# Which Tesco Cat Litter To Use ?



## Kristoph91 (31 Mar 2012)

Going to set up my 30L soon, and thought I'd ask the UKAPS community for some advice first.
I'm going to go with cat litter I think. I have some Osmocote that I received from someone kind on UKAPS for underneath the substrate. 

Just the final question now, which one to use?
Obviously I won't use the "clumping" one  I'm sure that would become a huge mess...
Which is the most practical, and best looking to get from Tesco?

Also - whats the procedure with preparing it ?
Rinse rinse rinse or is there something special I have to do with it first?

Advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Kris


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## Antipofish (31 Mar 2012)

Hey Kris.

Use this one....http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/Details/?id=265235247  This is the one everyone usually uses.  

It MUST be washed and washed and washed and washed and washed and washed..... get the idea ?  Wash it till it runs clear and there is NO SMELL at all.  THEN wash it again !  I did not wash it and ended up with a horrid stink in my tank which, because I had other stuff in there too, would NOT go away.  Personally, for a 30L tank, I would say dont scrimp as proper substrate wont cost a lot.  OR alternatively use AKADAMA ... theres loads of info on it on here if you do a search, but James' blog is very useful too... http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/akadama.htm 

Oh, and if you do decide to stick with the cat litter, did I say ?

*WASH IT AND THEN WASH IT SOME MORE ! ! !*


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## Kristoph91 (31 Mar 2012)

Thanks for the instructions Antipofish..
Should I wash it then ? 

Seriously though, thanks for the links  I'll try out the cat litter for a while, then when I'm home next, a friend said he will give me some Akadama if I would like to change over. He uses it for bonsai or something! 

But I will be sure to wash it, I wont be planting it for a while so if there is a smell out of the tank after a few weeks - I can just DUMP it. 

Cheers,
Kris


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## dw1305 (31 Mar 2012)

Hi all,


> It MUST be washed and washed and washed and washed and washed and washed


 This made me laugh,  I put some in a tank about a year ago, and I needed to move the tank the other day, when I drained it down to the substrate I could still smell the original aroma. It has had a pair of _Parosphromenus_, possibly (_P. deissneri_) for the last month, so it doesn't seem to effect water quality to badly if you can't remove the smell completely.

cheers Darrel


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## Kristoph91 (31 Mar 2012)

At least it didnt affect the fish?
If you dont mind me asking Darrel, where did you get the Licorice gouramis ?
I havent seen them for sale ANYWHERE!

Kris


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## Antipofish (31 Mar 2012)

dw1305 said:
			
		

> Hi all,
> 
> 
> > It MUST be washed and washed and washed and washed and washed and washed
> ...



LOL Glad it made someone laugh, cos I was spitting tacks Darrel.  I could not believe it cos so many people said it was easy but for some reason the stuff in it that gives it the odour mixed badly with the JBL aquabasis+ and I ended up with a really nasty smell.  Had to rip it all out and start afresh with florabase.  I have to say, i would NEVER use cat litter again, though I know people have success with it.  I found it a horrid material to use; it was so light it flew around the tank at the slightest disturbance.  I guess we get tainted with bad experience.  I would try Akadama though.


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## Tomfish (31 Mar 2012)

If its useful there is a link on mikeappleby's bookcase tank journal for a bonsia site selling the same moler clay used in cat litter without the annoying purfume, and its cheap.


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## Aqua sobriquet (1 Apr 2012)

I bought some of the Tesco stuff recently and if it was "perfumed" it must be pretty mild. It's also quite fine compared to some of the bonsai stuff I've seen which is nice. Given the product is made of clay I wasn't surprised it needed quite a bit of rinsing ... £2.95 is also a very good price for 10 litres!


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## dw1305 (1 Apr 2012)

Hi all,


> If you dont mind me asking Darrel, where did you get the Licorice gouramis ? I havent seen them for sale ANYWHERE!


 No I've only ever seen them the once, I got them from Maidenhead Aquatics at the Garden Centre at Hick's Gate, Keynsham, Bristol just over a month ago. 

I'd been to a funeral and I didn't really want to go back to work for a bit longer, as I was (am still) struggling a bit to come to terms with a sudden and entirely unexpected death. It is quite a  big shop and they had a 12 tank stand  with shrimps an micro-fish, Chilli Rapsbora etc.

I started talking to the guy who worked in the shop about how well the planted/nano stuff sold, partially  because they had some more unusual fish - _Pseudepiplatys annulatus_, Norman's Lamp-eye etc. and he said "_we've had these Liquorice Gouramis for several months...._".

I could only find one obvious female, and I'm still not entirely sure that the male and female are the same species, and they don't know what species they are, but I bought the pair for £7.

cheers Darrel


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## Kristoph91 (1 Apr 2012)

I'm sorry to hear about your loss Darrel.

I was going to get some Chili Rasbora from Kesgrave Tropicals, they were a great price.. But they're ridiculously small!
I'd be afraid they'd be sucked into a filter intake, no matter what the flow level.

That's lucky eh! Hopefully its a pair, I'd be hassling you for their fry! 
Thats a good price though. 

Kris


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## dw1305 (2 Apr 2012)

Hi all,


> I was going to get some Chili Rasbora from Kesgrave Tropicals, they were a great price.. But they're ridiculously small! I'd be afraid they'd be sucked into a filter intake, no matter what the flow level.


 I liked the look of these in the shop, (_Boraras brigittae_) much more than I'd expected, they looked really lively in the shop and were a great colour. 

Size wouldn't worry me as I have a sponge filter on all my filter intakes. If you use a coarse PPI10 sponge, and keep it clean, it has little effect on water flow and makes the tanks shrimp/fry safe.

cheers Darrel


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## GHNelson (2 Apr 2012)

Hi
As Darrel says cover your inlet with a sponge.
Fluval do a smaller sponge that fits over a 12/16mm nano glass lily pipe.
hoggie


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