Stalite Photos

[David Rairigh]

I'm putting together two 8x4x12" beds (mostly as a final filter) and decided to try Stalite.

Just picked up the first load today and thought I'd post some picks and eventually any helpful information.  That's a quarter in the first two images.  Dry weight is about .78 ton per CY.

[TCLynx]

Cool, let us know how the stuff is to work with after you have washed some and again after it has run in a system for a while.

Stuff like initial pH and after putting it in and then again how is the pH after a few weeks.

[George T]

David, was your stalite graded and, if so, what size is it?  Thanks.

[David Rairigh]

George,

It is graded 3/4" but I was given material from the bottom of the pile, which means I got a LOT of dust and smaller bits.

The ph jumped after I put it in the first table but settled back to around 7.8.  However, at the same time I had some clay silt overflow into the system, which may have affected the ph.  I tested a small amount of well-washed stone in a small container of well water (ph around 7) and it definitely kicked the ph up (  considering the ratio of water to rock, about 1:1, its not surprising.  my system is actually around 4000 gallons with about 1.4CY of rock)

[TCLynx]

Where did you pick up the Stalite David?  Is there a distrobution center in Central FL?

[David Rairigh]

I picked it up in East Tampa, near I4 and Hillsborough Ave.

[David Waite]

Dave why use it if it puts you in the high 7 range. Just curious because my gravel is the same and it is very limiting. My guess is if you went to 7.8 in a few hours you will be over 8 in a couple of days of leaching into your system.

[TCLynx]

David,

     Most of the "expanded" products will have a dust of oxides on it from the kiln process but if rinsed off well they will not elevate the pH long term.  Or at least that is the case with the clay and the shale.  I haven't confirmed that with the slate but I expect it is the same.  So initially when put into the system it will raise the pH but only temporarily.  It is not like limestone that will keep buffering the pH until it dissolves away.

[George T]

1 to 1 sounds more like 400 gallons

I'm thinking about going with the 1/2 inch graded.

David Rairigh said:

George

well water (ph around 7) and it definitely kicked the ph up (  considering the ratio of water to rock, about 1:1, its not surprising.  my system is actually around 4000 gallons with about 1.4CY of rock)

[TCLynx]

Looking at the photos and the size of the pieces, if that was 3/4" I wouldn't go smaller.  3/4" looks just about perfect while 1/2" normally means more like 1/2" and smaller.

[Neale McQuoid]

David,

 

I live in Tampa and Stalite might be worth my investigation. Please could you tell me the name of the company from where you bought this and how much does it cost?

Thanks

Neale

 

btw, did you rinse it off before using it?

[David Rairigh]

The yard ( Conrad Yelvington Distributors ) Tampa address is 4800 Cone Rd.

Ph: 813-621-0074.

I don't know if you can buy from them directly. 

I ordered through:

Amanda Goodyear

Carolina Stalite Company

www.stalite.com

Ph: 800-898-3772

Fax: [phone]

 

I did rinse but probably not well enough.  Additionally, the front-end loader grabbed the material from the bottom of the pile, which probably helped to include a LOT of dust.  Next time I'm going to try to get them to pull from the top (and see if they offer washing).

 

[Neale McQuoid]

Thank you - will look into it