# tesco cat litter cap - didnt rinse, am i in trouble?



## fourmations (9 Dec 2016)

hi all

doing my rescape and didnt have enough akadama to get the slopes i was after
so i bought some tesco cat litter to cap it off, i got the correct variety
i didnt realize it was perfumed, (it doesnt smell) i figured people just rinse it for dust
so anyway i was only using a little bit so i opened the bag and the top layer
was all lovely as the dust settles to the bottom of the bag,
i just chucked in a couple handfuls dry and sure enough the dust was minimal
it made a mad fizzing noise on contact with the water though?
I used some more and rinsed it this time but not like crazy. just for a minute as it wasnt that dusty

so all in all i used about a litre max over about 20l of akadama,  should i be concerned?
(100l tank, no fish, already cycled)

thanks


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## Aqua360 (9 Dec 2016)

I'm surprised you didn't get really bad dust etc, I washed mine for 2 hours straight and still got dust


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## zozo (10 Dec 2016)

I never used it, but since it is clay and most likely unbacked or maybe just heated a bit but more for sterilization.. Same as Akadama, it is useless to wash it, because while washing you soften and dissolve the top layer, it will keep dusting forever till nothing is left.  

Akadama is a simular product, it is best to put it dry in the tank, scape it and cap it with a gravel.. Or if not caped spray it wet for a rather long time with a spray bottle. Than the dust will drain down with the water and accumulate deeper down into the substrate. And after that wait a 24 hours before filling, give the dust and clay the time to slowly absorb all the water.. It will get more sticky and the suction from the absorbing the water will stick the dust to the larger particles. This way i had very little clay dust and cleared withing a few hours.


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## nduli (16 Dec 2016)

Aqua360 said:


> I'm surprised you didn't get really bad dust etc, I washed mine for 2 hours straight and still got dust



just two hrs?  I had it running for 4hrs on the drive in middle of Jan before it dawned on me that I was never going to get it running clear. that was a VERY cold day.

to the OP - the fizzing is not unusual. I'd say its the water pushing air out of the porous clay.
I wouldn't be concerned about putting it in unwashed, I've done similar in the past without issues. keep usual water changes up in cycling and I am sure it will be fine.


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## Polly (20 Dec 2016)

Only a litre?  I doubt you'll have any trouble.

Have tesco started adding scent?  They didn't used to.  The other brand did, and I used that.  Rinsed in a sieve just enough to remove the worst of the dust (seconds not minutes) and yes it does 'fizz'  but then so does activated charcoal.

I was worried about the scent, so ran charcoal in the filter for a week.  Fish didn't care -  thread fins and cories - they were fine.  Water almost clear straight away,  and crystal clear in hours.
Only thing I didn't like was the colour


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## foxfish (20 Dec 2016)

I recently bought a couple of bags of Tesco cat litter, I have been using it for around ten years & as far as can recall, it has always been heavily scented & loaded with dust.
 However it is hard backed and does not break down like akadama.
I use it mainly for potting bonsai, my method of removing the dust is simple and easy but, does require an outdoor space.
I just half fill a 3 gal bucket with the cat litter & run a hose into the bucket so it overflows. You just need to aggravate the cat litter with the hose until it runs clear, about 10 mins work deepening on the hose pipe pressure.
You could use the same method in smaller quantity's in the kitchen sink.


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## dw1305 (21 Dec 2016)

Hi all,





foxfish said:


> I have been using it for around ten years & as far as can recall, it has always been heavily scented & loaded with dust.


I think the same.

I've had it in one tank for ~5 years, and it has lasted really well physically, but it still smelt faintly after initial rinsing and ~18 months in the tank.

If I used it again I would just leave it outside in the rain for several months before use. I did this with another tank, but I replaced it with sand after a little while (I had a hugely over-sized filter, and it would stay on the bottom).

cheers Darrel


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## Rich Lewis (27 Jan 2017)

I use that kind of Tesco litter to plant my bonsai in, we bonsai-ists sometimes nickname it 'Danish Pink'. Wilkinson's sells it in 5L bags for a reasonable price too. I usually put it in an old t shirt with the neck/arms tied up, and wash it through. It's a good way to get the dust out. It's hard baked clay, and will not break down; I've had some outside and exposed to to frost for 5 years and it's still solid. I have used in my planted aquariums in the past, although I'm not fond of the orange colour. It fizzes because air is being driven out of micro pores and cracks on the surface of the grains, great for adsorbing nutrients! I've never known the scent to be harmful to plants or fish; anti-fungal compounds are deadly to conifers in particular because it kills the symbiotic microbes they need around their roots, and D Pink seems to be non-toxic.

Akadama (red balls) is a similar compound, it comes in three different grades (soft to hard). There are several other Japanese bonsai soils such as Kiriyu, which is almost black. Some bonsai soils promote an acidic soil environment (great for for pines and azaleas), whether they'd be good in a tank I don't know. Also, there would be quite a bit of cost attached if you were filling a larger tank, to the point where you'd might as well buy the ADA soils. 

Good luck mate and give us a pic when it's planted


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