Special Kitty for Substrate

I looked up what Fuller's Earth was because I didn't know, and wikipedia says, "Fuller's earth is any non-plastic clay or claylike earthy material used to decolorize, filter, and purify animal, mineral, and vegetable oils and greases." I've seen people scatter kitty litter on their driveway to soak up oil that's leaking from their car. That's a very common use for clay.
And quartz is the most common rock in the earth's crust, right?
So it makes sense that the ingredients of Special Kitty are "non-plastic clay" and quartz.

I also had to look up what silicosis is, and wikipedia said, "Silicosis, also known as Potter's rot, is a form of occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust, and is marked by inflammation and scarring in forms of nodular lesions in the upper lobes of the lungs."
Yes, Special Kitty is very dusty. If you breathed dust in for a long period of time, it probably would hurt your lungs. I sometimes use Special Kitty as chinchilla substrate (I also have pet chinchillas, which require dust to roll in to clean their fur) and they love it, always rolling around in the dusty Special Kitty. It being so dusty was why I was tempted to rinse it at first before putting it in the aquarium. But it turns out that rinsing it does nothing, because although the smaller particles do get washed away, the larger particles break down into new smaller particles and the end result is that it's just as dusty, but you have less of it. And it doesn't matter anyway, since underwater all the fine particles settle to the bottom with the larger particles. If you fill your tank slowly and avoid disturbing the kitty litter substrate, the water stays really clear and the dust stays on the ground. Those fine dust particles are why the kitty litter encourages root growth so much, because plants like small particles to dig their roots through. It's the same reason why sand will encourage fine root growth and pea gravel won't. They're the same ingredient (silicon dioxide), but one particle is much smaller, and the plants grow better.

Edited by EricaWieser, 05 November 2011 - 10:52 AM.

If you have enough light to grow plants you'll very soon have an adequate layer of algae on the substrate to hold down any particles. I don't see dust come up anymore from either new planting or the enthusiastic burrowing of a startled 10-inch eel. My tank isn't very old, either, but it got settled down really fast. High current filters may be awkward, but that wouldn't usually be what you're going for with plants anyway.

MSDS can be useful in determining the ingredients of a product.

The different kinds of Special Kitty cat litter can be found by searching "Special Kitty" at this site:

http://msds.walmarts...ns/Default.aspx

The MSDS won't be of help here - it's not going to give a nutrient analysis.

The issue is that the nutrient content of the litter (as well as other minor chemical differences that do not relate to safety), even within the same label, will vary across the country. It is not all mined from the same place. Same goes for topsoil, or any other bagged product.