New to planted tanks, lighting question...

**GDominy** · 07-23-2003, 11:08 PM

I almost went the kitty litter route, but decided against it for a number of reasons. The idea was very intruiging to me, but I found that the benefits of using Soil were just as sound, and the risk of melting/compaction was reduced.

I have 3 soil tanks on the go, The 90 gallon was the first, but the soil is capped with large grade pea gravel to make it look like a river bottom. At this point the MTS snails are churning the soil up to the surface though, so it has this really neat natural look to it.

The second was my 7.5 gallon tank for the Croaking gourami. After many water changes the soil just ended up mixed inwith everything, but again, the botom looks very natural, like a still pond or a swamp.

The third is just starting, and its a secret untill I can get some pictures ;-)

dosmond · 07-24-2003, 02:18 AM

Hi guys, I know everyone keeps mentioning the Wal-Mart Special Kitty litter. Is that the clumping one which is pure (sodium?) bentonite. Thanks, I'm thinking about experimenting on my 10 gallon before I go looking for a used 30 to play with. Man this hobby can get expensive. Thanks

This may be old but I found an article on the net that laid out the mineral content etc. of various substrates including kitty litter, flourite and laterite. http://home.infinet.net/teban/jamie.htm Hope you find it interesting.

Wasserpest · 07-24-2003, 03:36 PM

Special Kitty:
controls odors naturally -- fragrance free -- highly absorbent -- low dust

It's the cheapest... The key here is "fragrance free", otherwise you could turn your tank into detergent soup.

dosmond · 07-24-2003, 10:09 PM

Thanks, fragrance free almost goes without saying in my household as I can't stand most of the fragrances that they come up with anyway

. So when I was looking at Wal-Mart most of the boxes, bags said clumping but I did notice one that didn't. Does it make a difference (I'm not sure which one was the cheapest). Thanks

**GDominy** · 07-24-2003, 10:52 PM

You dont want clumping :-)

Wasserpest · 07-24-2003, 10:52 PM

It is called SPECIAL KITTY in 25lb bags. Doesn't say anything about clumping...

dosmond · 07-25-2003, 02:26 AM

Thanks, that's what I thought but I figured it wouldn't hurt to double check.

07-24-2003, 02:18 AM	#17
dosmond Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: May 2003 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 17	Hi guys, I know everyone keeps mentioning the Wal-Mart Special Kitty litter. Is that the clumping one which is pure (sodium?) bentonite. Thanks, I'm thinking about experimenting on my 10 gallon before I go looking for a used 30 to play with. Man this hobby can get expensive. Thanks This may be old but I found an article on the net that laid out the mineral content etc. of various substrates including kitty litter, flourite and laterite. http://home.infinet.net/teban/jamie.htm Hope you find it interesting. __________________ ---------------------------------------- 10 Gallon Tank, 28 watt CF,DIY CO2, pH 6.8 KH 80ppm, 4.5dKH java ferns, wisteria, dwarf saggitaria,Water Primrose too many guppies to count,1 Kuhli Loach, 2 oto's

07-24-2003, 03:36 PM	#18
Wasserpest Are these real? (View User Tanks) PTrader: (140/100%) Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Monterey, CA Posts: 14,643	Special Kitty: controls odors naturally -- fragrance free -- highly absorbent -- low dust It's the cheapest... The key here is "fragrance free", otherwise you could turn your tank into detergent soup. __________________ All my tanks Autodosing Water Change Temperature Monitoring Cheap Filter The Wasser-Controller

07-24-2003, 10:09 PM	#19
dosmond Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: May 2003 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 17	Thanks, fragrance free almost goes without saying in my household as I can't stand most of the fragrances that they come up with anyway . So when I was looking at Wal-Mart most of the boxes, bags said clumping but I did notice one that didn't. Does it make a difference (I'm not sure which one was the cheapest). Thanks __________________ ---------------------------------------- 10 Gallon Tank, 28 watt CF,DIY CO2, pH 6.8 KH 80ppm, 4.5dKH java ferns, wisteria, dwarf saggitaria,Water Primrose too many guppies to count,1 Kuhli Loach, 2 oto's

07-24-2003, 10:52 PM	#21
Wasserpest Are these real? (View User Tanks) PTrader: (140/100%) Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Monterey, CA Posts: 14,643	It is called SPECIAL KITTY in 25lb bags. Doesn't say anything about clumping... __________________ All my tanks Autodosing Water Change Temperature Monitoring Cheap Filter The Wasser-Controller

07-25-2003, 02:26 AM	#22
dosmond Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: May 2003 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 17	Thanks, that's what I thought but I figured it wouldn't hurt to double check. __________________ ---------------------------------------- 10 Gallon Tank, 28 watt CF,DIY CO2, pH 6.8 KH 80ppm, 4.5dKH java ferns, wisteria, dwarf saggitaria,Water Primrose too many guppies to count,1 Kuhli Loach, 2 oto's

07-23-2003, 11:08 PM	#16
GDominy Planted Tank VIP (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Victoria,British Columbia, Canada Posts: 3,276	I almost went the kitty litter route, but decided against it for a number of reasons. The idea was very intruiging to me, but I found that the benefits of using Soil were just as sound, and the risk of melting/compaction was reduced. I have 3 soil tanks on the go, The 90 gallon was the first, but the soil is capped with large grade pea gravel to make it look like a river bottom. At this point the MTS snails are churning the soil up to the surface though, so it has this really neat natural look to it. The second was my 7.5 gallon tank for the Croaking gourami. After many water changes the soil just ended up mixed inwith everything, but again, the botom looks very natural, like a still pond or a swamp. The third is just starting, and its a secret untill I can get some pictures ;-)

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