Kitty Litter

I've read lots of stuff on here about using litter instead of "miracle" type refugium muds in the fuge as well as using it as the bottom layer of a DSB in the DT. I am setting up my tank and fuge next week and I'm wondering, if I go this route, how deep a layer of litter should I use in the fuge and whether or not I should use it, and if so how, in my DT?

I noticed in my reading that most of the proponents of litter were moderators and other experienced reefers, which makes me think it's a good practice. The posts I read were a few years old though so I just want to verify that this is still a good idea and there haven't been any negative results or a better way hasn't been discovered since. Just being thorough, I don't want to screw anything up.

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

The whole point of mud is that it contains minerals and other elements that leach out of the bed into the water column. Miracle muds and what not just have a high clay content. Clay is very mineral rich. Plain ole clay kitty liter is just plain old Georgia clay.

Honestly, I went to use kitty litter but could not find any plain litter here. I went to pet stores and wal mart and could not find any "plain"... they all had some sort of something that made me leary... deodorizer, anti-bacterial, or what ever, so I did not use it.

If I was going to do it all over I probably would not even bother. The elements get depleted and the bed has to be replaced. I can't even verify whether it is needed or not or when it is depleted. I would just do a deep sand bed with oolitic sand and call it good. YMMV

Also... very few people actually do a DSB in the DT. 3" looks good, can be kept clean easily, and will denitrify too. I don't know of anyone putting any type of mud in their display tank. DSB are generally considered 4-6 inches.

 

Thanks Powerman.

 

Kitty litter user here. Walmart, red bag, put 3 inches (un-rinced) in my refugium center chamber, put a thin 1 inch layer of aragonite on top and planted marsh grass and caulerpa in it. It is growing beautifully. No difference between miracle mud and red bag.