Cat Litter Substrate?

[fifefish]

I just had a look on the bag of cat litter,
it says "extremely toxic to aquatic life"
obviously they have thought about aquarists on the packaging..
oh well ive opted to get some tetra complete substrate.. doesn't cost that much,

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

I think I have to agree and say that although it may be a cheap fix, it is probably safer to pay a little extra and know it is completely aquarium safe. It's kind of funny as I was just talking to someone on a local based forum who wanted to add crushed glass as a substrate You would be surprised what some people do though to save some money these days, like a girl who was feeding her walking catfish dog food

 

[Dave Spencer]

this comes close to one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard in my entire life!

That is a very TFF statement IMO. Take a look around planted tank forums and you will see it is a popular substrate, due to its CEC. The stuff they use on baseball fields is quite popular in the US, too.

Dave.

 

[dthoffsett]

That is a very TFF statement IMO.
Dave.

You know Dave, I take offense to that, not all of us here are closed to new ideas or different techniques, and I very much dislike it when someone assumes everyone is a certain way just because a few are. I have no intention of starting an argument but if this entire site is so closed minded why are you here?

 

[baron von bubba]

I would imagine it has perfumes or dyes that would be harmful to the fish, aside from that since it is clumping litter it would clump as soon as it hits the water. I suppose you could do a post-apocalyptic cement rubble theme until the litter dissolved. Actually that sounds kind of cool.

a lot of people use cat litter that is clay based as an under substrate which is then capped with sand...its full of nutrients such as iron, potassium, nitrogen, phosphorous etc. which plants can use

i dont believe it contains any nutrients.

it in fact by its nature (a high CEC) takes nutrients form the water column and "stores" for the plants roots to utilize.

 

[Truck]

I would imagine it has perfumes or dyes that would be harmful to the fish, aside from that since it is clumping litter it would clump as soon as it hits the water. I suppose you could do a post-apocalyptic cement rubble theme until the litter dissolved. Actually that sounds kind of cool.

a lot of people use cat litter that is clay based as an under substrate which is then capped with sand...its full of nutrients such as iron, potassium, nitrogen, phosphorous etc. which plants can use

i dont believe it contains any nutrients.

it in fact by its nature (a high CEC) takes nutrients form the water column and "stores" for the plants roots to utilize.

yeah thats correct