Kitty Litter refugium Q's....

Rebuilt my refugium with approx 2 inches of "Special Kitty" with an inch of coarse live aragonite on top (from previous fuge). No rinsing, put in moistened into the empty chamber packed into place with aragonite on top, then careful not to disturb when filling. Too soon for effects but I am hopeful.

 

sorry for bringing up old post but idk where to post and this seamas like the right place.
so if i put let say 3" of litter and then this on top Brightwell Aquatics KoraLagoon Refugium Substrate 1.4 kg
and then sand would that be the best or just kitty liter and sand

 

Thanks in advanced

 

Do y'all think Oil-Dri can be used in a fuge as well?

It's just another form of Georgia clay, I've even been to the mine where they collect it from.

 

I have used clay litter DSB in a few systems now and have never had any issues. I've always wondered about a few things though. I'll be completing an article for reefs.com on the use of litter as substrate in the fuge, the benefits or drawbacks and if it really is a money saver. All of the comparative scientific information will come from soil analysis performed by the lab at SDSU. I'm sending samples of

Fiji Gold

CaribSea Mineral Mud

SpecialKitty 100% clay cat box litter (3 samples of dry/3 samples taken from litter in use in my system)

The hold up has been obtaining a legal tidal mud flat sample. All requests for info sent to the Florida Fish & Wildlife asking how to obtain permission to collect 3 small samples have gone either unanswered or ignored.

Samples will be analysed for
Total Exchange Capacity (T.E.C.)
Soil pH
Organic Matter (Humus) as percent
Nitrogen (N released from colloidal humus)
Sulfate (Expressed as elemental sulfur) in ppm
Phosphates (as P205)
Percent Base Saturation of:
Calcium,
Magnesium,
Potassium,
Sodium,
Other Bases
Exchangeable Hydrogen
Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, and Sodium levels
Trace elements:
Boron in ppm
Iron in ppm
Manganese in ppm
Copper in ppm
Zinc in ppm
Cobalt in ppm
Molybdenum in ppm
Chlorides in ppm, Salt Concentration in d/Sm
Aluminum
Limestone Analysis
Compost Analysis

 

Wow. Im glad I saw this post. I was about to drop a bunch of money on fuge mud. Ill pass on that now!

 

Hi there,
I was wondering if you were able to get approval from FF&W regarding the soil sample? I am in the process of setting up a plenum system using special kitty and live sand in a 55g and would like to see if I would have any issues using the SK. The 55g will be plumbed into my existing 240g mixed reef.

Thanks!
Dave

 

Great thread. I'm gonna have to pick up some special kitty litter tonight or tomorrow for my fuge that I'm filling tomorrow.

 

Special Kitty + Quickcrete Playsand

Like the title says I was wondering if anyone is using both to make a DSB or a RDSB? I bought 3 bags of 50lb QC at Lowe's yesterday at $4.00 each. It passed the fizz test (added acidic acid/vinegar). I also found some information on their web site about it.
http://www.quikrete.com/PDFs/MSDS-B4-Playsand.pdf.

It appears to be made up of Crystalline silica (quartz) and there is limestone, marl, sand, shale, etc., based on the PDF. It is also pretty white, not tan like a lot of kids play sand you find out there. Since it fizzed, that leads me to believe it will be fine once i give it a good rinse. I've read different things on other forums about using either item and it appears most of the myths have been debunked.

My plan is to setup a standard 55 gallon with 3 inches of Special Kitty on the bottom and 3 inches of the Quikrete on top. I currently have 10 gallon fuge plumbed into a 20 gallon frag tank. I am going to re-plumb/move the 20g frag tank to my 240g display and move 10g fuge to my 55g new DSB/RDSB to help speed up the cycle. The 55g will also be plumbed into the 240g however I will use some ballvalves to keep the water from entering the DT until the water has cleared and the parameters are stable.

Let me know if anyone if is interested and I'll post my results and take some pics.

 

Really??? this seems to weird to me.