Eco-complete vs Flourite

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Pyramid_Party

Pyramid_Party

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Aug 6, 2008
4,916
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Monterey, CA
Hi guys,

What are the pros and cons of these two planting substrates? I know with flourite you gotta rinse the hell out of it. And I have heard for eco complete you do not rinse at all. I heard that if you rinse all the nutrients get rinsed off, is this true? What about water changes? I also heard that some of the bag is water, so if its 20 lbs, do you get only about 15 lbs? Anyway, list the pros and cons if you know any. Thanks
 
yeah, eco complete comes with water, so you get about the same between both brands. my 5 bags of eco complete just arrived a few days ago. i love it! i used flourite before and now i see i should have gone with this. it really is super clean in the bag with the water. and i like it's looks a lot better, looks more natural. flourite reminds me of that black beauty gravel.

they will both grow plants the same, but because of its looks and no need to rinse, eco complete is the clear winner for me. petco has it on sale for $16.99 a bag, and free shipping on orders over $65. thats where i got mine :headbang2
 
Pyramid_Party;4299141;4299141 said:
What about the rinsing issue for the eco complete? Also about how much do you really get since it has water in the bag?
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you get about the same as you would in a bag of flourite
 
The first tank I set up with Eco-Complete was a total FLOP. I didn't rinse it, as the directions state. The water was milky white (even after adding the enclosed focculant) and the finest particles settled all over my plants and provided a really nice place for algae to grow. I whiped it off but every time a fish swished his tail or I did a water change, there it was again. It ended up ruining all my plants in a few months and I ended up shutting the tank down.

My second try with Eco-Complete was a little different. I rinsed the holy heck out of it and mixed it with some Tihitian Moon (black sand). I put the substrate into a fully-cycled and ready to go tank (after removing the old gravel). This is worked a WHOLE lot better and my plants went crazy with amazing growth.

The next tank I set up I may try a different substrate just to see what differences I find. All in all, I'm not unhappy with Eco-Complete but not as thrilled about it as I thought I would be.

Hope this helps.
 
Jonergin;4299948;4299948 said:
The first tank I set up with Eco-Complete was a total FLOP. I didn't rinse it, as the directions state. The water was milky white (even after adding the enclosed focculant) and the finest particles settled all over my plants and provided a really nice place for algae to grow. I whiped it off but every time a fish swished his tail or I did a water change, there it was again. It ended up ruining all my plants in a few months and I ended up shutting the tank down.

My second try with Eco-Complete was a little different. I rinsed the holy heck out of it and mixed it with some Tihitian Moon (black sand). I put the substrate into a fully-cycled and ready to go tank (after removing the old gravel). This is worked a WHOLE lot better and my plants went crazy with amazing growth.

The next tank I set up I may try a different substrate just to see what differences I find. All in all, I'm not unhappy with Eco-Complete but not as thrilled about it as I thought I would be.

Hope this helps.
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thats strange, ive never heard anybody get cloudy water with eco complete. here's the tank i just set up. here's a video the SAME day i dumped the eco complete in and added water. the water is very clear. this tank has no mechanical filtration yet also

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=343503
 
I had heard that there were some bad batches of Eco-Complete out there. Two different versions of issues popped up with these bags. I experienced the second one, known to cause cloudy water and enormous phosphate problems.

Unfortunately, I only found this out after the fact and had already shut down the first tank.

The second tank was started almost a year after the first and with newly ordered Eco-Complete. I wish I would have just gave it the ol' dump and go just to see.
 
never had a problem with Eco-Complete, although I suppose it is is possible there were some bad batches, that sounds familiar . . . I like Flourite too, but only after everything has settled, which takes time

overall, prefer Eco Complete, and I did not rinse it . . .
 
Didnt wash my eco complete...didnt even use the clarification fluid. Great stuff...I noticed today (almost a year later) that I am starting to get some blue-green. So I am having a little freakout. Maybe its because of the phosphates in the substrate, but who knows. :(

I would still recommend it though :D
 
FLESHY;4301038;4301038 said:
Didnt wash my eco complete...didnt even use the clarification fluid. Great stuff...I noticed today (almost a year later) that I am starting to get some blue-green. So I am having a little freakout. Maybe its because of the phosphates in the substrate, but who knows. :(

I would still recommend it though :D
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BGA/cyanobacteria is usually caused by low nitrates, or poor filtration/circulation in established tanks.

see here: http://theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm
 
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