Sorry for being massively late on this thread.
Reading all the responses has given me some great insight, but not necessarily answers to the original post.
Hydroton is probably inferior to Akadama, but by how much? Is it still not worth putting into your mix? The cost of Hydroton might be alot, but is it as much as Akadama?
I used to do hydroponics. I got out about a year and a half ago though. It started getting a little expensive with all the nutrients. You had a 50 gallon reservoir that cost $10-20 to put nutrients into. Then you had to replace the water in the reservoir once a week. Then there was the lights, media, pests, scrubbing (everytime you changed the water), and it all became too much for me. $1,000 a year for hydroponic tomatoes, basil, and rosemary . . . I'd rather just put them in the ground and have fresh fruit for a few months a year then buy from a good farmer's market.
But as a result I have a bag of the Hydroton stuff sitting around. What if the Hydroton was "free"? Would you use it instead of akadama then?
I don't have akadama, but I have plenty of hydroton. I'm thinking about mixing it with some permatill (and maybe just a little bit of peat moss). Mainly because I can't find lava rocks or turface locally, and I'd love some akadama, but at those prices I'll have to wait till I'm further "in the game." Thoughts on the mix? I'm very new, so looking for some pointers . . .