Bentonite Clay

[guitarman023]

Just curious if any of you use this as a nutrient supplement in your ponds? Thought about trying some

 

[sissy]

I know I used it once ,expensive and I did not see much of a difference .

 

[HTH]

Maybe I am missing something. They use truckloads of bentonite clay to line the bottoms of dams and ponds to keep them from leaking. The only real cost should be the packaging.

 

[Mmathis]

Maybe I am missing something. They use truckloads of bentonite clay to line the bottoms of dams and ponds to keep them from leaking. The only real cost should be the packaging.

But you know there's always an automatic mark-up as soon as you put a "label" on something.

 

[sissy]

yep true I tried it in my water fall and 5lbs was over 20 dollars .They had 40 and 50 lb bags but I did not need that much .I thought it could seal up the leak until I could fix it .It did ok .Maybe he is thinking of the koi clay you use to buffer the water and is supposed to be good for there health

 

[ididntdoit99]

Isn't that the same as all natural kitty litter? its some kind of clay, i thought it was bentonite.

 

[Fishylove]

You would think bentonite would be cheap as much as they get out of the ground. But it's not mined around here.

 

[koiguy1969]

bentonite clay... the cheap kitty llitter that everybody pots lillies in. koi clay is bentonite / "montmonillerite" clay.
Bentonite / montmorillonite clay replaces the minerals used up by the life in your pond. once "POND" is on the label the price skyrockets!
Tetrapond makes a liquid version called KOIVITAL.

 

[DrCase]

I am adding some to the ponds every week now , water looks great
Besides the minerals its like a flocculent clumping things together making it easier to filter out any suspended matter

 

[HTH]

I am adding some to the ponds every week now , water looks great
Besides the minerals its like a flocculent clumping things together making it easier to filter out any suspended matter

If it the same as kitty littler how does one go about adding kitty litter to pond water? Dump it in and watch it dissolve ?

 

[sissy]

I put it in a plant pot and and put that in the waterfall with a plant planted in it .To hold down the part of the liner that was leaking .I do not like how cloudy it can make the water at first .Takes2 days to clear up if you put it in any thing else .I plant all my plants in it with crushed oyster shells .I bought the better kitty litter in the tractor supply store because it said it was betonite clay .The walmart brand just said 100 % clay and i was not sure as addy said it was a red bag and walmarts here was in a blue bag .All my plants even in the filter are planted in it

 

[guitarman023]

Good to know tractor supply sells bentonite clay. From what I gather, Koi live a lot longer in mud bottom ponds because they get the nutrients they need from the clay. The clay molecules also have a negative charge, so they pull debris out of the water and to the bottom, giving you clearer water. I've also heard it can raise pH in large amounts. Just something I thought about trying.

 

[koiguy1969]

a zeolite and bentonite clay mix should do wonders.... zeolite absorbs ammonias, and the bentonite releases trace minerals. they both do allow allow for nutrient exchange. wasnt aware TSC sold bentonite clay... i knew they carried zeolite.

 

[sissy]

zeolite is at tractor supply as PDZ horse stall refresher .It was the first time i saw it at my tractor supply ,but then again I never looked .A customer was picking up large bags of it and it was on one of those rolling carts .Never thought to ask what he was using it for .I asked the guy from the store and he said he had a smaller bag and got it for me and brought it up to the register for me