[Fish Em]

We are moving soon and I am going to take my plants out of their pots and move them in a bucket. Right now there are dirt and rocks in the pots and I have been thinking what substrate to use because I want to try something new. I was thinking safe t sorb but it seems like more work. My husband got a bag of plain clay cat litter, so I think I will experiment with washing a small amount and seeing what happens for the next few weeks with just cat litter and water in a cup. Has anyone used cat litter for substrate? I was reading some really positive things, but also people going right to putting in their tank and turned into a cloud/mud disaster.

 

[azazan]

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/29-substrate/55280-have-kitty-litter-substrate-i-do-*pics.html

 

[thedood]

I have never used sts or cat litter as a substrate. From my reading and I may be wrong and if so I am sure I will be corrected but the best thing to do is mineralize it first. My understanding is it is very efficient at pulling carbonates out of the water and will cause a ph drop. While conducting research I read some instances of the cat litter turning to mush over time while sts does not have that issue so in that regard cat litter and sts is not necessarily equivalent. Again this isnt my experience just what I have read. I was actually going to line the bottom of my tank with cat litter and decided against it. I do know the people who use sts have some amazing results.

 

[Fish Em]

I read that thread, that is mostly why I am leaning towards trying cat litter. Jungle vals are my favorite. Mine is growing just fine in dirt, but it is a pain. I guess no one really uses cat litter because it is not very beautiful & Safe t sorb is better looking. Plus all the horror stories. I personally have not read anything about pre charging cat litter, only safe t sorb. I guess if cat litter fails, I will go with safe t sorb for sure. I wanted to hear more peoples input, but again most people prefer to try something nicer looking.

 

[JJ09]

I used safe-t-sorb. I tried to pre-charge it (not sure how well that worked because I've still had to dose full amounts of ferts each week) and I did soak it in baking soda until it quit bouncing the pH around (in a bucket). It does take a lot of rinsing so yeah, quite a bit of work. But it was worth it to me, for the cost. I'm leery of using cat litter. If I need new substrate in future and can't afford something better, I'll use safe-t-sorb again without hesitation.

 

[ROYWS3]

I used cat litter long ago and although I got excellent growth, it does turn really mucky/muddy. I;m going to give saf-t-sorb a try with the next tank I set up

 

[Fish Em]

I used safe-t-sorb. I tried to pre-charge it (not sure how well that worked because I've still had to dose full amounts of ferts each week) and I did soak it in baking soda until it quit bouncing the pH around (in a bucket). It does take a lot of rinsing so yeah, quite a bit of work. But it was worth it to me, for the cost. I'm leery of using cat litter. If I need new substrate in future and can't afford something better, I'll use safe-t-sorb again without hesitation.

I forgot to say thanks for the instructions on safe t sorb from your journal. I probably will end up using it if this cat litter is going to be a mess.

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I used cat litter long ago and although I got excellent growth, it does turn really mucky/muddy. I;m going to give saf-t-sorb a try with the next tank I set up

Good to know.

 

[Maryland Guppy]

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/8895434-post23.html

Close recipe for stable SafeTSorb.
I feel I have been working on it alone.
I hijacked another thread to add my recipe.

 

[Fish Em]

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/8895434-post23.html

Close recipe for stable SafeTSorb.
I feel I have been working on it alone.
I hijacked another thread to add my recipe.

Bookmarking this, thanks

 

[Fish Em]

I opened the cat litter and scooped a bit, rinsed it in a strainer for about 3 minutes. The water was super cloudy and had a lot of sand sized grains. Eventually, it became clear so I put it in a jar. I like how it looks. I am going to leave it a few weeks and poke it once in awhile to see if it ends up breaking down.

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