Adding Clay any good?

This Section Is For Advanced Hobbyists Discussing new original cutting edge Experimental and Trial Treatments and Surgical Techniques, here we take koi health and pond keeping to the next level

Moderators: B.Scott, vippymini, Gazza, Manky Sanke

Post Reply
Geoff9
Tiger Shark
Tiger Shark
Posts: 310
Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 10:08 pm

Adding Clay any good?

Post by Geoff9 »

Hi all
I know this has been done to death,but it still comes up and if you want to keep in with the dealers who sell it you might not reply in the negative,but thats not the case on this closed forum,

I have tried a few over the years and apart from cloudy water and the koi flashing as it irritates there gills nothing else seemed to happen,but a lot of koi keepers say it's the best thing since sliced bread,am I missing something?.

Regards Geoff
User avatar
eds
Great White Shark
Great White Shark
Posts: 850
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2007 11:59 am
Location: Nottingham, UK

Re: Adding Clay any good?

Post by eds »

Never used it and never plan to! Can see possibly the point of adding it to food but aside from that I'd want to remove stuff from my water rather than adding more stuff back in!
User avatar
Gazza
architeuthis moderator
architeuthis moderator
Posts: 5306
Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 7:24 pm
Location: Essex,UK
Contact:

Re: Adding Clay any good?

Post by Gazza »

Hi Geoff,

Yes i also know a lot of people who swear by it and also some guys who show say it gives them better skin or colours but i don't clay and wouldn't as i spent to much money removing the minerals from my water to buy some stuff to put them back in :D
Brockp
Hammer Head shark
Hammer Head shark
Posts: 223
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 11:08 am
Location: Winchester

Re: Adding Clay any good?

Post by Brockp »

Hi Geoff

I don't clay, as the other post says I spend a lot of time getting minerals out of my water as I live in Hampshire and the water is very very hard.

I can see that clay would act as a flocculant getting suspended solids to sink but in my view it all finishes up on the bottom and then the filters have to clear it all out. Just don't see the point.

Peter
User avatar
Duncan
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 2883
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2005 5:40 pm
Location: west Midlands UK
Contact:

Re: Adding Clay any good?

Post by Duncan »

Geoff

i agree with the lads i spend way to much time and money taking minerals out to be paying again to put them back but:

this stuff is a joke to every one but those making fortune out of it and a dangerous joke at that

i just ripped a three stage bio out for a mate who is doing a bit of porridge and wanted his pond dissmantling , and his jap mat was clogged to hell with the stuff , so yes it did eventually clear form the pond but i found out where it all went

the UK's leading supplier of the stuff boasted to me it only cost a few pence per kilo with out even being :oops: :oops: for a moment

you have to ask yourself one question what do they use in cat litter ?

as for putting it in food. that self same dealer said it bulks the food out and costs less than proper ingedients thats why they do it . all comes down to money again because if you think about it , you have to bulk food with something and if not that it would be carbohydrate and grain now costs real money its not a cheap bulking agent anymore

says it all dont it ?

dunc

dunc
User avatar
Gazza
architeuthis moderator
architeuthis moderator
Posts: 5306
Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 7:24 pm
Location: Essex,UK
Contact:

Re: Adding Clay any good?

Post by Gazza »

Hi Dunc,

I am glad you brought that one up about cat litter as its the one i always use :D

I believe you may well be asking about Calcium bentonite which is basically a type of clay they use in cat liter to act as a clumping agent so that must work a treat if its mixed in with a clay to go into a koi pond :shock: :roll: :wink:
greg
Hammer Head shark
Hammer Head shark
Posts: 271
Joined: Tue May 30, 2006 9:28 am

Re: Adding Clay any good?

Post by greg »

Geoff,

Honestly?

I used to add loads and loads of this type of stuff to my pond. The water sparkled - (see reasons above) - and i have the pictures to prove it.

My dosages were:-

Huminic Powder (or Refresh) :- 100grams per 1000 gallons weekly.
Izeki Super C :- 5 to 10grams per 1000 gallons weekly.
Izeki Magic Powder :- 5 to 10grams per 1000 gallons weekly.

When i decided to make the switch over to RO i dropped all products such as this adding to the pond to see the results and balance off the costs of the RO unit etc. Now my koi'd condition improved dramatically as i'd hoped with the lower PH etc etc.

Now i had also began a budding koi show interest and so this naturally leads you back to this kind of stuff and i began to wonder (as you do). So over the course of three shows in 2010 / 2011 i tried three different methods of show prep.

Show 1.

Nothing - just changed the pre-filters on the RO plant and kept changing water (around 10% a day)

Show 2.

Kept up the water changes and did as above, then added a 1.5ppm dose of PP to the pond 10 days before the show and then salted to 0.3%

Show 3.

Kept up the water changes (as above) and then added 200grams per day for 10 days prior to the show of Refresh.

I can honestly say i didn't see any difference in the condition of my koi for the process's i went through on shows 2 and 3. I didn't pick up any awards over and above the number / level i normally do and i was heftily out of pocket to boot. But if you don't try then you never know.

From now on my show prep will be as per show 1.

Just a few thoughts.
Geoff9
Tiger Shark
Tiger Shark
Posts: 310
Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 10:08 pm

Re: Adding Clay any good?

Post by Geoff9 »

Thanks All
As I suspected,it's a waste of time and money,like Greg I used Super C, Magic Powder and Refresh also tried the last lot of clay that came out instead of Bicarb as it was suppose to higher your KH,

I can understand your water looking better,it's the same as not cleaning your filter as regular it cloggs up the media so for a while takes smaller particals out,but then there is a price to pay as the water quality goes down.

Regards Geoff
MikeWh
Nurse Shark
Nurse Shark
Posts: 121
Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2010 9:58 am

Re: Adding Clay any good?

Post by MikeWh »

Hi...I have clayed in the past but no longer do....Mainly because the bloomin stuff causes my fish to flash, & if you run sponges anywhere on your system as I do, then you may aswell plan a hole morning getting it back out again....my thoughts on different brands that I've tried :D

1 Stuff beginning with K in a gold packet--Made the fish flash, left the water clear like it was before I clayed it, & the black areas on some fish did seem a little more defined

2 Koi Masters disadvantage--Made the fish flash, left the water clear like it was before I clayed it, & the black areas on some fish did seem a little more defined

3 Tesco £2.50 a bag kitty litter--Made the fish flash, left the water clear like it was before I clayed it, & the black areas on some fish did seem a little more defined

P.S. I should have learned because one of the above caused my chag to knock off three scales :shock: Although somebody from the company did PM me & said I'm wrong & it's not the product causing the flashing-----rubbish

On the other hand if you put enough of any of the above in, then at least you don't have to watch your fish beating themselves up :D

:D Don't waste your brass.....Mike
User avatar
Gazza
architeuthis moderator
architeuthis moderator
Posts: 5306
Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 7:24 pm
Location: Essex,UK
Contact:

Re: Adding Clay any good?

Post by Gazza »

Hi Mike,

I have to say a very good explanation :) :D
MikeWh
Nurse Shark
Nurse Shark
Posts: 121
Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2010 9:58 am

Re: Adding Clay any good?

Post by MikeWh »

:D :D Thats about as scientific as I get :oops: ......Mike
Brek
Black Tip Reef Shark
Black Tip Reef Shark
Posts: 170
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2009 4:03 pm

Re: Adding Clay any good?

Post by Brek »

I used in in my first year, only bought a small bag though, once it was used up never bothered again, I also used super c, and again once that ran out never replaced it, as above now use RO water with a once an hour turnover of the pond, the uv takes care of the green stuff and the food takes care of the fish.
Post Reply