissolved" over time at all?

Fired clay in used in lots of pottery that is used for cooking and dish ware. Seeing as there are pieces that have lasted for hundreds as if not thousands of years, that the LECA in you GB should last for a very long time. As long as you don't crush them.

candyk

I live in Naples, FL - S of Ft. Myers (50 miles) and Tampa (179 miles).
I'm looking for the expanded clay rocks/balls. Does anyone know of a place for balk orders or where I could pick up supplies?

coachchris

Candy, Home depot sells them and will deliver for free. Around $30.00 a bag. Go online, as they don't sell them in the stores.

fin2blue

Clay does not expand when moisture is removed. Some clay minerals will expand when wet, but they contract when dry.

BullwinkleII

As I understand it, the bloating is caused by over-firing ie too high a temperature for the clay. As the clay starts to melt if there are still volatiles turning to gas, you get bubbles trapped in the body.

A much easier way to create this effect is to add something like sawdust to your clay. it wont be quite the same as the bought ones, but it should be pretty easy to make.

Put clay and sawdust into a cement mixer and add water slowly until it balls up into the right size balls.

Dry them for a week preferably spread out. if you can spread them out and they are in a barrel or something, make sure there is airflow through it and maybe dry them for longer.

put some on the ground, add some hot burning wood, then more balls and more wood.

If your going to sit next to it, it might be a good idea to wear safety glasses as there will be a few small explosions with the potential to send flying bits of clay around. Having said that I would have no problems about doing it in a suburban back yard. The explosions would be just like a fire that's spitting a lot. some of that spitting is probably the ground or small stones.

Terracotta clay might normally be fired to 1000c or a little more in my case, but this ie easy enough to reach in a decent fire. Iron glowing cherry red is around 800c-900c.

I've never done this, but have been a potter for a few decades. I also on different occasions have made the balls accidentally, have made pots with organic stuff that's burnt out, and have also made a test batch of home made goat dung scoria fired in my lounge room heater..

Jacko

Anyone have an update on good clay pricing in Perth for a 50l bag?

Also how much clay bags of 50l would I need to fill a 350l grow bed?

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