Eco Complete Planted Black Aquarium Substrate

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
G

gregg

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 1, 2010
253
0
0
stickney
hello i had a quick question ive been trying to get around to a planted tank.... that said i was wondering has any 1 worked with this

http://www.petco.com/product/111998...strate.aspx?CoreCat=FishFC_GravelandSubtrates

if so is it really worth for your plants? do you have to prerinse or can you just dump it in? im asking this because i eventually want to turn my 55 into a lightly planted tank but 1st im going to try it on my 5 gallon guppy breeding project..
 
This plant substrate is okay, but I prefer Seachem's flourite line. It produces better results. Some people pre-rinse flourite, I do not.
 
Eco complete has more nutrients, but not necessarily a superior mix, nor lasting levels. EC leaches out much faster than Flourite.
 
thanks guys maybe a mix of flourite for 1st layer and eco complete as the top layer?
 
gregg;4324476; said:
thanks guys maybe a mix of flourite for 1st layer and eco complete as the top layer?
Click to expand...

if I were to mix the two, I would literally mix them, not cap one with the other . . . I have this kind of substrate in my 20G planted tank

Eco settles quicker than Flourite does, a Flourite-filled tank can be "cloudy" for a long time, even if you rinse the heck out of it . . . and it's easy to stir the Flourite back up . . . with Eco you don't need to rinse and it settles in several hours or less . . . my 90G and 30G tanks have Eco only, no Flourite

I've used both, and as much as I like the results from Flourite, I like the looks of Eco-Complete a bit more . . . I don't think you'll go wrong either way, go with whichever you think has the look you want
 
For those that have problems with a clear tank on flourite, use better mech filtration. It shouldn't take more than a day or two to clear out the flourite, and then there won't be any cloud again. I don't rinse it, I just use a sponge filter, air driven.

As far as looks go, I haven't been able to see the gravel in my planted tanks for a very long time. So I don't base my substrate on looks, but rather, which one has done a better job growing plants long term.
 
"better mech filtration"? ok, a little simplistic, and that would work . . . but why change your filtration to suit your substrate, when it would be easier (and cheaper) to buy the cleaner substrate in the first place?

using a sponge filter certainly makes it easier, it's cheap and won't disturb the plant bed, but power filters might

like I said, go with one fits your look better . . . unless, like WyldFya, you're going to go "full jungle" and never see the substrate again :D
 
Sab_Fan;4324895;4324895 said:
"better mech filtration"? ok, a little simplistic, and that would work . . . but why change your filtration to suit your substrate, when it would be easier (and cheaper) to buy the cleaner substrate in the first place?

using a sponge filter certainly makes it easier, it's cheap and won't disturb the plant bed, but power filters might

like I said, go with one fits your look better . . . unless, like WyldFya, you're going to go "full jungle" and never see the substrate again :D
Click to expand...
Don't change your filtration, add to it for a couple days. The reason to do this, is that flourite produces far better results over a longer time period. I don't care how easy something is to use, I care about how well it works long term. Flourite produces better color, better growth, and lasts longer. ADA aquasoil is far better though.
 
Ive had flourite, I liked everything about it except how it would cloud up easy. I guess that aspect isn't a problem though if you use every inch of your substrate. Im doing a low tech tank right now and decided to use eco complete. I had no idea about which one works better long term for plants. So far I like the eco complete, but if one day I am going to go crazy with a planted tank I might do the flourite. I actually created a thread about eco complete vs flourite, might wanna check the threads for it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom