Bubbleponics growing medium mixture?

Newbie here, and I'm planning on starting a simple bubbleponics DIY setup. I've been thinking about the medium i want to use, and ideally i would order the hydroton stuff from StealthHydro.. but i was wondering if i could use a mixture of perlite and some type of moss... or maybe just perlite. Still planning stuff out, so input would be nice, this will be my first try at growing.

Thinking about doing a single 5 gal. bucket with a small water pump, as well as an airstone from a pet shop. and some netting to hold the grow medium / roots.

I would be interesting in hearing opinions on this.
To me the medium ends up as nothing more than support for the plant after than initial stage. I have used grodan cubes, cubes and clay balls, coco, and soil - my latest batch i am using a store bought seed raising mixture(soil) because i just don't think it matters all that much after that initial stage, it's all about the water down below.

You are correct. In our systems, the hydroton and other medium are used for root growth and moisture delivery. I would say do not use any type of moss. Stay with what works and works well. Hydroton, to me, is just fine. Cheap, works great, and easy to throw away at the end due to its inexpensive nature. I do hate rinsing them to rid them of dust, etc. But, the easy use of this product brings me back to it time and time again!! hope this helps!

Awesome, thanks for your input guys. I'll probably go ahead and get some Hydroton to use.

I'll definitely be looking around here for more info that i might need later on down the line if i have any problems, seems like a helpful forum


Edit: So Bubblobill, are you saying that you have them planted in soil, while using a bubbleponic setup? How does your system work? It seems like soil would get eroded away and end up in the water

Yep, I am not saying it's ideal, but it still works.
Below is coco, it had started that way and I didn't want to put it through the shock of a move......you can see a little bit of it down in the corner of the tub but I change my water each week and have never had issues because of it(that's about as dirty as it ever looks).
I have some soil plants in dwc atm(no pics yet), there is little or no difference.