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  1. foxfish

    is that Cat liter good for soil ?

    Well I can confirm that Sanicat pink is no longer available or at least not being supplied! Several large stores confirmed that they are long longer able to get Moler clay cat litter. In fact I wonder about moler clay in general because none of my locale garages sell oil spill moler clay...
  2. foxfish

    is that Cat liter good for soil ?

    Actually I am finding it hard to find suitable cat litter, I went to three outlets today and could not get ant moler clay cat litter! Apparently it has lost its popularity as it was never a big seller… so I have been told!
  3. foxfish

    is that Cat liter good for soil ?

    Well the problem is when you disturb it,…. it can form a cloud of brown mist. However akadama will take some time to break down, maybe a year before it becomes mud. There are quite a few grades available, the more expensive ones may last longer. Akadama was at one time a popular choice!
  4. foxfish

    is that Cat liter good for soil ?

    With akadama, it will dissolve over time, Moler clay will not.
  5. foxfish

    is that Cat liter good for soil ?

    You want the one that has very hard grains, it feels like rough gravel and is impossible to crush with your fingers. It is called Moler clay, it is used for cat litter, bonsai soil and for soaking up chemicals especially oil.
  6. foxfish

    Pets At Home Non Clumping Clay Cat Litter

    It is an interesting product …. Moler
  7. foxfish

    Is there an 'ideal' substrate depth?

    40-50mm is about minium or 35mm at the front and 75 at the back might be a guid line but there is no real ‘one’ answer as most plants would probably prefer much more depth than we normally offer and people also use the substrate for appearance and or as part of the overall design. Then you...
  8. foxfish

    Which soil to use ??

    I don't think it really matters that much and you should choose the one that you like the look of most, in truth you can grow plants in plain sand of gravel as long as you understand how to fertilise the water.
  9. foxfish

    Cat litter

    Here is one of many threads …. Cat litter
  10. foxfish

    Cat litter

    Anyone who has been a member for more that 7-8 years will remember the ever so popular Tesco cat litter, If not then I will quickly explain that the hard baked clay type of cat litter was a very popular substrate choice for a few years even though is is Pink. Unfortunately Tesco stoped selling...
  11. foxfish

    Natural soil (from garden centre) with inert substrate

    If you are on a budget then I would suggest you look at working on a dry start using a couple of pots of hairgrass. Dry starting a tank is really fun and interesting, there are lots of post telling you how to go about it.
  12. foxfish

    Natural soil (from garden centre) with inert substrate

    Where do you plan to buy the seeds from? I ask because there are a few threads about members buying what was advertised to be aquatic grass seed only to discover it was not at all.
  13. foxfish

    The Eternal Substrate Questions

    Well I dont think we have ever come across anyone giving so much attention and thought to their substrate and I have no idea if it will make any difference compared to using a more traditional soil based comercial product but, it sound like you are having fun! Certainly trying to grow just a...
  14. foxfish

    Mineralising soil in Scotland

    It would take around 6 weeks to get a healthily mass of bacteria once in a water filled environment so you will still be 10.5 months in pocket! Besides that fact, if you are planning a fully planted tank, you can plant the day you fill the tank you just need to wait 4-6 weeks before adding...
  15. foxfish

    Clumping Or None Clumping Cat Litter?

    I have not actually been able to buy the Tesco hard cat litter for a couple of years now, I buy another product from Pets at home, it is lager and comes in big sacks.
  16. foxfish

    Clumping Or None Clumping Cat Litter?

    Leaving it to soak will not remove all the dust, you need to aggravate the media in the bucket with the hose full on, it will just leave you with clean dust free grains. Once it is clean you can replant and move it around as much as you like, over time the media will attract lots of organic...
  17. foxfish

    Clumping Or None Clumping Cat Litter?

    The best way to clean hard cat litter is in a large bucket of water with an outside hose pipe. The bigger the bucket the better, half fill it with the litter and run the hose to overflow the water. keep going until it runs clean and it is then safe to use.
  18. foxfish

    Low tech substrate

    Easy just read this sticky thread.... https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/the-soil-substrate-or-dirted-planted-tank-a-how-to-guide.18943/
  19. foxfish

    Could it be the substrate? Tank in terminal decline...

    Well all I can offer are a few suggestions as obviously I don’t actually know what the issue might be. It just appears to me the most obvious thing would be the plants are no longer receiving the same about of C02 as they once did?
  20. foxfish

    Could it be the substrate? Tank in terminal decline...

    I think it would pay you to investigate the waters C02 content in more depth, it could be the gas is not being distributed evenly throughout the whole tank. Perhaps the flow could be adjusted and a PH profile completed, then maybe with that information, something might be revealed .
  21. foxfish

    Could it be the substrate? Tank in terminal decline...

    Well you have to consider that some folk have huge success with plain gravel, I have used the same cat litter for the last 7-8 years and I still see heathy growth. So as long as you are using water column ferts in sufficient amounts, I personally doubt your issue is based around the substrate...
  22. foxfish

    Could it be the substrate? Tank in terminal decline...

    Looks like the plants need more C02, that is a big tank for a 2kg fire extinguisher, how long before refills?
  23. foxfish

    Silver Sand?

    Well in my local horticulture store, there are many grades available. I normally go for the lime free fine sand as silver sand is very fine but where I live, pool filter sand is sharp edge, mixed grain size and multi coloured.
  24. foxfish

    Cat Litter

    That is what I use, some of my friends dont even wash it first but, I soak it in a dustbin of water and rinse it with a hose pipe before I mix it with 50% soil. I also know a few folk who just use 100% cat litter for their trees, I intend to have a go with that method too...
  25. foxfish

    Cat Litter

    That is the one I use, it is only £9.99 in my local garden centre
  26. foxfish

    Gravels

    How much do you want and is it grey that you want?
  27. foxfish

    Egg Crate

    Egg crate for big rocks, but there are various types of plastic you can find in garden centres that would work too.
  28. foxfish

    New to active substrates

    It needs to be the hard baked clay type of cat litter. Tesco sells it for a few £ a bag or there is one called Aristocats or something like that come in really big bags for around £20. Cat litter was extremely popular a few years back & has featured on this forum hundreds of times!
  29. foxfish

    New to active substrates

    Lots of cheaper alternatives like bonsai soils ( Akadama & black volcanic grains) some of the softer Akadamas will turn to slosh, others as Matt points out last much longer. Hard cat litter is a favourite & is fantastic if you can coupe with the colour but good old aquarium gravel & sand can...
  30. foxfish

    New to active substrates

    Hi Melon, welcome to the forum. Like Marcel, I don't exactly know what you mean by an active substrate but I can guess you mean something like Amazonia? Great if you can justify the cost but certainly not essential. What most of us do if we are injecting C02 is use a water column fertiliser...
  31. foxfish

    Long term substrate

    Hi Rodgie, I would suggest you read Tim's link (opposite his name in the above post). Using soil might give you the best change of getting a carpet! However it will not be an easy challenge!!! 6 hours of light is quite often used as a starting point, then building up to 8 -10 hours. It would...
  32. foxfish

    Ada Aqua Soil Amazonia and planting

    I would say there are many ways that work, lots of folks add plants from day one & lots of folk don't. I think a lot depends on your experience & confidence. You don't say anything about using C02 or how you plan to water change, filter size etc... or any other relevant information?
  33. foxfish

    Confused about capping.

    Capping is normally done for one of a few reasons... to stop a very fine substrate (like garden soil) from spoiling or clouding the water. To stop fish rooting around & clouding the water, to stop a light weight substrate from floating or perhaps for atheistic reasons. Aquasoil is designed to...
  34. foxfish

    Upgrading substrate

    You might want to read this.... https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/the-soil-substrate-or-dirted-planted-tank-a-how-to-guide.18943/
  35. foxfish

    tesco cat litter cap - didnt rinse, am i in trouble?

    I recently bought a couple of bags of Tesco cat litter, I have been using it for around ten years & as far as can recall, it has always been heavily scented & loaded with dust. However it is hard backed and does not break down like akadama. I use it mainly for potting bonsai, my method of...
  36. foxfish

    Clumping Or None Clumping Cat Litter?

    Yes you want the hard backed clay variety = Tesco.
  37. foxfish

    In search of substrate for 200x60x70 cm aquarium

    DSM is popular with some folk, the plants get a good start and root very well but, they then have to go from 400ppm of atmospheric C02 down to 30ppm when the tank is flooded & that is only if you can get 30ppm in a big tank. The resulting die off of foliage could be an issue! I really enjoy...
  38. foxfish

    In search of substrate for 200x60x70 cm aquarium

    Do you intend to use injected Co2, I would guess not, but I assume you do want to grow plants. On that basis a decomposing soil base capped with some inert sand, gravel, larva etc would be my suggestion.
  39. foxfish

    bulk black substrate

    Look for black bonsai soils, it is normally black crushed lava rock... cheap as chips and a great substrate.
  40. foxfish

    Black Earth soil by Cal Aqua Labs, any experiences so far?

    Hi & welcome, looks ok to me but I would not get to hung up on any particular substrate as there are many examples of fantastic displays using a huge variety of different growing mediums.. not to mention several with no substrate! A lot of our standard plants we all use can grow with their roots...
  41. foxfish

    How NOT To Add Compost To An Existing Tank!

    You could make use of the tanks height & try out a horizontal log .... as in my signature link .. 'My Log'
  42. foxfish

    Substrate/Soil for Emersed Grow?

    I use the same mix as I use for my bonsai trees, 25% cat litter 50% loam (garden soil) 15% coarse sand and the rest is made up from chicken s...t, peat & slow realise granules. That might sound complicated but it is great fun to mix and works like magic!
  43. foxfish

    Suggestions to a newbie for a base layer substrate

    What does (to help prevent peppering in the discus) mean? The main issue you would have is that the smallest gains always end up on the bottom. If for instance you wanted to use a soil base you would need a membrane inbetween the layers with a very fine mesh. It might be a lot easier to does...
  44. foxfish

    low tech with gravel

    Ha Ha everybody wants a healthy tank full of plants with no added C02, ferts & no maintenance ! I don't know the answer myself. I think you are asking a big ask, plants need certain things to flourish. It does seem that adding a soil base really helps, perhaps read up a bit about that....
  45. foxfish

    TESCO cat litter

    Where I live, cats have been blamed for the total demise of two interesting animals from our island! Water voles and green lizards are now so rarely seen that it is believed none are left at all! I am a animal lover full stop and I would not hurt any creature without good cause but there are far...
  46. foxfish

    I want to rescape with ADA AS, but have fish...

    You could mature the ADA in your bucket, put it in the bucket with water & a filter & do water changes for a month.
  47. foxfish

    Akadama or Moler Clay?

    Yeah, they are not very good on the postage front & that is why I never bought any 3 years ago! The stuff I saw was very sharp & not really like cat litter but, I still think a black baked clay substrate would make a great effect & perhaps that stuff they are selling is just perfect for the...
  48. foxfish

    Akadama or Moler Clay?

    I did see some that a locale bonsai enthusiast had, it looks like crushed volcanic rock to me but it might not of been the same stuff! I did think about buying some BBQ lava rock & crushing that up... just never got around to doing it.
  49. foxfish

    Substrate for propagation

    Chicken poo is a standard fertilizer available in any garden centre.
  50. foxfish

    Substrate for propagation

    I use a soil mix with added chicken poo.
  51. foxfish

    substrate advice please

    Yes, greenhouse shading is quite often used as is the stuffed tights method (or pantyhose if you search us sites)
  52. foxfish

    substrate advice please

    Well you don't actually say how deep you want the substrate to be? If it will be 12" high at the back then sloping to 1" then you might want to glue a tight fitting polystyrene wedge in place first. but if you are looking at a more conventional slope, you can mix and match as you like. Heavy...
  53. foxfish

    substrate advice please

    My advice would be to have fun looking around the forum as all your questions are answered in finite detail ... but yes Amazonia is a fantastic choice! Buy as much as you can justify just bare in mine that virtually any form of popular substrate is also fine to use. If you dose fertiliser in to...
  54. foxfish

    Substrate for low tech planted tank

    'syn·er·gis·tic' had to look it up!
  55. foxfish

    Cat litter

    I find the easy way is to fill a large contaier (dustbin) outside and run the garden hose into it, let the water overflow while stiring the litter with your hand. This can be done on a smaller scale with a saurcepan in the sink.
  56. foxfish

    Started making substrate. Opinions please.

    Sounds terrifying to me!
  57. foxfish

    Cheaply raising substrate level

    Hydroponic clay balls would seem an easy option although they also float but only just. A few pebbles in a bag would keep them down, the benefits are availability, lightweight & cheap. Clay Pebbles: Hydroponics | eBay
  58. foxfish

    sand without nutrition

    I don't think there is any need to be concerned about the substrate having anaerobic areas as this is unlikely to cause any problems, if the gas build up to much it will just release a bubble or two into the water column that will burst of he surface & that will be it!
  59. foxfish

    Questions/doubts about using (ADA) soil

    I love ADA Amazonia, as Roly points out it is quite light but that is the point really - it is a porous granule & like any porous substrate, it is capable of holding nutrients. Baked clay products like cat litter are also light & porous but, ADA soils look great & are already impregnated with...
  60. foxfish

    Styrofoam in the tank

    I made a whole scape from polystyrene
  61. foxfish

    Styrofoam in the tank

    I am not sure what styrofoam is but polystyrene is safe.
  62. foxfish

    cat litter

    So is ADA Amazonia & that is just about the best & most expensive substrate out there!
  63. foxfish

    Akadama preperation

    The main issue that I have experienced with the stuff is that after a few months underwater it turns into a mush that if disturbed will form a brown cloud that will virtually fill you tank!! Trying to dig up and replant something turns the tank into a real mess....other than that it seems to...
  64. foxfish

    cat litter

    Have a read through this .... Cat litter | UK Aquatic Plant Society
  65. foxfish

    cat litter

    Sam is absolutely right but 'sludgy mess' might be an understatement LOL
  66. foxfish

    cat litter

    The Amazonia takes a few months to completely disappear - I know this as I have exactly the same combination!
  67. foxfish

    Tank overhaul and rescape, advice needed

    Akadama is a bit different from Molar clay, Moler clay is the same as the popular cat litters & is a very hard baked clay material. Akadama is not so hard & will in fact degrade into a sludge over time however both work very well!
  68. foxfish

    What is the best aquarium sand to go with?

    Check out the garden centers for horticultural grades of sand, some are lime free & some lime loaded but normally plenty of choice...
  69. foxfish

    Has eco-complete changed?

    It is fine as a rooting medium but carries no added nutrients like some of the other expensive substrates.
  70. foxfish

    a couple of substrate questions...

    Baked clay is fine to use, osmacote is ok but use very sparingly, just a few grains every square 150mm! The expensive planting mediums like Amazonia are very good because they are not only loaded with nutrients but have a softer texture & a more pleasing colour for many scapers!
  71. foxfish

    which potting compost ?

    Nice post Tom...
  72. foxfish

    Cat litter

    Yes I have, it is featured on this thread..... Put it in a bucket, run water in, let it overflow while stirring.
  73. foxfish

    New substrate needed?

    Well to be honest 'bentonite clay' is a completely new word for me!! I do know of a few folk who have tried using clumping cat littler but, it is a nightmare if ever disturbed & I am not a fan of mixing substrate anyway. Personally I dont really like akadama as I have found it also degrades over...
  74. foxfish

    New substrate needed?

    Interesting mix!! uumm how about some purpose made substrate - if you can justify the cost, like ADA amazonia?
  75. foxfish

    Help!!!!...The more I read the more I become confused.

    There you go mate you now have an experts advice.
  76. foxfish

    Help!!!!...The more I read the more I become confused.

    All righ .. pond soil mixed with a little peat. Look out for post made by Troi, as he worked a theory around the decomposing soil producing C02 also look here A Chocolate Puddle - picture update | UK Aquatic Plant Society
  77. foxfish

    Help!!!!...The more I read the more I become confused.

    Your opening statement is quite a challenge especially without injecting C02!! All plants require C02 to live & the more you give the faster this will happen, C02 is the governing factor in a planted aquarium. So if you dont want to inject C02 then you should really study the low tech section of...
  78. foxfish

    a different aquasoil question

    It doesn't turn to mush, or not for at least a few years, in fact I still have some that is at least two years old. However there is a lot of loose dust that comes with it & that will cloud the water if you don't fill up very slowly & patiently.
  79. foxfish

    a different aquasoil question

    Yes although you might want to empty the tank of water to plant up when the time comes.
  80. foxfish

    aquasoil,ammonia and algae

    Ada amazonia will leach ammonia although I think I read the new stock is not so bad, the best way is plant heavily from day one, use loads of Co2 & dont stock with fauna for about 6 weeks.
  81. foxfish

    who is using some weird and wonderful substrates

    I dont know about weird but ADA amazonia is wonderful!
  82. foxfish

    ADA Amazonia

    Yes get planting.....
  83. foxfish

    Correct substrate choice?

    Same for me Andrew, I live in the Channel Islands and always get stung with P&P the last bag of Amazonia cost £20 but I was quoted over £30 from some delivery services !
  84. foxfish

    Mineralized top soil

    I love all these ideas, it makes our hobby all the more interesting. Of course our American friends are always trying to get the edge over ever one else - for better or worse - that's life LOL... I would suggest you buy some ADA soil & bake it in the oven with the turkey, eat some for the...
  85. foxfish

    Stratum in a Sock ?

    Incidentally - just noticed a new batch of cory eggs stuck on the front glass!
  86. foxfish

    Stratum in a Sock ?

    Its all relative mate, I have grown plants in sand & cat litter but once you have been down the Amazonia route it is difficult to revert :shock:
  87. foxfish

    Stratum in a Sock ?

    I guess there will be a few who disagree but I have never come across anything that works like ADA Amazonia :)
  88. foxfish

    Stratum in a Sock ?

    Does fluval stratum actually contain any nutrients that will boost plant growth?
  89. foxfish

    Black Bonsai Soil

    No I did not!!! thanks bud...
  90. foxfish

    Any advice welcome

    That does look like unusually splendid growth from a non C02 injected tank! :clap:
  91. foxfish

    Any advice welcome

    Well what we are trying to achieve is a lovely smooth circular flow withing the tank to assist in the C02 & fertilisers feeding all our plants on an equal level so.... We have found that not only the hardscape in the tank effect flow but also the back pane of glass has an effect also! Most folk...
  92. foxfish

    Any advice welcome

    Hi Paul, you dont mention if you are going to be using injected C02?
  93. foxfish

    What substrate to use?

    I bought some from here only last week... http://www.aquajardin.co.uk/section/338 ... plant_care
  94. foxfish

    What substrate to use?

    OK then in that case - the tank holds 32l & with 25 mm of substrate at the front, slopping to 75mm at the back you will need 9l of substrate :)
  95. foxfish

    What substrate to use?

    That is an unusual size, 7'' high or 7'' wide?
  96. foxfish

    Aquasoil under Eco-complete / Inert (low tech dry start)

    I certainly don't enjoy spending so much money on ADA products & in fact only invest in the companies soils but, it is all relative at the end of the day - buy the best you can afford. I quite often have 3-4 tanks of my own running & help other folk with as many as 20 planted tanks, these tanks...
  97. foxfish

    Black Bonsai Soil

    Thanks Jack, but this stuff is very different from Akadama! Its black & made from hard baked clay, my issues with akadama is it become very soft after a certain time & breaks down into a mush - I have been using it for my trees for over 25 years. viewtopic.php?f=17&t=741
  98. foxfish

    Black Bonsai Soil

    Has anyone tried this yet? It looks great.....might be a bit sharp as it looks like lava rock rather than cat litter?
  99. foxfish

    Black Bonsai Soil

    This product look very, very interesting! I would love to see some....just checked out the P&P = 13.95 for the 7tl bag to my address... I will think on this!
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