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Cat litter and Bog wood

My current setup is the first time I have used cat litter and can highly recommend it. At first I was a bit dubious with the smell but this has faded after about 2 months of running. I probably spent an afternoon washing it over and over again in a 5 gallon fermenting bin then left it over night to soak followed by a couple of final rinses before putting it in the tank. At first planting was a bit of a nightmare with plants getting pulled out as I lifted my arm out of the water, probably would have been a lot easier with no water in but I was trying to get a feel of what it was going to look like. Seems to be a lot better now, I guess it must take a while to get fully water logged and compact down a bit. From what I hear some of the expensive purpose made substrates are also very light so from that aspect the saving is definitely worth the money.

One thing I did get caught out with was using an algae magnet to clean the glass. I guess it must be iron rich it sticks to the magnet and it caused a few scratches on my front glass. 😳 All in all I would recommend it.
 
I used molar clay, as its the same as cat litter just unscented, but its still dusty as hell. And if you are going for a planted tank and want the plants to stay down then it can get some what annoying. When ever I put new plants or cuttings in they come loose and float to the top, eventually they will stay down, but it is annoying keep having to go and replant, esp if you got fish that like to investigate the plants. my oto's love pulling my new plants up. I swear they think its a game.

I had play sand before the molar clay, although i really like the colour of the molar clay that I have, sand did hold my plants down better. Its horses for courses really, every one has their own opinion, which makes everyone's tanks different. Today im thinking about going back to sand, tomorrow who knows how I will feel.
 
I swear they think its a game.
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😀I know what you mean. I'm trying my hardest to get some hair grass carpeting and have a pair of Kribs that seem to enjoy ripping it out strand by strand. I even find myself throwing a bit of food in their direction to try and distract them. Only works for a while though!

Where do you get the molar clay from Dan? Can't say I've came across it before. I have been having some bother mainly with stems when I need to have my hands in the tank. Doesn't seem to matter if I try and keep away from potential up-rooters the effect in the water seems to draw them towards you like jelly fish. One thing I have found a little bit of an help is to cut them down really short. They are not as buoyant and hopefully by the time they have grew a bit to want to float away the roots have managed to get hold of something.
 
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