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is that Cat liter good for soil ?

eminor

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Joined
5 Feb 2021
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784
Location
France
Hello, i've read cat litter topic but my english have some limits and there is some things that i have hard time to understand, does anybody know if that kind of cat liter okay for aquarium use ? thx

Here it what they say about it:
Tom&Co Cat litter, ultra fine granules, odor control, very absorbent, low dust. - Clumping- Super absorbent- Compact cat litter Tom & Co compact cat litter is made of small fine granules of Bentonite. This 100% natural clay has the main characteristic of forming agglomerates in the presence of liquids, facilitating their elimination. In contact with liquids, the clay granules agglomerate and solidify, neutralizing odors and preventing bacterial proliferation. They form compact balls that are easy to remove. By removing them regularly, your pet's tank will remain clean and healthy.




tomco-litiere-bentonite-ultra-compact-6l.jpg
 
Hi, if its Bentonite I would expect it to soften and disintegrate after soaking for a while.
I have used moler clay cat litter which is pink but turns brown when wet. This doesn't break down , still ok after 10 years.
Cheers
 
Hi, if its Bentonite I would expect it to soften and disintegrate after soaking for a while.
I have used moler clay cat litter which is pink but turns brown when wet. This doesn't break down , still ok after 10 years.
Cheers
I see, i have another one which seems better ? 100% green clay from silicate, i have hard time finding moler clay in France, does the litter need to be clumping or not ? thx
B2CD


Ingredients : 100% Velay clay Absorbency of the litter : 75 % minimum Apparent density : 900 g/L pH : 8- 9 Grain size : less than 0.5 mm : 3% from 0.5 to 6 mm : 96% over 6 mm : 1% Net weight : 9 kg
 
You want the one that has very hard grains, it feels like rough gravel and is impossible to crush with your fingers.
It is called Moler clay, it is used for cat litter, bonsai soil and for soaking up chemicals especially oil.
 
Thx maybe i'll use akadama, easier to get.

Btw what happens if the clay disintegrates into powder clay, the CEC drops ? Or maybe the clay mixes with the water ?
 
With akadama, it will dissolve over time, Moler clay will not.
I see, what's the problem with it dissolving exactly (exept losing some of it when water change) ? moler clay cost as much as aquasoil here including transport
 
Last edited:
Well the problem is when you disturb it,…. it can form a cloud of brown mist.
However akadama will take some time to break down, maybe a year before it becomes mud.
There are quite a few grades available, the more expensive ones may last longer.
Akadama was at one time a popular choice!
 
We’ve got a similar product here in the US used for spills and cleanup called Safe T Sorb. It’s montmorillonite calcined clay that has excellent CEC and is a popular budget option for substrate. The only downside is it’s super light weight, and it will strip the water column of nutrients and carbonates but everyone’s mileage varies. There are some claims of disaster and others that praise it. I personally utilized it but not by itself and have no complaints. For a hard water tank it would actually be beneficial to help reduce the kH but there is no data to support how much it will remove and for how long.
 
Hi all,
We’ve got a similar product here in the US used for spills and cleanup called Safe T Sorb. It’s montmorillonite calcined clay that has excellent CEC and is a popular budget option for substrate.
I think this is similar to the <"Danish"> <"Moler clay"> cat-litter that people have been using in the UK. I'm guessing that these absorbent clay granules are cheaper to buy in the US, because they work out quite expensive in the UK.

I didn't look closely at the spec. for the last lot I bought, but when they turned up they weren't clay at all but sawdust based, so OK for spills, but not ideal for tanks.

cheers Darrel
 
Well the problem is when you disturb it,…. it can form a cloud of brown mist.
However akadama will take some time to break down, maybe a year before it becomes mud.
There are quite a few grades available, the more expensive ones may last longer.
Akadama was at one time a popular choice!

You should indeed try to get the Extra Hard Akadama... From 2015 I had a tank running up till 2019 with Extra Hard Akadama as substrate. After that, I threw it in a plant pot. it was still pretty hard and I still grow some herbs in this pot in the garden today. :)
 
Actually I am finding it hard to find suitable cat litter, I went to three outlets today and could not get ant moler clay cat litter!
Apparently it has lost its popularity as it was never a big seller… so I have been told!
 
Actually I am finding it hard to find suitable cat litter, I went to three outlets today and could not get ant moler clay cat litter!
Apparently it has lost its popularity as it was never a big seller… so I have been told!

It might be a popular lady's thing and most of them like it perfumed or cats are stinky beasts... I sometimes buy cat litter now and then in case, because I have a cat. If he can't get out for whatever reason he has a place to drop. And out of curiosity I always look but indeed all I see has perfume added to mask odour issues. That's a no-go for an aquarium.
 
Well I can confirm that Sanicat pink is no longer available or at least not being supplied!
Several large stores confirmed that they are long longer able to get Moler clay cat litter.
In fact I wonder about moler clay in general because none of my locale garages sell oil spill moler clay granules either, I asked and was told it has not been available for 6 months.
Our local bonsai club is distraught with this situation as we are all just about to start repotting …..
 
Well I can confirm that Sanicat pink is no longer available or at least not being supplied!
Several large stores confirmed that they are long longer able to get Moler clay cat litter.
In fact I wonder about moler clay in general because none of my locale garages sell oil spill moler clay granules either, I asked and was told it has not been available for 6 months.
Our local bonsai club is distraught with this situation as we are all just about to start repotting …..
The thing I don't get is that Sanicat had just changed the packaging to Kittyfriend pink. Why would you change the packaging on a line you were about to discontinue? Seems strange. Another thing I've noticed was that a lot of top bonsai artists developed their collection of trees using Moler Clay, but now slate it and promote Akadama instead, mixed with lava rock and pumice. This seems to have happened since the ProBio range hit the scene with their live bacteria cultures. Correlation or causation? I don't know. Maybe it was Brexit?

I notice that there are still a few sellers of Kittyfriend pink on Amazon, although, the price is starting to increase a lot. Kaizen bonsai also sell it, but the price is double what I would expect to see Moler Clay sell for when you consider Sanicat sold it in 30 litre bags and Kaizen do it at 14 litres.

I mean, logically, I've always thought Moler would be superior to stuff like Akadama because it doesn't break down. Even more, Do we even need nutrient rich, high CEC substrates to grow mostly water column feeders? MD Fishtanks and Diana Walstad etc don't believe the hype and they seem to be having fun, right?
 
For anyone still looking for Moler Clay Cat Litter, I accidentally found an alternative.

Colombo Mano Base Black, is a dark grey version of the Cat Litter used in Aquariums.

It's very dark grey inthe bag, and if you wet it, looks black. But once in the tank looks like the image
20221203_175312.jpg
20221203_175407.jpg
Screenshot_20230928_202638_Samsung Internet.jpg

It can be bought from Aqua Essentials and Amazon uk.
 
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