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cat litter

markj

Member
Joined
2 Jul 2012
Messages
85
Hi my tank as been up and running for over two years it as sand substrate i want to start growing live plants could it be possible to mix cat litter with the sand many thanks mark
 
i have seen a lot of mention about cat litter, is there any specific bran or composition to look out for?
 
After years using just gravel, I have just switched to cat litter and can thoroughly recommend it, I topped mine off with very fine gravel, but I know lots of people use as is.

I honestly cant believe how good it is for the price!

All my plants are looking much healthier with some really vivid growth coming from them.
 
thanks for the replys ive got a bag of tesco low dust cat litter but wondering about how i am going to do my substrate as at the moment i have about 1 inch of aquarium sand
 
You have to make sure you use the right cat little as there not all the same.

You need a clay based litter like the one Danny linked to (its the same one I used too, be careful using any other brand!)

Some cat litters will just turn to mush after a week and constantly stain the water. If you use the wrong type its normally easiest to strip the tank and start again.

You can add cat little with sand already in but its a bit messy. When I did mine I completely drained the tank and took every thing out, I then moved all of the sand to one half of the tank, filled the empty half with cat litter then moved all of the sand on top of the cat litter and filled the other empty half with cat litter then spread the sand over.

If you have a small tank it would probably be easier to just remove the sand first.

But like said above no matter how hard you try the cat litter will end up on top of the sand as its very light.
 
when the cat litter is the substrate whats the best method of keeping it clean
 
No idea about others but I have 2" at the front sloped up to 4" at the back, I have had no problem getting plants to hold either when planted with giant tweezers and pushed right down.
 
Bloody amazing..... Us aquarists really do know how to save some pennies.

Would it be ok in a non planted community? Or only in a planted tank?
 
I used sand substrate for a Group of Discus I raised .
Poop stay's on top,easier to remove if needed.
 
£3.20 for 10L at tesco so 30L would cost £9.60 I'd rather do an hour extra at work to cover the difference as it'll take a lot longer than that to rinse the cat litter properly.
 
£3.20 for 10L at tesco so 30L would cost £9.60 I'd rather do an hour extra at work to cover the difference as it'll take a lot longer than that to rinse the cat litter properly.


I rinsed mine 3 times, less than I would normally do on coral sand or pea gravel. Because of what it is you can rinse it for ever and you will still get the same dust coming off it.
 
It's not the dust it's the horrible perfume they add to it to cover the smell of cat crap :p

Personally I wouldn't use it in the cats litter tray either.
 
After all I have read about cat litter I had to have a bash with it!!

I emptied the 60l planted tank I have dedicated to shrimp last weekend and used the tesco kitty litter. I just left it under the shower in a colander for 10/15 mins and that washed most of the dust off it. I guess you could wash it all day and still get some fragments coming off though. I honestly didnt have much of a perfume to mine, even at the beginning before any washing it was never strong and since it has been in the tank I have never smelled anything. I carefully poured the old tank water back in and the tank was completely clear after a couple of hours. A handful of osmocote fertiliser underneath and bob's your uncle! Lets see how the plants like it now...

The only, but major, downside is its weight.... I had a HC carpet and trying to replant this in the CL is almost impossible. I ended up breaking the HC into very small pieces and pushing 90% of each clump under the CL in order for it to stay down. As soon as you try and place a clump nearby the previous clump comes floating up!! I knew before I tried planting the HC that I should have used a dedicated sand area for it. That would be my only advise, if you are trying to obtain a carpet with a plant with shallow roots I would put a small layer of sand over it. I am sure the sand will fall through the CL over time and mostly vanish but at least it will give you a base in which to hold the roots..

A fully inert, good looking, high cec, long lasting substrate for £3 !!!
 
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