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Cat litter

Well my cat litter as been in for almost a year now
and i would like to say with no problems my plants
are growing well my shrimp are breeding and so are the bristle
nose they like it because its easy for them to move they bury
themselves in there cave and dig themselves out to kick all the babies
out and the guppies are doing well as well thinking of doing a 4x2x2 compost
capped with cat litter
 
biffster said:
Well my cat litter as been in for almost a year now

Here's my tank after 6 months of cat litter (well, actually unperfumed molar clay) with EI dosing, and osmocote tabs added in the last few weeks. Shot taken just after a heavy trim of the stems. Right hand side rescaped quite recently so ignore that bit...

2012-09-18%20at%2020-33-15.jpg


2012-09-18%20at%2019-54-25.jpg


Think safe to say it's possible to grow stuff in it!
 
it looks fantastic that wish i could get mine to look like that lol
i will eventually i am picking tips up from other places and people
and i am finding planted tanks very interesting in fact the next
tank i am thinking of do is going to have a very low stocking level
fish wise
 
sr20det said:
Does anyone or has bought cat litter from Tesco recently. Mine hasn't had any for weeks, wonder if its a discontinued line?

Just buy Akadama / bonsai soil. Its better anyway... doesn't have the perfume added ;)
 
Antipofish said:
sr20det said:
Does anyone or has bought cat litter from Tesco recently. Mine hasn't had any for weeks, wonder if its a discontinued line?

Just buy Akadama / bonsai soil. Its better anyway... doesn't have the perfume added ;)
Not really mate as akadama will go soft when it gets wet!
 
foxfish said:
Antipofish said:
sr20det said:
Does anyone or has bought cat litter from Tesco recently. Mine hasn't had any for weeks, wonder if its a discontinued line?

Just buy Akadama / bonsai soil. Its better anyway... doesn't have the perfume added ;)
Not really mate as akadama will go soft when it gets wet!

Thats the first I have head about it, and lots of guys on here swear by it. Maybe you had a bad batch or the wrong stuff.
 
Hi folks - am really intrigued about the whole cat litter debate lol !

Im looking for a good substrate to grow plants in, because im trying to keep german blue rams, and need to reduce the amount of nitrates in my water (varies between 20-40ppm :( ) so im going the plant route. I also need to reduce the pH in my water which stand at 8.2 out the tap and about 7.6 in the tank with a few pieces of bogwood, a few plants, and a couple of indian almond leaves, playsand substrate. Using Easy-Life Easycarbo and ProFito. Its also hard-very hard (sorry dont know reading but all i know is its bloomin hard lol)

So...is there a substrate which is good for plants AND reduces pH and hardness of water?

I did consider peat in the filter, but unsure on the substrate to tackle all of the above problems!! Will prob keep some of my corys in the tank too.

Thanks in advace for advice! :D
 
Antipofish said:
sr20det said:
Does anyone or has bought cat litter from Tesco recently. Mine hasn't had any for weeks, wonder if its a discontinued line?

Just buy Akadama / bonsai soil. Its better anyway... doesn't have the perfume added ;)

Problem I have is it needs to be inert. Want to maintain hard water ish. Akadema reduces ph from my understanding.
 
Just buy Akadama / bonsai soil. Its better anyway... doesn't have the perfume added ;)[/quote]
Not really mate as akadama will go soft when it gets wet![/quote]

Thats the first I have head about it, and lots of guys on here swear by it. Maybe you had a bad batch or the wrong stuff.[/quote]

No mate, I keep over 100 bonsai trees & have been using akadama for 30 years, it turns into mush when wet.

There are a number of grades of Akadama available including 'Double Redline' that is more costly but, is of premium quality and less likely to break down as quickly as the regular akadama products.

In the tank, permantly submerged, it will turn back into a liquid clay over time & is a nightmare when disturbed. This does not happen overnight but over a period of time depending on the quality & grade of akadama - hard baked clay like 'cat litter' is a different end product as it has been superheated & remains hard when wet.
 
Danny said:
Bought some about 2 weeks ago I guess, got two extra bags as it does sell out quickly lol

I have 1 bag, but need more, and my local Extra (massive store) is where I got it from hasnt had any for about 3-4 wks. Only got stacks of the clumping stuff.

May try another store.
 
Danny said:
If your this way any time go to the one at Colney Hatch lane ( Frien Barnet ) beside the North circ, that is our local and almost always has the stuff.

well i usually go to the Beckton (A406/A13) one, due to its mahoosiveness, but Bow is prob closest, so will pop down there. I have one near work, so may pop down in my lunch one evening if my local lacks any too.
 
My ( what will be shrimp tank ) has been running with CL for 3 weeks now and after a couple of water changes there is no smell of the CL what so ever, just the normal fish tank smell same as the main tank.

CL is easy and cheap as chips, everyone has a Tesco local to them and can just pop in and get some ( when in stock lol ) I rinsed half at a bag at a time in a bucket 5 times and chucked it in, tank was crystal clear within 24hrs and has been since.

There is a slight dust that came up for a while when it was disturbed but that went in no time. I have it in my main tank also and IMO the stuff is great, it is a bit light and disturbed easily but with 2-3" planting with tweezers or other tool is easy and the plants hold fine.

Wish I had got on this stuff a long time ago :thumbup:
 
sr20det said:
Antipofish said:
sr20det said:
Does anyone or has bought cat litter from Tesco recently. Mine hasn't had any for weeks, wonder if its a discontinued line?

Just buy Akadama / bonsai soil. Its better anyway... doesn't have the perfume added ;)

Problem I have is it needs to be inert. Want to maintain hard water ish. Akadema reduces ph from my understanding.

Practically every professional grade planted substrate reduces pH. Why is that a bad thing ? I have colombo florabase and it reduces my tap pH water to 6.4. I couldn't be happier about that personally.
 
mikeappleby said:
Really don't understand why people don't buy molar clay online - link earlier in this thread - same stuff as tesco cat litter, but smaller grain size, no perfume, cheaper and delivered...

Where can you get 10l of molar clay for £2.95? Would love to know, coz not only does this Tesco cat litter stink, but Ive just spent an hour rinsing one bag of it and its still very much throwing up lots of dust :crazy:

Isn't the perfume harmul to fish?
 
fluffycabbage said:
mikeappleby said:
Really don't understand why people don't buy molar clay online - link earlier in this thread - same stuff as tesco cat litter, but smaller grain size, no perfume, cheaper and delivered...

Where can you get 10l of molar clay for £2.95? Would love to know, coz not only does this Tesco cat litter stink, but Ive just spent an hour rinsing one bag of it and its still very much throwing up lots of dust :crazy:

Isn't the perfume harmul to fish?


I wanted to buy this http://www.bonsai.co.uk/30-Litre-Graded-Moler-Clay.html but out of stock :(
 
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