What to use instead of perlite?

I bought a bag of perlite that wasn't the brand I use regularly and found it was much more light weight (they run out around here so often grab it when/where i can)

so when I bought brand I usually use I found it was definitely heavier.....strange as I used to think all perlite was the same but just lift the bag and compare same size bag to another brand and see for yourself

I've been running a 10:2:0.5 ratio for a mix I started a few years back that uses coco , with rice hulls , and biochar for my coco dtw runs and since I've switched to my liquid organics lines my crops have been better then ever , the rice hulls seem to be only slightly less in the aeration department , but they still do everything you could need with a very small ratio to boot I run
20 cu ft canna bricks ( then buffer n all that), 4 cu ft organic mechanic rice hulls, and 1 cu ft of Wakefield biochar the green bag ( innoculated)
Then I use my auger and mix it all up nicely and I'll tell ya , great drainage, great ability to hold bennies, and it's still great for my liquid feed drain to waste set up !