how much eco-complete for plants

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barmer71

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Jul 23, 2010
Messages
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Starting a 55gal. Will be using 4ea. 48" t12's over the tank and planting it. Got one bag of eco-complete and was wondering if I could mix it with gravel and grow plants decently. Wanting to grow fine grass like plants in the middle to have a solid blanket of green and bushier plants on each side. Do I need more eco-complete? Kinda on a budget and this stuff is priced like gold:) Thanks for info.
 
To really benefit from the Eco Complete you need to mix it 50/50 with gravel or use it as a complete substrate. Otherwise, I'd just save your money and go with gravel and root tabs.

Welcome to AA, by the way. :)
 
I agree with Kristin. You should aim for a 50/50 mix if you are going to add gravel to it. You should also be aiming for ~3" of substrate in a planted tank.
 
Thanks guys I will see what I can do then. Is this lighting enough?
 
I can't really decipher your lighting ><. You have 4 bulbs of t-12? How many watts is that?
 
I haven't got the bulbs yet, but I believe they will be 40watts each for a total of 160watts together.
 
If that's true, then you're looking at close to 4wpg. You're going to need to dose co2, whether pressurized or diy.
 
there other options for substrate. you can use fired clay substrate like sms or turface. its a little light in weight but is a lot cheaper and have a better CEC.
 
one bag = 10 gallon tank leaving 2-3inch.
for a 55 u probly spend a bit over 150 dollar to have atleast 3 inch of eco in there for root plants.

on the bag of the eco, it say dont mix it with any other substrate.


for a tank that size, i would just go with top soil in the bottom and pea rock over the soil.
 
on the bag of the eco, it say dont mix it with any other substrate.
well duh they are going to say that lol they want them to buy as much of their product as possible.
 
Well after a few years, eco-complete will turn into a basically useless mush. I haven't done it myself, but conceptually, adding something like turface or fluorite (something with a high CEC) will help you in the long run.
 
Well after a few years, eco-complete will turn into a basically useless mush.
never heard about this. i know ada soil breaks down. i have eco in my tanks for years and it never broke down. i believe eco and flourite have about the same CEC. turface / sms some have said gets soft after years though i havent noticed this in mine.
 
Hmm, maybe I'm wrong.. I'm pulling from a knowledge base from around 3 years ago, and I guess it's getting mixed up with some current stuff. I've read that some batches of turface/sms end up breaking down, but others are fine. That is expected I guess, since it's not really meant for aquariums anyways.

You're probably right about the ADA. Was it eco complete or ADA that is just a substrate soaked in a nutrient "bath"?
 
ada is the only substrate with real nutrients you basically have to cycle the substrate. the others have very little trace in it.
 
The topsoil idea sounds like a possiblity. Are there any pitfalls associated with using it? How about algae problems? PH? etc.....Went with T8 lighting for a total of 4 bulbs at 32watts each for a total of 128watts.
 
i wouldnt worry so much about algea, if ur worry about it use some algea eater.
they should keep ur tank clean.

a lot ppl [SIZE=+2]Mineralized their soils, some say it will lower the chance of algae.
[/SIZE]
 
If you're still going for eco complete, get it online at Petco. They have a sale going on and free shipping. It should cost you ~$18 a bag, and no shipping if you spend over $60 (most places charge over $20 shipping for heavy items).

--Adeeb
 
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