API - First Layer Pure Laterite

[alexGDcastaway]

API - First Layer Pure Laterite
[HR][/HR]Hello all

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with the "API - First Layer Pure Laterite" product.

I am contemplating using this for my 120gallon and would love to hear any pros & cons anyone can provide as well as any other comments!

Thank you!!!!

 

[Robert H]

Laterite is not as popular now as it was over ten years ago. It is similar to clay. It is a weathered rock soil from the tropics that is very high in iron, and has fairly high Cation Exchange Capacity, the ability to attract positive ions, (nutrients) from the water and hold them for the plants. It does not provide any other nutrients besides Iron. Most of the mined laterite comes from Sri Lanka, and thats where APIs laterite comes from. It is used as a substrate additive on the very bottom of the aquarium underneath 2 or 3 inches of gravel. I do not know of any cons other than the fact it only provides iron. It is an oxidized mineral that will last forever and never need to be replaced. You do not need to rinse it before putting it in the tank.

Here is an article: Why use laterite?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I have it in all my planted tanks. have used iffor about 10 years now. Cheap and it works and it lets you use any substrate that you like the looks of.

 

[xUnRaTeDxxRkOx]

Personally in my opinion API pure laterite is a waste of money, I prefer to go with Special Kitty: All Natural Cat Litter because it's basically the same exact thing, it's high in the amount of iron, but it acts just like other planted substrates. It can absorb nutrients, and release them at a later time, just like eco-complete, flourite, fluval stratum, etc.....

 

[platytudes]

I see what you're saying, Mike - but I think it's kind of like saying that vanilla beans are a waste of money, when imitation vanilla extract is so cheap and basically the same thing. Here's an excerpt from that article:

The term laterite and clay are often confused. They are not one and the same. Clays typically are high in silicates and may contain other minerals besides iron.

"Classic" kitty litter is usually bentonite, which is different from laterite. It might be a budget alternative...but I wouldn't say it's just as good. Right off the bat, I am sure it's going to be more dusty, and I would expect to have more algae/green water issues with it than laterite.

I tried pH 5 kitty litter as an underlayer on a 2.5 gallon tank once...never again. It was a soupy mess from day one. This was one of the kitty litter brands of substrate recommended in The Krib. It's certainly possible the formula changed since the time of publication...it's not like these things are made with a whole lot of quality control, nor is consistency a priority.

 

[xUnRaTeDxxRkOx]

I have cat litter mixed into my 55 gallon MTS tank, I have zero algae, and as for the "dust" I never once had a dust issue with it. As for "green water" I've never had that result in any of my tanks, from 2.5 gallon all the way to a 100 gallon system. As for "a soupy mess" the brand of litter used in any of my tanks has never once turned into any form of liquid, what I use in my tanks is 100% clay based litter with no chemicals, dyes, or fragrances added to it. This brand is made of 100% natural ground clay.....

 

[platytudes]

That may be the only brand to use, then. This is what was said about Hartz pH 5...it and "EverFresh" and "Lasting Pride" were the only two said not to turn into a mushy clay mass. I couldn't find EverFresh or Lasting Pride, but I found pH 5 at one of the Dollar (Family or General, I forget which) stores: http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Fertilizer/litter-boingy.html

Only two brands are acidic instead of basic: Hartz pH5, and Lasting Pride. I used Hartz pH5 in my 29-gallon planted tank, and the results have been great. The plants don't seem to mind the acidity of the substrate.One interesting detail was the "mushiness," or tendency to cloud the water, of many of the kitty litter samples. Both Hartz and Lasting Pride consist of small grains about 1mm in diameter. They feel slightly mushy (i.e. not hard as rock) under water, but still remain separate grains, and don't cloud the water very much when disturbed. This is a great advantage when uprooting your plants! Most other brands immediately released clouds of very fine particles into the water which could take hours to settle. (After being in my tank for a while, the Hartz pH5 does cloud my water somewhat with fine particles, when I uproot plants. It's still nowhere near the cloudiness that the other brands caused.)

The pH5 doesn't actually affect the pH of my tank water very much. It's sealed off from the water column pretty well by a 1 inch layer of #16 silica sand.

Incidentally, I capped it with pool filter sand. It didn't help the issue I experienced. While I did not have green water, diatoms were horrible and the cloudiness of the water barely subsided, only to completely begin again with the slightest disturbance of the substrate. Again, I imagine the formula probably changed...that article was from 1997. Most of the articles online about kitty litter substrates are from that era, late 90s.

I might try it again with Special Kitty...but I have no doubt that laterite is a superior product, even it costs exponentially more.

 

[Canuck]

Kitty litter is a low value, high weight product. This means shipping costs are significant, which in turn means that companies contract local (regional) manufacturers to produce their product with local clays. At the end of the day, one brand of kitty litter could be the best plant substrate in the world in one area and totally unsuitable in another. When one pays for dedicated plant substrates, they pay a premium for a product that should be more or less consistent for that purpose from one end of the country to the other.

 

[platytudes]

Exactly. You said it better than I could, sir!

 

[TwoTankAmin]

The only problem is nobody really payed any attention to Robert H's post. The laterite will absorb the other nutrients and hold them for the plants. You can keep your kitty litter and I will stick with my laterite, tyvm.

As for price, one uses 1 oz of laterite per gallon of tank capcity basically. The cost is about 30 cents an ounce. So to do a 100 gal tank is under $30 bucks, not to mention the ease of use- no rinsing etc. And no cats with paws will try to poop in your tank ether