Is Eco Complete good substrate?

[Brian_Nano12g]

Hi y'all.. I've been running regular black gravel in my 12g for quite someone now and I'm thinking of switching to a better plant friendly substrate. Is eco complete pretty good?

I've been using some root tabs for my swords and dosing with excel and liquid ferts.. But my plants (all low light varieties) seem to not be taking off as I would like. Is eco complete my salvation? LOL

 

[ucrdave]

You can use eco complete to help. But the combination of lighting, substrate, ferts, and co2 is what will make a beautiful thriving tank. Substrate by itself is not a savior. Mind you there are cheaper options. For substrate

 

[shutson06]

I started to make my 20g a heavily planted tank with eco complete. Comparing 2 plants I bought at the same time putting one in my 55g with sand and 1 in my 20g with eco complete...I'm already trimming the plant in the 20...just seems to do alot more for them IME ...but not a super substrate lol.

And like said before a good combo always does best.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Well the tank is a JBJ nano cube that I have for FW...it runs 2x24w PC bulbs... For a long while, I didn't care too much about leaving in the stock 50/50 actinic daylight bulbs.. silly me to think the blue hue was kinda cool... as a result, my aquarium became engulfed in algae, as seen in this first two pictures below... as you can see, the swords in the background were longer, the second pic shows their decline...

2nd pic:

I finally upgraded the lighting to a 24w PC 6500K and a 24w PC 10,000K coralife bulb. I also added 2 nerite snails and my algae has pretty much disappeared! However, all my plants took a pretty bad hit and the swords in the background are like an inch high now. Some leaves were dead or just so covered in algae I decided to cut them off. The one sword in the back right is a new addition to add some height.. but there are like 4 more in the back that I want to get growing again. My anubias rebounded too from being covered in algae.

Here's a recent pic I took tonight:

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Hey guys I just dropped in to Petsmart and they have Caribsea Flora Max on clearance for $10 a bag (normally $18)... Is that stuff comparable to eco complete? Any good?

 

[Fishandmusic81]

Hey guys I just dropped in to Petsmart and they have Caribsea Flora Max on clearance for $10 a bag (normally $18)... Is that stuff comparable to eco complete? Any good?

Lol I got the same deal
I mixed it in with 2 bags of Eco complete
And just make sure you really rinse the flora max

 

[mohican]

Worked in my tank. Rinse it first tho. It may take while to clear up too. I've had great results, better than tabs alone.

 

[tropicalmackdaddy]

Ive heard in every experience it kinda stinks and breaks down

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Worked in my tank. Rinse it first tho. It may take while to clear up too. I've had great results, better than tabs alone.

Good to hear since all I've used in the past were tabs and liquid ferts. I've heard great review mixed in with the worst. I hope I'll be able to contribute to the "good" reviews once I get it going later this week.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Ive heard in every experience it kinda stinks and breaks down

I certainly hope not... I'll soon find out first hand this week.

 

[WhiteDevil]

It breaks down rather quickly and gets pretty silty.

I used EC in the past but found any true gravel that is 3mm-5mm in grain size will do just fine infact due to the smaller grain size of the gravel the roots grow and you can quote me, 10x better then any planting substrate ive used(EC,flourite and aquariumplants.com's black beauty). Here is the gravel I use in my 75g and the 210g.

as you can see my banjo cats have NO problem getting down in it.
Here it is in the 210g to show plant growth.

Here is a pic of the C. Spiralis root system.

Even at 10 bucks a bag, thats about 7 bucks more then 50 pounds of the 3-5mm gravel costs and I personally think does a MUCH better job at sustaining those roots.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

@WhiteDevil where did you get the gravel? Is it like the pea gravel that's round and smooth that can be found at hardware stores like Lowes? I'm under the impression that the trace elements in FloraMax and EC would be beneficial for plant growth.

 

[WhiteDevil]

they are but when it breaks down, all thats gone and with heavy root feeders it depletes faster.

I got the gravel from a guy no longer in the business aspect of the hobby but I think the plant manager might have it but I know he doesnt drive out to AZ.(maybe for ACA if they held it)

I got about 50 pounds left and dont mind selling it at .75 cents a pound you pay shipping, but it might not be enough for your tank, I didnt see the size. I paid $1/lb for it I did have 500 pounds but im down to 50.

 

[jetajockey]

Its not the trace elements in it, they get expended quickly. The reason why it's better is because the clay type substrates have a high cation exchange capacity. This is the ability to retain nutrients to make available to plant roots. Not absolutely essential in aquaria but it does help.

 

[meegosh]

I wouldn't waste your money on eco complete. I used it in my 30g when it was in its prime and I didn't notice any dramatic changes. I actually got rid of it and went back to sand shortly after. I'd save your money and invest it in lights, pressurized co2 or ferts. IMO.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

So I got the 24lbs of Floramax for $20 bucks last night... Are you guys suggesting I return it or use it? All my plants in my 12g are low light / low tech varieties such as Java Fern, Anubias, Swords, Hygro Willow Leaf, and Crypts. My current lighting are 2x24w PC bulbs (1x24 10,000K and 1x24 6,500K). I dose with Excel and Trace. I was thinking going high tech with injecting CO2, but that's for a later time when I'm ready to invest more money in this... LOL

 

[aqua_chem]

If you can get a bunch of it for a stupid price, that's great. But as far as substrates go, if you're willing to spend the money, there are much better options, like Aquasoil, UP Aqua Soil, Akadama, MTS, Fluval's Plant stuff, etc etc. They will actually have appreciable nutrients in them.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Well if I went with the AquaSoil stuff, I think I'll need about 9 liters for a 12g right? Just from the two first options you gave me plus shipping, I'm looking at around $50 or so... is that worth it? The Fluval Plant Stratum, for a 16lbs bag, would be about $38 shipped. Opinions?

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Or if I kept one bag of Flora Max and returned the other..... and buy the 8.8 bag of Fluval Plant Stratum for $19.. that would put me at around $30. Is this a better combo than just using the FloraMax entirely (or mixed in with some of my existing gravel)? Sorry... I'm just trying to conceptualize all of this and choose the best option...LOL

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

And... just called the LFS and they have a 9 liter bag (approx. 18lbs) of ADA AquaSoil Amazonia for $42.99+tax.