Diatomaceous Earth

[pamelahaley]

Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth

http://www.earthworkshealth.com/">http://www.earthworkshealth.com/</a>

Well, I ordered a 50lb bag of the stuff to help eradicate a flea problem in and around my house. It worked as far as inside my house is concerned but, not outside. Apparently it has a great many uses including a dietary supplement and filtration.

It's basically fossilized algae diatoms.

Does anyone have any idea if it is beneficial to a reef system as a calcium supplement by chance?

I took a chance I felt a gamble: mixed some with water and pumped it into my majanos. It didn't kill them. Oh well. Doesn't look like any harm was done to my system either.

 

[weaglereefer]

It kills fleas? That makes me think it would not be good for inverts for some reason...

 

[lilrobb]

Umm, that stuff is 89% silicates...

 

[haninja]

You can use it in a Diatom Filter. From what I read, it is used to polish the water but not as an constant filtration.

 

[musicalocean]

Did you know if a dog is covered with fleas then more than likely it's ingested one & is therefore almost 100% infested with tapeworms. Ugly suckers they are & easily spread to humans
I'll tell you a little secret before you go waste lots of money on different dewormers that wont get em all. Give your dog some of the "human grade" ONLY! DI wrapped in some cheese or bread ect. Do this once every week for 3 weeks & then repeat in a month
Google it & do some research on it if you like but it's natures perfect wormer!! It goes through the gut & essentially cuts the worms to bits in the same manner that it kills fleas. It cuts their exoskeleton & they loose all their internal moisture..It will not harm you dog in the least. I bred & raised show dogs with no ill effects whatsoever..Also knew many handlers who did the same & had very healthy worm free doggies..

 

[fraggel rock]

Diatomacoeous earth does not work for fleas. Diatomaceous earth is a desicant which means it is going to scratch an insects exoskeloten and cause them to dehydrate also it absorbs water from the air which means it will have no residual life. With fleas you have to use some sort of I.G.R. (insect growth regulator). This is what you do treat your pets with a product that contains fipronil like frontline. Treat concrete areas with either access or onslaught with precor 2000 as a kicker. Treat all upholstered surfaces with a product like ultracide. Launder all fabrics, vacume before you treat and after you treat, clean up all dog hair. If you leave it up to the diatomaceous earth all they will do is rehatch when the conditions are right. If you want to get them out of your yard use talstar pro or some other product that carries bifenthrin. Sorry but german roaches and fleas are to major pests that the whole natural thing does not really work on. Diatomaceous earth is great for odorous house ants and argentine ants however.

 

[pamelahaley]

Well... the DE did get rid of my in house fleas infestation. I just had to leave it on the carpet for 4 days. It definitely worked on german roaches as well, it just took 12 hours to kill it. (Yup) I actually trapped some specimines in containers with DE and watched it work.

It is mostly silicates and the key is not to inhale the powder. I knew that much from mixing clay. As for using it as a de wormer, I'd say mix it in with the water to drink rather than feeding it. Yes, only food grade fresh water DE. DO NOT use what the exterminators or pool cleaners would use; they add chemicals and saltwater grown created DE.

It shouldn't be a problem for my inverts in the tank.
1. They still look fine and dandy
2. They live in water.
Dry land inverts is a problem with the abrasion and absorbtion. My water does look cleaner, I'll consider adding it in with a charcoal filter at some point in the near future.

I haven't started using it as a dietary supplement just yet as I'm not good at keeping up with those things for myself but, that doesn't mean I haven't tasted it. It's just chalky.