Does Eco-Complete and others Need replacing?

[Neko-Chan]

Hi just wondering, if Products like Eco-Complete and Red Florite(<-I know this makes your tank messy at first) needs to be replaced over time? after a certain period does all itz minerals and effects wear off and gets eaten and used by the plants. Or... can i keep it there forever with out ever taking out the old one and putting new Eco-complete or Red florite.

[[Prety much does this Substrate for plants eventually need replacing becuase itz effects wear off over time?]]

Also another thing, what would be best in the long run in terms of growing plants, Substrates like Eco-Complete and Red Florite or Liquid plant food like Seachem Flourish. Iam guesing in the long run it would be better to choose the Substrate becuase it does not get used up as much as the liquid suppliment where a new bottle needs to be bought everytime it is empty. It would be better having both! =^___^= And yes i know not too much of the liquid plant food cuz itz bad lol. But for now I can only choose either the Substrate or The Liquid.

[[Which do you guys think is more better in the Long run out of the two? ]]

 

[Andrewtfw]

If I could only choose one I would go with the substrate. Many trace elements are in tap water. I would go with eco complete because of its contrast with the plants. As for replacing it, my flourite is six years old and I have not noticed a problem.

 

[snakeheader]

can we actually get pics of a tank with it in?

 

[Neko-Chan]

ive noticed everyone is so demanding for pics lol. When the tank is finished completely and if my dad can find where he put the digicam ill be happy to post pics =^.^=

Wow 6 years seems to be a very long time. I guese substrate it is. About the substrate contrasting yes it would look nice, cuz the black makes the plant colors stand outway more. But Since my Substrate it brown to light brown in color and I intend in keeping it that way, I dont really plan on Using the entire bag. Im just going to mix a good amount of it under where i have planted/Rooted my plants and then burry it with the original colored gravel on top. =3 Basically I just want it's Benificial Properties over itz looks. =^.^= But yeah if this stuff will last long then i would invest in it rather than getting a new bottle of liquid plant food every month!. Cool Cool Thanks =^_^=

 

[oOMO3NOo]

i have heard that florite lasts longer then eco-complete i use florite and it works really good. i think wyldfya recomended replacing the florite like every two years or maybe it was a year (or maybe it was the light bulbs that needed to be replaced in this time frame) hopefully he will chime in and say the exact time frame. and you can get florite in black or even in black sand now too so you have some options.

for fertz i would recomend looking at some dry FERTZ you can mix them with water to create a solution comparable to what they sell in bottles if you want or just dose straight into the tank. (would read alot about dry fertz before you dose them caz it is easy to add to much of the wrong things)

 

[frasertheking]

eventually the substrate will be exhausted but that will take a long time , a lot of people soak there substrates that are clay based in a solution with iron chelate so it will absorb it .but as long as teh substrate still supports the roots the plants will adapt to absorb nutrients from the water column.

 

[Neko-Chan]

yeah i thoguht about dry fert... and it looked kinda scary... the though of over dosing can be done easy. As for florite yeah I heard it is better than eco-complete, most of my fish friends prefer florite over other stuff, But i heard florite is really messy at first.

Ahh Great Good the Substrate last very long! Iam Happy to hear that! Now i cant wait to Buy Substrate! =^.^=

 

[oOMO3NOo]

its really not to bad at far as mess goes. just wash it first with a strainer or somthing and you can add a sponge filter for the first day or two and that will clear it up fast. another thing about substrate is you buy it by the pounds and eco-complete is sold with water in it so you dont actually get 20 LBS of substrate. so florite you actually get the amount it says on the bag. not a huge deal but just somthing to think about

 

[Neko-Chan]

ooo eco-complete with water!! sounds like a FRozen Butterball turkey!! Sure it looks big and plumped but itz actually pumped with WATERR!!! to make it look big and when you cook the turkey itz actualyl smaller!! weee! hmm well the color of florite would blend in better with my brownish white gravel better than the black eco-complete. I dont really plant on mixing every thing in the tank.. more like just taking small portions of substrate watever it maybe, and just burring it underneither where i rooted the plants, im pretty sure it will work. But umm as for washing or soaking the florite do you think it would wash away itz nutrients and stuff, or it would just wash away the stuff that would make your water red =D?

 

[oOMO3NOo]

i washed mine and the nutrients stayed so i think it just washes away the dust. and i would pick up a sponge filter to run in the tank all night after you first put it in and that should clear it up fast.