AusBonsai

Hi all,


For those of you looking to find diatomite in FNQ, particularly Townsville, it can be sourced from Day Dawn Nursery.
The 2-7mm (Mt. Sylvia) bags can be purchased/ordered for $40 per 35L bag ($$$$ )

Just thought I'd post here as I have been searching for it for a little while and have also seen others looking for it in this region.
If anyone else knows of a cheaper source between Townsville and Cairns I'm all ears, thanks.

Cheers,
Rob

Hi
Check the engineering shops and safety shops .it is sold as oil spill absorbent.the brand to get is kleensorb by mt Silvia and should be cheaper than that.
It is sold in 35 litre ( I think ) bags and the particle size is 2to 7 mm.the price from the mine is less than $11/ bag
Steve

Hey Rob
i took Steve advice and got onto blackwoods here in cairns and they got 3 bags sent up from rockhampton for me. I think all 3 cost just under $50...
Hope you come right
Grant

Be careful with Kleensorb. Contrary to what the label says, it contains a lot of soft clay that turns to mush when wet. It needs to be sieved to remove fines, of which there are a lot, then it needs to be washed & scrubbed to break down & remove the mushy clay. It takes forever & you will only be left with about 30 % of the original product. I have gone through this process with a couple of bags & was very disappointed but, unfortunately, it's the only way to obtain diatomite in Qld that I've found so far.
Cheers
Mal.

I have to disagree with you Mal. I have found Kleensorb to be better than Maidenwell was toward the end. I found Maidenwell to be very dusty and containing a lot of fines - perhaps they were using machinery that had seen betters days ? I find Kleensorb to be very consistent with regards to size and virtually no dust. I have never had problems with it breaking down - ever. I have been using it for approx. 4 years.

pommie_mal wrote:Be careful with Kleensorb. Contrary to what the label says, it contains a lot of soft clay that turns to mush when wet. It needs to be sieved to remove fines, of which there are a lot, then it needs to be washed & scrubbed to break down & remove the mushy clay. It takes forever & you will only be left with about 30 % of the original product. I have gone through this process with a couple of bags & was very disappointed but, unfortunately, it's the only way to obtain diatomite in Qld that I've found so far.
Cheers
Mal.

Kleensorb is the commercial product that Mt Sylvia is sold under
The only contents of the bag is Hard diatomite.

Some of the Kitty litters are soft and mushy as you describe, but certainly not Kleensorb as I buy it.
I have purchased about 20 of these bags over the years and never seen any mushy stuff in them Ken

My humble apologies everyone. I've just checked the bag left over from a couple of years ago & it's called Septone Absorb not Kleensorb
The memory is not as good as it used to be.
Anyway, Septone is not good but I might have to try the Kleensorb.
Mal.

pommie_mal wrote: The memory is not as good as it used to be.
Mal.

We are all going to get that problem sooner or later

Never heard of Septone though, where is it from?

Ken

I got mine through Autobarn. Septone make a lot of automotive painting products & other industrial products.

Hi All
The size grading of diatomite is spot on -- 2 to 7 mms there is basically no dust I use it straight out of the bag it is great wish I had found out about it years ago! Thanks to the person who suggested I try some
Steve
I'm glad Blackwoods were able to help you Bonsaibeginer

Hey guys,

Thanks for all of the responses.

I have contacted Mt. Sylvia with regards to suppliers up here and I'm still in the process of chasing a few things up, but so far no luck.

I have been to Blackwoods and enquired about their diatomite and Kleensorb only to have them refer me to the Septone product (~$50-60 per bag), which I did a bit of research and found that it wasn't suitable (as mentioned here).

I will try Blackwoods again and see if they can get some Kleensorb up, and check any other sources that Mt. Sylvia recommends.

If I do find anything more reasonable (sub $40) between Cairns and Townsville I will post it here.

Cheers,
Rob


Edit*

Just jumped on Blackwoods site (which I should have done much sooner )
They have Kleensorb listed as "Kleensorb Diatomite Green 20kg"
https://www.blackwoods.com.au/part/0514 ... green-20kg

So it's off to Blackwoods.... again.

Thanks all

Hi Rob
I'm not sure that the stuff Blackwoods have on their website is the product you need. There is a picture of the bag you need on this thread. Bonsaibeginer can prob clue you up with Blackwoods and what their products are.
Steve

Hi all

May I suggest contacting Fernlands http://www.fernland.com.au

When I lived in Townsville, they were able to send up 2 bags of diatomite for $80 with freight.

That was going back a few years however. It may pay to send them an email. The service has always been great whenever I've dealt with them. They also sell agricultural pumice for fans of that media.

The price per bag is not a low as what our friends down south are able to access, but that's that price you pay for living up north. At the end of the day, we still get to buy mangoes by the bucket and get to keep the bucket!

Woody

Just back from Blackwoods,

$17 a bag for Kleensorb

Had them call up Mt. Sylvia regarding their product, apparently it is the 2-7mm graded diatomite.
Ordered a bag.

Will report back if it's up to scratch or if it's mush.

Thanks again to everyone for their input.

HiMoraceae
Is that the kleensorb green?
Steve