Using A Cat Litter Substate

[coldcazzie]

also, your Avatar message intrigues me.....

What's to intrigue... it's pretty straightforward I figured it out within about 3 hours. (sorry SBS! )

As for the clay, I guess you can't prove where it's from. You just have to hope it's in some way beneficial... I've never used cat litter, but I'd give it a go. I used JBL Aquabasis+, and while I've nothing abd to sway about it, I don't have anything to compare it to, and it was really expensive, so I doubt I'll buy it again...

 

[RadaR]

"How can one be sure that the clay used in the litter is of a type of clay that has been exposed to the proper geological conditions as to develop the ability to
attract the positively charged ions of the trace elements? "

To the person who wrote that....TEST IT. That's how things are figured out.

 

[StandbySetting]

Haha, no worries, I'm surprised more haven't twigged by now.

Nutrients form compounds with no resultant charge, so negative sites wont play much a role, London Dispersion Forces will however, and they will occur irrespective of negatively charged sites, they occur between all molecules as the atoms the molecules are comprised of have some form of charge.

 

[ZoddyZod]

What's to intrigue... it's pretty straightforward I figured it out within about 3 hours. (sorry SBS! )

I was trying to be subtle...

Nutrients form compounds with no resultant charge, so negative sites wont play much a role, London Dispersion Forces will however, and they will occur irrespective of negatively charged sites, they occur between all molecules as the atoms the molecules are comprised of have some form of charge.

So if I decipher that correctly, it really doesn't matter if there is a negative charge in the clay or not.

To the person who wrote that....TEST IT. That's how things are figured out.

fair point - but how would someone go about doing that themselves?


And to add.....what are we all doing on here on a Friday night

 

[coldcazzie]

What's to intrigue... it's pretty straightforward I figured it out within about 3 hours. (sorry SBS! )

I was trying to be subtle...

Lol. Well the effort was admirable

Nutrients form compounds with no resultant charge, so negative sites wont play much a role, London Dispersion Forces will however, and they will occur irrespective of negatively charged sites, they occur between all molecules as the atoms the molecules are comprised of have some form of charge.

So if I decipher that correctly, it really doesn't matter if there is a negative charge in the clay or not.

Pretty much.

And to add.....what are we all doing on here on a Friday night

Well me and thee have many spawn, thus negating any attempt to have a social life in any form other than talking online to people we'ce never actually met, and sporadic phone calls to other parents who are just as batty due to enforced hermitism by other tiny monsters. SBS's too young to go out drinking legally yet (although in all fairness that never stopped me lol). Dunno about RadaR though...

Haha, no worries, I'm surprised more haven't twigged by now.

They will now

 

[RadaR]

Good substrate article as reccomended by Tom Barr.

 

[ZoddyZod]

Good substrate article as reccomended by Tom Barr.

good read and provided no objections to using cat litter.....except "may cloud the water". But I presume that will be overcome by making sure the litter is well capped by sand.

 

[ZoddyZod]

Opened the cat litter last night - there is some rather small particulate in the bag.

What's the best way to put this in? Would a good approach to be to add it, add some water to about half the height of the litter and let it soak up/clump, then top with the sand?

 

[StandbySetting]

Whenever I've used it I've put everything in dry and then filled with air line, one tip I do have though is create and island with the cat litter leaving a 2cm gap between cat litter and glass around the perimeter of the tank, then you wont see it when the sand is in.

 

[ZoddyZod]

Whenever I've used it I've put everything in dry and then filled with air line, one tip I do have though is create and island with the cat litter leaving a 2cm gap between cat litter and glass around the perimeter of the tank, then you wont see it when the sand is in.

ahhhh, good tip!

That's my evening sorted then.

 

[coldcazzie]

That's my evening sorted then.

What an exciting life you lead!

 

[ZoddyZod]

What an exciting life you lead!

That's nothing! I trimmed the backing on Sunday. My heart is still slowing down.....

 

[coldcazzie]

What an exciting life you lead!

That's nothing! I trimmed the backing on Sunday. My heart is still slowing down.....

Woah! All I did was rearrange stems!

 

[ZoddyZod]

put the cat litter and sand in last night. About 1cm of of litter and 7cm of sand (added more sand as found some of the litter esacping from only 4-5cm of it).

 

[Tizer]

I filled my tank up with a hose the other day and it blasted the sand away and then some cat litter, a little messy! soon sorted it though with some extra sand on top