Eco-Complete?

[hc8719]

this particular substrate intrest me, due to the fact i have several gourami and a large pleco, who really add to the bio load, (to give you an idea, just for the pleco, i add half of a large zucchini or cuccumber at night, and it is gone in the morning, with white "messes" all over)

im under the impression that with Eco-Complete, you do not vacuum the gravel, given you have many plants that will eat the fish waste. is this true? can any eco-complete users give me their imput. i believe glitch and LBW use eco, and have great looking tanks

[joannde]

I use Eco also. There's nothing "magic" about it, its just a nutrient rich substrate that plants like. Its multi-sized so that the larger pieces stay up top while the finer pieces settle lower - giving plants a better "foothold". With any planted tank you really can't do a deep gravel vac without uprooting plants, and the same is true with Eco. When I vac I just swisch up the top layer of the Eco to remove the "lose" detrius / mulm so you'd still need to do that.

Ps - how large is that pleco ! I can only imagine what you find at the bottom of your tank LOL

[JustOneMore20]

Sometimes when I do water changes I will hover over the Eco and pick up any debri I see. Plants will take in the fish waste, but if there is left over veggie stuff on the substrate I'd get that out. You can hover over the Eco, just don't do a gravel vac like you would with reg. gravel and dig into it.

[hc8719]

so it will convert fish waste to plant edibles? you two have slightly different opinions

i know i had talked to glitch before, (the nice 90 gal planted corner tank guy) and he had told me he never gravel vacs, just does pwcs.

joande, the pleco is only 6" but he just eats and eats. i dont care if i put too many flakes in the tank anymore, because he comes with his big vacuum mouth, and cleans up anything that hits the substrate.

and he knows when i put the good stuff, the frozen bloodworms in the tank for my BGK, both try to eat faster than the other (plecos wins often times, which leads to some swearing, and putting more bloodworms in the tank)

and when it comes to zucchini, he actually pushes the farlowellas off

he's a little a** but i like him

[joannde]

here's the "official" write-up on it. But in all honesty, I don't really believe anything (except Bio-Spira) that says it contains "natural bacteria" .... hence my "not magic" comment

Mineralogically Complete!
•Contains Iron, Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, Sulfur plus over 25 other elements to nourish your aquatic plants. Eco-Complete Planted Aquarium Substrate contains all the mineral nutrients needed for luxuriant aquatic plant growth without nuisance algae!
•Iron rich Eco-CompleteTM eliminates the need for laterite
•Nitrate and carbonate free – will not increase pH or carbonate hardness
•It’s real! No artificial dyes, paints, or chemical coatings
•Natural black substrate encourages the most vibrant coloration in fishes and reduces fish stress
•Spherical grains for optimum diffusion performance
•Supplies Calcium without raising pH
•Lead free
Biologically Complete
•Contains live Heterotrophic bacteria to rapidly convert fish waste into natural food for your aquatic plants
•Creates a natural biological balance which makes cycling a new aquarium faster and safer
•Packed in Liquid AmazonTM buffered “Black Water” solution for immediate organic water conditioning
•Unsurpassed MacroPorosity for healthy roots and bacterial efficiency. You would have to buy 4 bags of ordinary gravel to equal the surface area of this one bag of Eco-CompleteTM Planted Aquarium Substrate!

Source: http://www.aquariumplants.com/Eco_Co...rate_p/eco.htm

Your description of your pleco had me ROFL !

[Lonewolfblue]

Yes, you do not gravel vac Eco. Just hover over the Eco and get the unsightly stuff. The stuff you don't get goes down into the Eco as added nutrients for the plants. Eco is coarse, and the way it's designed, holds nutrients that go down into the substrate for the plants to use. I really like Eco myself, best substrate I've used, and the easiest to maintain.

One of these days I may try ADA and Powersand, I've heard great things about it as well, mainly for the ease of planting and holding the roots from the start.

[severum mama]

Good to know- I've been considering it for a future 55 gallon planted. Can you mix Eco with small-grain gravel to save money? I think it might look kinda nice with natural colored gravel.

[Lonewolfblue]

Yes you can, just don't use less than 50% Eco, as you'll lose the benefits of the Eco if you use less Eco.

Mixing with natural-colored gravel, hmmm, sounds interesting. If you do it, do me a favor, and post pics.

[severum mama]

Will do, hope it goes according to plan and doesn't look stupid LOL! Still need to reseal the tank, so it may be a while.