Leca Expanded Clay Pebbles 5LBS Grow Media for Indoor Plants Hydroponic Growing Gardening System Supplies …

Great product for a terrarium.

Sold as advertised.It is and will always be hydroton, and or Expanded Clay Pebbles.

Easy to use

I got this instead of an organic version because I’m using it to build up the substrate in the back part of an aquarium and wanted to save some money. Hopefully this will not impact freshwater shrimp that will be going into this tank.The very fact that it floats when dry IS a plus because it will not add significant weight to the aquarium, which is why it was recommended to me in the past and which is why I’m using it again. It will eventually take on water and absorb fertilizers and slowly redistribute it to the plants as the roots get to it. Do not think of it as the visible part of your aquarium bottom. You need to enclose it in metal-free nylon mesh bags or some other enclosure, then put the visible substrate like gravel, aquasoil or sand on top of it.In any case, if you were going to use it for house plants like orchids, it’s a beautiful mix of dark chocolate colors and a better size mix, in my opinion, than the bigger ones found in the organic brand. It looks excellent for orchids as it is porous and retains humidity without being rough or disintegrating. It can easily be reused, as well.It is dusty and needs to be rinsed before use, but then expanded clay will always be like this as the balls rub against each other in manufacturing and shipping. When I opened the bag, the expanded clay balls felt very slightly humid; however, when I weighed the bag to make sure I had not been short changed (like what happened to me with another brand in the past), it weighed exactly 11 lbs, so one extra pound was delivered! ❤️I would give this 4-1/2 stars only because of the fact that it’s not organic and if used for food grade plant growth, would potentially affect the food quality. I’m also 🤞🏻 that for the same reason it will not harm my invertebrates.I’ve kept shrimp for many years. If I suspect that this is negatively impacting my shrimp, I’ll put an update in a couple of months, today being 10/21/2023.

used in a tarantula enclosure.

I've started using leca for semi-hydro setups, and this has worked well for me! This leca is definitely very dusty, so you really should soak it overnight and rinse multiple times. That process I find to be a little bit of a pain compared to other growing media (perlite, pon, soil, etc), but as far as I know this particular leca isn't any worse than other brands of leca.Be sure not to dump the dust down your drain as it can damage your plumbing - but it should be totally fine to dump the water outdoors.I did use some of it without soaking first, and it definitely dried out way too fast. But once I replaced it with some that I had soaked previously, it has remained pretty consistently moist as I was hoping!

The pebbles are much bigger than I normally get. They cleaned up in a bucket of water very well. Hold water well., so less watering.My orchids seem to be doing well .

Not sure it works the amount is great for price