Before I begin construction.....

[brikag]

I have a questions about Hydroton (leca), the clay ball substrate.

1.) How heavy are they? Example: covering an average 10 gallon tank w/ an inch of the clay balls. 10 oz? 10 pounds?

2.) Over time, will they eventually form into a solid brick later on down the road?

3.) Over time, will they become brittle and break-off into little pieces?

Just curious. I'm looking at alternatives. I may have found one.

Thank you for your attention.
Brian

[beckdg]

i, personally have not used them in a viv yet so as for how much by weight to use, idk.

they should not break down though... ever.

[brikag]

One of the many reasons why I'm asking these questions is the weight issue. I am embarking on a very large project. I want to make it lightweight. We live in a condo and we'll eventually move into a larger home (def. not in the near future, but). I want to reduce weight since it's a 200+ gallon tank. I found some stuff called "feather-lite" on another herp supply website. Very light and porous. The other alternative are plastic balls. The plastic is used for medical applications and piercings. So zero chemical leaching into the water. And very lightweight, 5 ounces for 1000 1/2" balls and it only costs $9.00!

What do you guys think?

[beckdg]

sounds doable... got a link?

[brikag]

Here's for the feather-lite:

Feather-Lite 20 Gal: Black Jungle Terrarium Supply

This is the plastic balls:

PLASTIC BALLS - Product Components Corp.

[beckdg]

the plastic has it's drawbacks like porosity for instance. i think the feather lite deserves a shot. seems like a good product. the one thing that can be a drawback is the shape though. once they settle in if you have a water feature it might slow that up a bit... maybe not. the plastic really is lacking in surface area as a bio media though. because of that i personally would rule it out immediately.

as i see it right now your choices are leca, featherlite or another porous lite substance. lava rock for grills and/or gardens comes to mind. i see no reason why any of these would be bad choices. it's up to you what you want.

[brikag]

Thank you, Everyone. I think FL is the one!

Thanks