Polly
Member
- Joined
- 23 May 2009
- Messages
- 183
For those having trouble finding the pink Moler Clay Cat Litter, I have accidentally found a dark grey version (with some pink bits !)
Colombo Flora Mano Base Black sold by Aqua Essentials.
As no one seemed to have tried this, I took a chance on buying it. I loved using the Cat Litter, still have 2 bags of it which were used in my aquarium. But I hate the colour of it, preferring a darker substrate. I used Limpopo sand for a while, but never got the same growth with the plants, and over quite a short time, it seemed to lose colour, getting lighter.
I switched to Colombo Flora Mano Base in December last year as I had to relocate, and the aquarium was stripped down to move it.
Followed the instructions of 3 rinses and the substrate went in. Planted up fine - same deal as cat litter. Granules same as Cat Litter - range from 1mm to around 4mm random rounded shapes - not balls. Water cleared by the next morning. Sparkling the day after
Not sure if it's because of our very soft water here, but the only problem I had was GH started rising, and it took a week or two to settle. Daily large water changes until it did. But I had that happen with the cat litter when new too - Sorted by a 3 week soak in a large bucket with daily flushing. I should have anticipated that, but 10 years is a long time.
9 months on and I'm really happy with it. It's behaving exactly like the Cat Litter and no sign of softening or breaking down.
Images from when I set it up last December.
Colombo Flora Mano Base Black sold by Aqua Essentials.
As no one seemed to have tried this, I took a chance on buying it. I loved using the Cat Litter, still have 2 bags of it which were used in my aquarium. But I hate the colour of it, preferring a darker substrate. I used Limpopo sand for a while, but never got the same growth with the plants, and over quite a short time, it seemed to lose colour, getting lighter.
I switched to Colombo Flora Mano Base in December last year as I had to relocate, and the aquarium was stripped down to move it.
Followed the instructions of 3 rinses and the substrate went in. Planted up fine - same deal as cat litter. Granules same as Cat Litter - range from 1mm to around 4mm random rounded shapes - not balls. Water cleared by the next morning. Sparkling the day after
Not sure if it's because of our very soft water here, but the only problem I had was GH started rising, and it took a week or two to settle. Daily large water changes until it did. But I had that happen with the cat litter when new too - Sorted by a 3 week soak in a large bucket with daily flushing. I should have anticipated that, but 10 years is a long time.
9 months on and I'm really happy with it. It's behaving exactly like the Cat Litter and no sign of softening or breaking down.
Images from when I set it up last December.
