Wash the Hydroton?

Is it necessary to wash / rinse hydroton before you use it? This stuff seems kind of dusty... or is this just a bunch of effort for nothing?

Yes, wash/rinse the rocks well before putting into the system. The dust will just clog up everything.

wash/rinse, and soak in PH'd water for 24 hours.... then rinse again... These things are a bit messy...

Hydroton must be flushed before using. Find a container about twice as large as the amount you need to flush. Put in Hydroton. Take hose and spray into the pile until its all floating on top of an equal volume of water. Take your hands and stir up the pile. Then let it settle for a few minutes. Hand scoop it out into another container. Repeat the process. Takes probably 30 minutes tops for the big bag.

After it has been rinsed, I like to soak it in PHed water with Hydrogen Peroxide for a half day or so. This is also the preferred method of cleaning out the Hydroton media between crops, as it's totally reusable.

i just make some slits on the bottom of my bag and run a garden hose into the top, let it run for about ten minutes, then soak in ph'd water for twenty four hours.

so i soak and wash the shit out of this hydroton and its still dirty. i did all the methods and if i run some water through it its still coming out all brownish ... full of that clay. what the hell???

This is what i did.. I used a net laid it out and put all the hydroton on it then sprayed it off then bunched it all up and sprayed it off again until all clay is gone. Then soaked it in PHed water

dude, i'm washing this shit for a week already every single fucking day. I had some seedlings in it and because of the PH was so fucking low, they got so burned. They barely have their second nod of leaves and they got so burned.... I duno wtf should I do. I washed it even in the laudry mat. i washed it with hidrogen peroxide, EVERYTHING. its still the same. a ton of brown shit comes out of it

You will never get the stuff 100% clean, but you don't want to use it right out of the bag. You will have a lot of crap in your tank.
I put mine in a large container with holes and screen on top to prevent flow over, put it out side and had my house sump pump into it for a week.

I still had some dust during my first tank fill. I think when it dries, its gets dusty again, but now as much as when it is brand new and unwashed.

The dust doesn't hurt much, give it a quick wash, fill the bag to the top with water and once full then pump holes in the bag in the bottom and sides with a screw driver, hose over, and that will be fine. it doesn't really harm pumps.

Fill your buckets put em in the shower til they run clear out of the bottom and that's plenty good