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Plant meltdown



FORWARDED MESSAGE:

>Date: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 22:40:09 -0800
>To: Aquatic-Plants-Owner at actwin_com
>From: Olga Betts <sae at arts_ubc.ca>
>Subject: Plant meltdown
>X-Status: 
>
>Noel Llopis wrote:
>>Subject: Plant meltdown :(
>>Three days ago I decide to re-fit my 29 gallon tank into an environment
>>more suitable for plants. Right now it's something like this:
>>- - 1.5" of natural clay (kitty litter) mixed with some Osmocote pellets.
>
>You say "natural clay (kitty litter)". How do you know that the kitty
>litter is "natural clay"? Are you sure you know what is in it? I am
>disappointed to hear of so many going the "kitty litter" route. I'm sure
>one can have success with it but there is no generic "kitty litter" made of
>exactly the same stuff everywhere. Maybe the stuff you used has herbicides
>to keep out mold, or pesticides to keep out bugs. Maybe it was made from
>clay soaked with industrial waste. I'd be very surprized if there is any
>law that kitty litter makers have to reveal all the ingredients. After all
>-- it is made for cats to pee in! <g>
>
>>- - Heavily planted with some plants that were there before the remodeling
>>  and some new ones (vallisneria, swords, rotalas, java ferns, crypts...)
>
> What were the plants that were there before? Are they easy, fast growing
>plants. The new ones you mention are not the best plants to start off a new
>tank.
>
>>I was hoping this was going to be IT and be my most successful tank
>>so far since it seemed to have all the requirements for good development.
>
>I'm surprized (if you have been gathering information from this list) that
>you would go for kitty litter with Osmocote pellets as a tank that was
>going to be "IT." I think that gravel with laterite, Paul K's soil soup or
>just plain gravel with plant tablet fertilizer would have been a better
>bet. I hope your tank recovers.
>
>Olga
>in Vancouver 
>
>
>