What is grit?

[Sime76]

Hi Folks,

Sorry for the dumb question. The term "grit" is used a lot as one of the ingredients in various soil mixes but what exactly is it?

I have not had any luck finding out what this is exactly.

I'm assuming is a particular gravel of some kind with vaious sizes. As apposed to shell grit!

What would I be looking for if I went to Bunnings for example?

Thanks

[Jamie]

grit is a small gravel, generally bout 1-3mm, sometimes a little bigger, it is used in aquariums alot as a substrate for the undergravel filters, your local petshop should supplie it in various sizes but might be a bit pricey, try b$#%@^ngs first and see how ya go

oh your local nursery should carry something close to it aswell, even if it is about 5mm you should be fine


jamie

[Sime76]

ahh cool, thanks Jamie.
Aquariums is another hobby of mine so I have a bit of that stuff laying around

[Jamie]

same here mate and it does come in handy for sure


jamie

[Bretts]

A set of sifters from the bonsai store and a trip to the landscapers is often the cheapest solution. I would say that 1-5 mm is a good range for grit depending on pot size.

[OwnLeeOne]

Has anyone added used aquarium gravel in their potting mix? I recently emptied a fish tank and i was going to use the river sand and pebbles in a potting mix. It would most likely have alot of ammonia in it and maybe a little salt but washing it well would probably get it back to normal. Would there be any bad effects?

Cheers.

[Sime76]

I have some aquarium gravel in buckets that I plan to use.

I wouldn't think there would be any ammonia in the gravel, maybe a tiny bit of salt.
The only time you'd have a lot of ammonia is if the aquarium water was very neglected and had no live plants. Also any fish in there would have died, unless thats the reason it was emptied? Also when the water was drained any salt or ammonia or nitrate etc would have gone with the water. If a lot of the water was left with the gravel to evaporate then I guess you'd have some salt residue etc. The amount of salt would also depend on the type of aquarium it was.

Otherwise I'm sure giving it a bit of a rinse would remove any remaining salts etc. No drama!

[Luke]

i have used aquarium pebbles as grit too.. mainly as the bottom 'drainage' layer in small pots... seems to work good!
ummm has anyone used the expanded clay balls that are used in hydroponics? (mite be to big im thinking, aprox 12mm)????
Also.... what fish are people keeping??? i have a 4yo RD and a 2yo sooty grunter (separate tanks)

luke

[OwnLeeOne]

Im pretty sure fish poop creates ammonia and im sure some has sifted through to the bottom - sludge stuff. I did turn the tank brackish for a while when i kept some caught striped grunter and monos and some other stuff from a salt river. So probably a bit of salt in the gravel. There were some plants in the tank though. No fish have died in the tank, except for the food. Last fish in there were native rainbows and 3 bullrout. Me and some mates were in a native fish craze and searched for and caught almost every (freshwater) species from about grafton to sunshine coast.

Other fish i have: 4ft tank - banded rainbows - goyder and catos, cox gudgeons, purple spot gudgeons, eel tailed catty, britlenose, greenback gauvinas, some kind of gobys and some butis butis and some mullet. Most were caught except for the northern species and bristlenose.

3 ft: many butis butis and priono butis microps and a small bass - all caught.

2ft: snakehead gudgeon, bullrout and chequered rainbow.

Pond: purple spots and ornate rainbows.

Will be downsizing very soon though as i will be moving, sad times. Atleast my trees won't be worried about the move.

Cheers.