Cat litter

[Alastair]

No no, just with you disturbing the tank with such a drastic substrate change, you'll be stirring up allsorts with the change over plus there won't be as much bacteria on the litter.,just for a week do a water change every 2 days or something that's all

 

[tovtm]

ohh right with you now will go shopping tonight 🙂

 

[Alastair]

Make sure you buy the right stuff, it's in a cream and pink bag

 

[tovtm]

yep seen the pictures so along as there in stock il be ok 🙂

 

[maanse]

Ive just made the switch to cat litter and i am impressed with the look of the litter so far, the only problem is i topped mine with sand.... over night quite a lot has changed, there is so much cat litter now on top of the sand that it looks horrible......

What to do now....

 

[G H Nelson]

What to do now....
Buy a cheap metal sieve and get sieving 😉
hoggie

 

[chilled84]

I've used this one in a temporary tank, and am so impressed I plan to use it in my new 3 x 2 x 2 as well:

I must say this is great stuff and im bulk buying it very soon for my new upcomeing scape. 😀

 

[Jaap]

1. I guess it would be better to use it uncapped instead of capping it with sand since if it comes on top of the sand then it will look bad?

2. This is considered as good substrate because it is porous and it will absorb any extra nutrients the plants will not use?

3. If yes, when does it absorb nutrients and when does it release them?

4. Doe it release the nutrients in the water column or to the roots of plants only?

 

[Alastair]

I presume it will work similar to the expensive substrates in the the absorbed nutrients are available for the roots but not to such an extent because Things like aqua soil etc are rich in nutrients already. I love using that cat litter it's just a Shame they can't make the stuff in black lol

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Yes, you can't cap it with sand, it is much too light and always ends up on top. I think it looks OK on its own. Calcined substrates are always likely to be reddish, because most sediments contain Iron (Fe), and when you heat them the iron it is oxidised to Iron III oxide (Fe2O3), the hydrated form of which is better known as "rust".

The characteristic that these substrates have in common is the ability to exchange positively charged ions (Mg2+, K+ etc.), expressed as their "Cation Exchange Capacity" (CEC), usually a substance with a high CEC will also have a high Anion Exchange Capacity (AEC), exchanging ions like NO3-, PO4- etc as well.

In the case of cat litter it is "Moler clay", an impure form of "Diatomaceous earth", the fossil remnants of marine diatoms, mixed with bentonite clays (from volcanic ash). The typical chemical composition for Diatomaceous Earth is about 80 to 90% silica, 2 to 4% alumina (attributed mostly to clay minerals), 0.5 to 2% iron oxide and a CEC approx. 25 - 30 meq/100g. <http://www.inex.fi/english/company/supplier/damolin.php>. The bentonite is a Kaolonite 1:1 montmorillonite clay

which will have a very high CEC (aprox. 100 meq/100g). These values will be reduced by heating, but as the cat litter is calcined at a lowish temperature it should retain a reasonable CEC.

The nutrients held by the exchange sites will so some extent mirror the ions in solution, so if you soak the cat litter in a dilute solution of potassium nitrate (KNO3), the exchange sites will mainly be occupied by K+ and NO3- ions.
All ions have to be in solution before the plant can take them up, but the water in the substrate will be constantly being mixed with the water in the water column, so it really doesn't matter whether you add the nutrient to the water column or substrate.

cheers Darrel

 

[Polly]

If you want a demonstration of how much iron there is in this cat litter, try dropping an algae magnet in the tank - then try to remove the cat litter stuck to it 🙄 Actually I've tried dropping the magnet in a dry bag- full and the same happens

LOVE the stuff, but I'd love it even more if it came in black too

 

[Alastair]

If you want a demonstration of how much iron there is in this cat litter, try dropping an algae magnet in the tank - then try to remove the cat litter stuck to it 🙄 Actually I've tried dropping the magnet in a dry bag- full and the same happens

LOVE the stuff, but I'd love it even more if it came in black too

Me too, I love it. Black would be good.

 

[Gfish]

I have a recently scaped tank that I'm really loving the look of with this reddy cat litter substrate.
Having never used anything other than playsand or pool filter sand, this stuff seems extremely light! And difficult to root small plants into.
Are commercial fertilised substrates heavier???

For me this is cat litter's only downside.

 

[Alastair]

I found exactly the same problem, even helferi was a bit of a pain to stay down. Gave up with glosso and hc. Hair grass does great in it though. Having corys with this doesn't help. Overall though I'm really impressed with it for the price. Might try gloss again soon.
Looking at things like aqua soil that looks heavier to me, but saying that it had the powrsand for it's top layer so perfect for small plants. I think I've read before people finding the columbo stuff relatively light too.

 

[andy-mu]

This is an interesting article. I think I might be making the switch. My hc does stay down with coarse gravel. Hopefully will work OK with this. Very cheap and results appear to speak for themselves

 

[Alastair]

This is an interesting article. I think I might be making the switch. My hc does stay down with coarse gravel. Hopefully will work OK with this. Very cheap and results appear to speak for themselves

Agree with the being cheap, I did my whole 5 foot tank for just short of 15 pound. Bargain. I've even ordered more bags for future need :0)

 

[Gfish]

Alistair,

Which is the right name for hairgrass? I'd like shorter rather than longer. Is it Eleocharis parvula or acicularis ??
Have you or anyone here tried dwarf sagitaria planted in cat litter? I'm trying to decide which to finish off this tank with
I have a personal feeling that sagitaria would look best, but I can't get my hands on it so I'm up for suggestions.

Cheers

Gavin

 

[Alastair]

Alistair,

Which is the right name for hairgrass? I'd like shorter rather than longer. Is it Eleocharis parvula or acicularis ??
Have you or anyone here tried dwarf sagitaria planted in cat litter? I'm trying to decide which to finish off this tank with
I have a personal feeling that sagitaria would look best, but I can't get my hands on it so I'm up for suggestions.

Cheers

Gavin

Hi Gavin, I used e.parvula, gave it a haircut before planting and it stayed very short. Your going to hate me now but I've just given away about 15 plants of the saggitaria. It was growing great in my tank with the cat litter. After about two weeks of being planted it grew runners and new plants very quick. I'm going to be rescaping things in my tank tomorrow so if I have some left over I'll gladly pop it out to you in the post mate. S.subulata was the one I've got. Purchased it from TGM.

 

[Gfish]

Just my luck!
If you have any left I'd really appreciate that, thank you.
Do you agree this would look better in the foreground than hairgrass?
Or should I fill in the gaps of sagitarius with hairgrass??? Hmmm

 

[spyder]

Just finished rinsing through 2 bags of this for my Rio 125. I can still smell the perfume in it in the tank. While rinsing I noticed how light it is. I hope planting and filling goes smoothly but dreading turning the filter on.