The bulk density of tropical soil is ~.9-1g/cm3 (undisturbed, uncompacted and dried at 100° C)allanschon said:My tank is roughly 24" x 18", and I'd like a soil layer of about 3". Roughly how much clay/FeO/etc should I buy?
Well I am going back a few years to when I worked in a R&D plant with zeolites...Matt Mirabello said:The oxides role is not entirely understood but they are associated with pseudosanding/microaggregation the oxides seem to interact with other soil cations (Ca, Mg, etc) and soil organic matter to help promote structure. The paradox of tropical soils is that the oxides in them should be leaching out from all the rain... but they don't so something is helping them stay in the soil.
hope this helps
Matt
This is like saying a turpene is similar to an octane since they are both hydrocarbons.Ed said:I would suspect that the bentonite functions similarly as it has a similar structure (it is a aluminium phyllosilicate) but I could also be very wrong as I am going back almost 20 years in my memory for this...).
Ed
Exactly! the cations get trapped in the Zeolite. With bentonite the cations are bound to it through coulombic attraction (electrostatics). They otherwise have very different structures (see wikipedia). One has an open porous structure the other is in sheets or layers.Ed said:Zeolites tend to hold and bind cations based on thier pore size and structure (the ammonia absorbing resin in some filter carbons is a different zeolite). Once the positive cations get into the structure the tend to be stable in the mixture. This renders them pretty immobile with in the structure of the zeolite.
Ed
I did mean Terpene, I shortened turpentine (not realizing it was spelled differently)Ed said:Do you mean terpene? Ed
I keep thinking I might mix up a bulk batch of this and sell it but that doesn't look likely anytime soon so here it is. I stress though that this is still a product in development and I do intend to refine it if possible. Kyle, Ron, and a couple others have experimented with this mix as well so they may be able to provide testimonials, good or bad. Also check out Matt's recipe in the redart clay thread as his recipe is much more faithful to creating real tropica pseudosand.sports_doc said:I may have to comb this exhausted thread again, but Brent what is your clay-based soil recommendations? Recipe.
products to try? {I'm using only the Shultz product and 'play sand' in my mix currently}
One thing I do think LECA is good at is drying out tanks a bit. I think we (and I include myself) tend to keep our frogs in overly wet conditions. LECA seems great for providing dry areas. So many of the substrates we use wick a lot of water so they end up like a constantly damp sponge. I'm not sure that is the best thing for the frogs.quick thoughts on LECA alone? My first thought is it is too porous, too rough, too much "air" spaces to provide a natural mix of biologicals/bacteria. I havent used it in years.
thanks
Shawn
Hmmmmm................I think I'll wait till you make up a batch to sell. Please put me at the top of the listbbrock said:Dirty Old Man Performance Substrate
Mix 2-3 parts Redart clay with 1 part local soil (I collect mine from under conifers to get a good mycorrhizal inoculation) [edit: beware of chytrid! Use sterile topsoil if in doubt]. Add just enough sharp sand to be able to tell it is there. Add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup hydrated lime to 2 gallons of soil mix. Mix it all up. A cement mixer would be ideal but I use a paint mixer attached to a drill. Slowly add water while stirring until the mix is evenly damp and clumps up into pea sized and smaller aggregates. Spread the mix out in the sun on a piece of burlap or similar and let it dry. Dilute some acrylic mortar fortifier about 10:1 with water (so it is really thin and diluted). Spray down the dried mix with the solution to thoroughly dampen it. Let it dry and repeat the spraying. Let it dry again. Sprinkle a little more lime over the mix and stir it in. It is ready to use. If you want to get really picky, sieve the mix through a 1/4" mesh. I didn't and just broke up the largest chunks by pinching them.
