Cat Litter, Please Tell Me Why

[Spurry]

Right may sound dumb to some but I'm curious and want to
Know why people are using it and it's pro's and cons if any
I always though when cat litter got wet it went to mush and
Please no don't let the cat #101## on it joke, from what I see on here it look smart in the tank

So please ones you have stopped laughing tell me what I'm missing...

 

[fishprotector]

The cheap unscented stuff is effectively just clay. This absorbs nutrients and releases them slowly, thus allowing for lush plant growth if the other factors are there (light, co2 etc...)

 

[Spurry]

Ok as its clay does it not absorb the water and revert back to being soft

 

[wirralbull]

i have just started using it. tesco low dust. it is granualated. i guess its baked. i think it looks really good.needs to be washed alot before use.

 

[pdludbrooke]

Ok as its clay does it not absorb the water and revert back to being soft

The grey cat litter (Fullers earth) turns to mush and trebles in space, I tried this first and coated with an inch of sand, don't know if it works for plants, gave up and tried the low odour stuff from tesco, currently cycling my tank (for the first time) with it, does look good, will see how it holds plants, took me ages to clean out my tank after the grey stuff (fullers earth)

 

[Tizer]

my tank as i took out the clay and sand that was on top :

Bloody horrible job, will never do that again and that pic was before I even started on the clay, I shiver at the thought of it.

 

[OldMan47]

The clay in typical cat litter has been dried to form a hard clay. It will no more break down than other things made of clay like pottery. As stated above, it does make a decent planting substrate because it is porous and absorbs nutrients that can then be released.