# Hydroleca Balls Questions



## Gigantisaurus (Apr 5, 2010)

Hi folks,looking for a bit of advice on hydroleca balls if anyone can help.Im hoping to re-house my crestie in a planted viv.I have done a lot of reading and gained loads of knowledge through all the posts on here but i still have a cpl of questions.

When i look at buying the hydroleca balls all the bags are in either weight (kg) or Litres i.e 10l My first question is what size of bag(s) would be needed to give the appropriate depth of cover in a 3ft viv as none of the info on the bags online list actual area coverage and my local b+q and garden centre dont seem to stock them or i would just look at the size of bag and make an estimate.......

My next question is in regards to how often the balls will need changing assuming tank is misted a cpl of times a day,how quickly do these balls become waterlogged and need replaced......

Any info appreciated.


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## Bigsteviet (May 21, 2011)

I used a 10 liter bag on my 18"x18" viv. I also rang a tube down back of viv (hidden by background) so I could take out excess water if needed. 
I'm no expert at this but I assumed if your viv was kept correctly you shouldn't need to replace them at all


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## Gigantisaurus (Apr 5, 2010)

Cheers Bigsteviet...im hoping they wont need replaced for a long time as it will be a pain in the ass lol...they will obviously have a finite amount of water the balls can absorb just wanted to make sure it wasnt gonna be a weekly occurance that i needed to change them...i was intending on running a cpl of pieces of 4mm tubing down the access holes at back of viv and then just using a syringe to suck out any excess water....thanks to scuwiffpixi post i have got a bag of hydroton clay pebbles from ebay 50 litres for £18 if a 10l bag was ok for your 18x18 i figure maybe 20l for 36" viv cant see me needing anywhere near 50l...thanks for your input much appreciated


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## sambridge15 (Nov 22, 2009)

dont think you understand the balls are simply lumps of dry clay they absorb no water at all. the balls are added as a light weight method of providing an area for water to accumulate,this is done by separating the substrate from lecca with a membrain.This water can then be removed by siphoning as and when needed to prevent the soil becoming saturated 

a false bottom is another method as for amount just work out the volume of viv that you need filling if the viv is 90cm by 45 cm and you want it say 5cm high than 20250cm would be your volume. so 20l would be just short i think anyways been a long long time since i did math


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## Gigantisaurus (Apr 5, 2010)

sambridge15 said:


> dont think you understand the balls are simply lumps of dry clay they absorb no water at all. the balls are added as a light weight method of providing an area for water to accumulate,this is done by separating the substrate from lecca with a membrain.This water can then be removed by siphoning as and when needed to prevent the soil becoming saturated
> 
> a false bottom is another method as for amount just work out the volume of viv that you need filling if the viv is 90cm by 45 cm and you want it say 5cm high than 20250cm would be your volume. so 20l would be just short i think anyways been a long long time since i did math


Thanks for the info sambridge i guess i am mistaken although to be fair if you read the extract i have copied and pasted below it does make it sound like these balls absorb water...

_For tropical terrariums Hydro Drain cannot be foregone. It is a special clay substrate which is excellent for water storage.
Hydro Drain acts as drainage layer below the normal substrate. The water seeps through the substrate and is stored in the Hydro Drain clay pieces. Once the storage capability is surpassed you can still have water standing at the vivarium floor. As long as the fill height of Hydro Drain is not surpassed the regular substrate will not get swampy. 
Thanks to its water storage abilities Hydro Drain increases the humidity inside the vivarium and is excellent to supply plants with water. We recommend to add a minimum layer of 3 cm Hydro Drain and cover it with our special Hydro Fleece. On top of this the normal substrate is placed, e.g. terrarium humus. The Hydro Fleece prevents substrate from seeping into the drainage layer but lets through the water._

Anyway all advice is gratefully recd


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## Gigantisaurus (Apr 5, 2010)

or this is the blurb for the hydroton clay pebbles 

_Hydroton is made of clay with high water storage properties and balanced capillary action to accelerate plant growth. The pebbles drain freely and do not hold any excessive water, which is why they provide good oxygen levels around the root zone and why they are particularly suitable for flood & drain systems.

Hydroton can be mixed with other media such as coco or soil to improve drainage, and it can also be re-used if cleaned with Oxy-Plus after use.

Again the use of the words water storage does make it sound like they hold water.Cheers
_


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

It is worded rather carefully, I thought the same as you when i did my first planted tank about 8 years ago. 

You want at minimum and inch or two of ball on the bottom. Then a hydro fleace, netting, hessian sack to stop the water and soil mixing. then add your soil. 

Im not sure exactly how many you would need though but you can work it out if you see a bag. 

Dont forgot to work out a way ofr remving the water from the bottom. if not it can become manky. I use a syphon or a turkey baster to such the water out of the bottom. 

jay


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## Gigantisaurus (Apr 5, 2010)

Spikebrit said:


> It is worded rather carefully, I thought the same as you when i did my first planted tank about 8 years ago.
> 
> You want at minimum and inch or two of ball on the bottom. Then a hydro fleace, netting, hessian sack to stop the water and soil mixing. then add your soil.
> 
> ...



cheers jay,aye its certainly a bit misleading i thought they were gonna act like mini sponges lol you live and learn i guess! i was planning on running some 4mm aquarium tubing around the base of viv and exiting througn the access points behind my background that way i should be able to pump out any standing water,although to be honest i dont anticipate it getting waterlogged in a hurry as its only a light misting a cpl of times a day and plants/substrate/humidity etc will prob absorb most of it anyway.But once again thanks for your input.


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## Spikebrit (Oct 23, 2006)

My tanks are the same, i drain them out every 6 months and only get a little bit of water out. 

Though one of mine cavers more water then others. 

I just have a small tube going in the corner of my vivs into which i either attach a syphon or a turkey baster and remove the water. Though the latter takes ages. 

Jay


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## Dard (Jul 4, 2009)

it took 4 x 10L bags to fill the bottom of my 90x45x90 with 2", i did the same as the others with a tube to syphon excess water through : victory:


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