Clay Pebbles Melbourne

Stevecosta

Hello Ladies and Gents,

If anybody is interested I'm looking at bringing a container of 9-12mm clay pebbles from overseas.

Price will be SUB $20per 50L bag. (not 100% on the pricing yet)

If you're interested let me know the more we can get the better the price!!

Cheers

BuiDoi

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Interested...
We would need to work out a cheap transport method .. perhaps EGO...
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earthbound

'from overseas'? If they're Chinese I wouldn't bother, been there done that never do it again. Practically gave the stuff away in the end.

Porter

earthbound wrote:

'from overseas'? If they're Chinese I wouldn't bother, been there done that never do it again. Practically gave the stuff away in the end.

Hi Joel, what is the issue with them? are they sub quality? inferior knock off? stability issues?

Regards

BuiDoi

Porter wrote:

.....Hi Joel, what is the issue with them? are they sub quality? .....

Given the fact that THEY put melamine in infant formula, I would be concerned for what they might put in clay balls...
Why, it might even glow in the dark... :think:

Yes, I would like to know more about the source...
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Mr Damage

The overwhelming majority of cheap Chinese and Thai clays float, even after extended periods of soaking. Most break down too, some very quickly.

9-12mm is also too small for aquaponics IMO.

I wouldn't recommend anything other than 8/16 German clay.

Stevecosta

Gday BuiDoi,

I have never actually heard of EGO until now. I don't actually think there would be a cost effective way of transporting them to Sydney just taking into consideration size and weight.

And yes they are Chinese. Just a question to all of you nay sayers.
Wheres that coffee cup your drinking from made? Any concerns?

Why would 9-12mm be to small I was under the belief that this was the standard size?
8/16 would represent 8-16mm? or a fraction 8/16" which is 12mm?

Earthbound what was the actual problem?

Sorry guys I'm a huge hater of general statements if you are going to make claims please back up with further information either from past experience or research.

Cheers

Continuum

I would take the experience of Joel and Mr damage as actual problems.

by all means buy it if you want, but take heed of the advice of others that have used it.

My experience is that there are some people on this forum that "naysay" just because they 'believe' it can not be done despite other's experiences. Others back it up with evidence. Others have enough experience that I would take what they say as correct.

If I believed otherwise, or wanted to experiment and it did not cost me much, I would do so. This would seem a costly experiment.

I would see if you can get a sample sent over which may cost more, but would be worth it in the long run.

Joel has sold a lot of aquaponics stuff over his AP life and if he says to keep away from the stuff, I personally would.

But that is just me.

Bcasey2703

If you were buying a container surely a test sample would be warranted anyways?

Mr Damage

8/16 is the standard size and refers to the minimum and maximum pellet size... If it were a fraction then 8/16 would actually be expressed it as 1/2 one would imagine.

Stevecosta wrote:

Sorry guys I'm a huge hater of general statements if you are going to make claims please back up with further information either from past experience or research.

???

Mr Damage wrote:

The overwhelming majority of cheap Chinese and Thai clays float, even after extended periods of soaking. Most break down too, some very quickly.

...and as I said over on Murray's forum:

Quote:

With expanded clay, the old adage "You get what you pay for" definitely applies.

I would strongly advise against spending your hard earned money on anything other than German expanded clay.

There are a number of manufacturers selling expanded clay out of Thailand and China, among other countries, and I am yet to see one that is up to the quality required for use in an aquaponic system. Most of them float, and contrary to what many people will tell you on forums etc, they stay floating. I experimented with one popular brand that was being widely recommended on Aussie forums... about 98-99% of the beads floated, and were still floating after days. Months later the Aussie distributor assured me the manufacturer had rectified the problem and gave me a sample bag to try out... out of a 50Ltr bag only a couple of handfuls sank, even after days sitting in the test tub.

There is also an issue with them breaking down, sometimes within months. Leaving a silty or gravelly sludge in the bottom of grow beds and fish tanks, and fine gravel getting into pumps etc. One customer noted a 20mm drop in the height of the gravel in his GB's within only 6 months, and a never ending silt problem in his FT and ST.

As far as being sent samples, take them with a grain of salt. One Aussie distributor showed me a small sample bag he'd been sent, the beads looked to be very good quality, he wanted me to commit to buying a portion of a sea container load and to help him out with up front costs, I was hesitant, luckily... when it arrived it looked nothing like the sample he'd been sent and was the usual low grade we've come to expect out of Asia.

earthbound

Don't take my word for it, try searching out other peoples experiences on this forum with the Chinese clay. Ask Stuart in S.A., he ended up throwing away his last half a pallet. We had many people return the Chinese clay we sold wanting refunds, even after explaining to people before they bought it that the quality was just not there, that there were high levels of fines in the bags, that the clay floated an extreme amount, that the clay was very fragile and crushes very easily in your hand. We didn't receive any positive feedback from customers, and like I said, in the end we were basically giving it away as we couldn'tˈconscionably sell it.

We filled one bed down at the shop with the clay, to counteract the extreme floating we had to cut the stand pipe almost in half, meaning that the flood level is very low in the bed. This system suffered from major extended algal blooms over many months, plant growth was extremely poor and plants just kept dying, in the end we had to plant ornamentals in the bed. they re still alive and have grown very slowly

Stevecosta

See guys this is actually what I wanted you've included the issues that you've encountered.

Sorry to seem like an ass but just wanted you to include details!

Mr Damage one would think that 8/16 would be expressed as a half but you earlier said that 9-12mm was to small? and then quoted something that started 1mm smaller was best.

Anyways I do actually appreciate the advice guys

Cheers

BuiDoi

Stevecosta wrote:

.....And yes they are Chinese. Just a question to all of you nay sayers.
Wheres that coffee cup your drinking from made? Any concerns?

I think that the big difference in that the cup IS glazed and hence impermeable..
Whatever is IN the clay , will soon be IN the water..
I would be nervous about Chinese Clay..

I have bought a LOT of stuff, direct from China.. every other day I order some gadget or device.
The only failure was some "Glowing" fishing lures that did not glow, but at the cost, I really did not lose

The more they FLOAT, and especially if a bit soft, then the more they will rub under flood-n-drain...
I have good ones and the continuous dust is a pain..
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Clay Pebbles Melbourne

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