Cat Litter

[isadorala]

Hey, I wondered if anyone had any experience with using cat litter as a substrate (obviously the clay, non perfumed variety) with corries?

 

[Animal Lover 2000]

that probably wont work they will die
it will clump
no matter whaty kind you use it wount work
get some sand

 

[SombreroBanana]

that probably wont work they will die
it will clump
no matter whaty kind you use it wount work
get some sand

Tons of people use cat litter as substrate, it works fine.

 

[tribalbrit]

that probably wont work they will die
it will clump
no matter whaty kind you use it wount work
get some sand

I have cat litter and cories. No problem..

 

[Salam]

that probably wont work they will die
it will clump
no matter whaty kind you use it wount work
get some sand

Rubbish advice. I also use cat litter with cories. Get the Tesco low dust one (pinkish bag) and it's 100% safe.

 

[dannybgoode]

Interesting there is a huge debate among bonsai owners whether cat litter is suitable for planting bonsai trees in also. My main concern with things like Tesco lightweight and Sophisticat pink (the two main ones used by bonsai growers) is that they contain perfumes etc and whilst these may not have any adverse affects I wouldn't want them a) near my trees or b) in my fish tank.

That said, and as you can see from the above replies, plenty of people do use it and are very happy with it (as they are in the world of bonsai). Just make sure you get the right one otherwise it will clump horribly!

There are plenty of unperfumed molar clay (which is all this stuff is afterall). The stuff garages use to soak up oil spills with often works and various bonsai nurseries sell unperfuemed stuff as well.

Or, you could go for Akadama which is a pure natural Japanese clay - again your local friendly bonsai nursery is the way to go. Its more expensive but top quality stuff.

Cheers

Danny B

 

[Animal Lover 2000]

i did not know that i just though...

 

[minnnt]

The problem with Akadema and the sorts is cost. Tesco LDCL is £3 for a 10kg bag. Excellent for people on a budget, for people not on a budget then you might aswell buy a proper aqua soil.

 

[daz4321]

after a few years of testing various 'specialist' substrates I now only use the cat litter, it's cheap and is as good if not better than some 'specialist' substrates, the only fault with it imo is the colour but then once the plants have grown you don't see much of it anyway

 

[sadguppy]

I use the Tesco el cheapo cat litter in one of my tanks. It's tricky to plant in so if that's your intention perhaps a layer underneath or cap it with sand? My cories were fine on it.

 

[raptorrex]

I use the Tesco el cheapo cat litter in one of my tanks. It's tricky to plant in so if that's your intention perhaps a layer underneath or cap it with sand? My cories were fine on it.

+1

 

[DrRob]

I've not had any worries planting in the tesco stuff, to be honest I've generally found sand more difficult to get things to stay put in, but then my sand tanks are all deeper than my cat litter tank.

It is quite light though, compared to gravel, but then so are the aquasoils.

I didn't find that it took all that much washing to get anything perfumed away from the litter, but other people have reported a need to wash lots.

 

[isadorala]

So the general consensus is that it should be ok,
Thanks guys

Lol, I might dabble at having a planted tank, but I'll probably stick to javaferns and anubias to be honest.

 

[dannybgoode]

Lengthy but a healthy debate about the pros and cons of cat litter in the world of bonsai - the same arguments for and against can be applied to fish...

http/weetrees.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=6091&hilit=cat+litter

As it happens, Harry Harrington (respected UK bonsai artist) is all for it and as you can see, others against.

Cheers

Danny B

 

[isadorala]

Ok so I've rinsed the cat litter out for the past hour and a half, and it's still putting a haze of red in my tank

It does look nice however, at least, that what I can see of it now.