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M. Cameron O'Dell replied to Anson Sarager's discussion Lava rock grow medium in Aquaponics
"I am setting up a system with 1" screened lava using both a swirl filter and a bio-filter, so i hope I'l have the poop problem covered.
I don't understand what you mean by "may get dead spots in the root base", could you elaborate please?"
Mar 12, 2013
Dylan replied to Anson Sarager's discussion Lava rock grow medium in Aquaponics
"go with screened pea gravel. its the cheapest. lasts forever. ok on the hands."
Mar 12, 2013
Anson Sarager replied to Anson Sarager's discussion Lava rock grow medium in Aquaponics
"I was going to use hydroton or growstones but I'm trying to keep the price low and am not going to spend hundreds of dollars on media."
Mar 12, 2013
Dylan replied to Anson Sarager's discussion Lava rock grow medium in Aquaponics
"what about floating rafts then. Any media is going to add weight."
Mar 12, 2013
Anson Sarager replied to Anson Sarager's discussion Lava rock grow medium in Aquaponics
"Where can I get expanded shale in the valley? And I was trying to stray away from the rock because of the weight."
Mar 12, 2013
Dylan replied to Anson Sarager's discussion Lava rock grow medium in Aquaponics
"some softer lava can generate a lot of particulate, and be overall very sharp. It does have a lot of surface area though.

Check out expanded shale and 3/8th river rock (pea gravel)"
Mar 12, 2013
Jarrod Chambers replied to Anson Sarager's discussion Lava rock grow medium in Aquaponics
"worked well for me- i'd suggest to filter out the solids however or you will fill those porous spaces with poop rather quickly. If you filter really well you can go to a much finer size and get a lot of surface area for your bacteria to grow, but…"
Mar 12, 2013
Rachel replied to Anson Sarager's discussion Lava rock grow medium in Aquaponics
"I have. It's very rough on your hands and hard to transplant into and out of because of the roughness of the rock. It's also much heavier than hydroton. I much prefer hydroton."
Mar 12, 2013
Anson Sarager posted a discussion in Aquaponics
Has anyone ever used lava rock as a grow media in their aquaponics system grow beds? The price is right and I have done some research online and people have had some good results. Kind of like a natural growstone. Please share your input and…
Mar 12, 2013