Amount of eco-complete for a 55 gal

[xwesx1978]

Im thinking about 80 pounds , will that be enough ?

 

[HalfMoon B]

How deep do you want it to be?

 

[xwesx1978]

a good 3 to 4 inches

 

[HalfMoon B]

80-100 pounds should give you a nice deep bed. I used 50 lbs in 40 breeder, and it's about 3 inches deep

 

[mfdrookie516]

Substrate Calculator

Per that calculator, you'd need about 100lbs to get 3", which is plenty IMO

To save some money, you could just get floramax. It's the dry version of eco complete. they make it in both the smaller grain (the size eco complete is most commonly found), or the larger grain (the size most floramax is most commonly found), but both are available in both sizes. I love floramax, never bought eco complete.

 

[HalfMoon B]

Substrate Calculator

Per that calculator, you'd need about 100lbs to get 3", which is plenty IMO

To save some money, you could just get floramax. It's the dry version of eco complete. they make it in both the smaller grain (the size eco complete is most commonly found), or the larger grain (the size most floramax is most commonly found), but both are available in both sizes. I love floramax, never bought eco complete.

Ooooh, love that link! handy!

 

[jetajockey]

Actually a 40breeder has more surface area than a 55g.

 

[xwesx1978]

I already got a couple bags of eco ,could I mix that flouramax

 

[jetajockey]

yeah you can mix them, as long as you don't care about the way it looks mixed together, it'll work fine.

 

[xwesx1978]

Petco has eco on sale for 15 bucks a bag , i can get 4 bags delivered for 70 bucks , thats 50 dollars cheaper then the only LFS that sells it here

 

[meegosh]

I used two 20lb bags in my 30g long (36x12) and got 2-3" of coverage. Hope it helps. Also, I drained the "live water" out of the bag before adding to the tank. I did not wash it or use the "water clarifying" stuff that came with it.

 

[HalfMoon B]

I used two 20lb bags in my 30g long (36x12) and got 2-3" of coverage. Hope it helps. Also, I drained the "live water" out of the bag before adding to the tank. I did not wash it or use the "water clarifying" stuff that came with it.

I didn't either, 4 bags on my 40 gal (16 lbs I think) and a good 3".
Cleared after 2-3 and settled really well naturally. Smaller particles tend to bury themselves it seems, so they are not easily stirred up.

 

[xwesx1978]

the guy at my LFS said the live water makes your cycle faster but i dont know how true that is

 

[HalfMoon B]

the guy at my LFS said the live water makes your cycle faster but i dont know how true that is

Typically any bacteria that could have helped is dead by the time you get it.

 

[meegosh]

I think it is just a gimmick. The bacteria would need air to survive I'm assuming. Who knows how long those bags sit on stores shelves either.

 

[jetajockey]

After speaking with the carbisea reps they insisted that there is no organic matter in their product. The site also states that the bacteria in the product is heterotrophic (the naturally occuring nitrifiers are aerobic autotrophs), so it's likely a spore-form bacteria (aka sludge remover), similar to what is in those hocus pocus cycling products like stresszyme and nutrafin cycle.

Does it hurt? Probably not, but it doesn't really do anything for the actual nitrifiers either.

 

[xwesx1978]

80 pounds of Eco ordered , found it for 17 a bag with free shipping , my mail man is gonna be pissed lol

guess i need to start a cycle/build thread here soon