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Re: 5 pH clay

I've been getting some interesting e-mails from folks using kitty
litter, and I thought I would share some of this with you.
 As I mentioned before, I tried many brands that were available in my
area (Georgia). Other than color, they all looked similar and none of
them affected my pH, which out of my tap is in the low 6 range. I also
know many brands are mined in Georgia, but had no idea if this was the
the source of all kitty litter (in the USA) or what brands were local,
regional etc. This is the main reason I've never suggested a certain
brand(s).  
   One brand I hoped I would like, was Hartz Mt., because I figured it
might be one brand I could suggest that most folks could find
nationally. The bag I tried was considerably different than all the
other brands I tried. Although I liked the fact it had little dust, it
was also much harder. For this reason, I never tested the pH, and in
fact suggested that this is one brand to avoid. Being to cheap to waste
a $3.00 bag of litter, I used it on some outside set-ups I have. I must
say that it performed as well as all the others.
  So far I've had 3 people, all on the west coast, tell me that all the
brands they were trying (and they were trying many) raised the pH up to
the high pH 7's. So this suggests, all kitty litters are not the same.
  Out of desperation to find a (cheap) substrate after western kitty
litter brands and dirt proved to be in the high 7's pH wise, I suggested
Hartz Mt.. After an extensive search, she located a bag. As it turns
out, it has a pH in the 5s. She has just started testing it and here's
what I found out so far. Her tap water is 7.8 pH, 230 ppm hardness.
Shortly after adding her water to the litter, it dropped the pH under
6.0, which is the lowest her pH kit goes. Another test of the litter
covered by sand, is dropping her pH down by .2 a day. But at this point
her test is only 3 days old and at this time does not include fish or
plants.
  I called Hartz Mt. and they said it's all natural clay, no additives.
I'm very tempted to suggest this, but won't, until I get some more input
from others that might want to take a chance. At the very least, I think
this opens up an interesting can of worms.
Dan Quackenbush