aquamax - do you have to wet it first?

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stanley101

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Hi

I am just starting to use aquamax for the first time and was wondering if you HAVE to spray it wet as it tells you on the back of the pack or if over the course of a couple of days it will expand from pee anyway?


Any tips for using this?

Thanks
 
Hi,
yes you do have to wet it thoroughly first. I've used it now for 3 years and love it. I have however found that it is easier to put half a sack in a wheelbarrow and wet it (I end up with about an inch of water over the top of the pellet level), then if you need to add more water it's easier. It takes a bit longer to do it all but it breaks the pellets down more thoroughly. Your bed will then work much more effectively. This is also how I do it to top up the bed as just mixing in dry pellets doesn't work very well.
Hope that helps.
 
We use a watering can to wet ours. Spread the dry pellets over the stable, and sprinkle the water over using the watering can. After about 15 mins, you will see the pellets swell up and start to crumble. Don't over soak your bed though, as you still need it to be able to absorb the wee.
 
No, not being thick at all!!
It really does soak it all up, when I started off using it I set up 6 stables by laying out the sackfuls in the stables and spraying with the hosepipe. It took forever and the pellets never really broke down properly. If you don't feel confident saturating it (I certainly didn't after being told to do this!) just keep adding the water and turning he bedding over in the wheelbarrow until it's all broken down. I do the initial soak for 4-5 minutes and then often have to add more water. Just see how you get on, it will dry out anyway regardless of how wet you make it (don't do it like soup though:o).
 
Just to add; I always make sure that mine is thoroughly soaked because I had ponies trying to eat the unsoaked pellets. They are piglets and will eat anything so after this I am very careful.
 
We don't have our beds as wet as munketytunkety
does.
I think some of the cheaper woodpellet brands break down much more slowly and you do need more water to activate them otherwise they stay like hard pellets, but aquamax breaks down easily. I have found it to be false ecomony to over soak aquamax.

We have a couple of very wet horses on our yard, and their beds don't need to be wetted at all, as the pellets break down and absorb well enough without, and by adding dry, it cleans up a slightly minging bed.
 
General rule of thumb at work is to run the hose over the new bedding until the water starts to run out at the edges. It poofs up beautifully and ends up looking like fluffy sawdust. We don't touch the wet all week (unless super wet) so it acts as a base and leaves the top layer bone dry. Then once a week we take out all the wet and add a new bag of aquamax to whichever stables need it.
 
Sorry to hijack your post, but after reading this and looking on their website I may be converted from straw to this!

I was just wondering if their is any difference between aquamax and white horse bedding? Has anyone used both and which would they suggest is better?
 
My beds are not wet!!:o

Unfortunately one of my boys did suffer rather bad colic after eating pellets that hadn't come into contact with water. These pellets were not visible after laying and spraying the bed. Didn't want to write this in my original post as I considered it my fault that it happened and in no way blame the manufacturer. Just would not want this happenning to anyone else:(.
I don't use cheaper brands.
Having had horses and ponies for over 30 years this is the only bedding that I now use and love it, just wouldn't want what happenned to my boy to happen to anyone else, that's all.
 
Sorry MunketyTunkety I'm sure no one was suggesting you had wet your bed.

I was just worried that If I sparyed it with water it would be wet if you know what I mean, but I understand how it works now.

Sooo reading the website I just pick out the poo for the first week - nothing more, then take the wet stuff from the bottom turning the top over so thats now on the bottom and top up as it starts to wear down.... yes?

Do I ever completely clean out the stable?

Hope thats makes sense?
 
Yes, that's how I do it anyway.
Most of mine are on rubber mats with a decent 4-5 inch deep bed on top. I have one mare that is messy and smelly and I empty her box out completely when it starts to smell. I also have two stallions on the same bedding but as a deep litter bed, I didn't think it would be very good but it works very well and they love it.
 
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