Old Substrate Syndrome?

[David14259]

Hi guys, its been a while since I've been on here, so I hope you can forgive me and help me out.

I've had my tank setup for about a year now, been doing high tech planted, pressurized co2, 3-4WPG, EI dosing. The tank has 40lbs of Eco-Complete in it.

My question is this: is there any benefit to replacing the Eco-Complete after a year of use? Does it lose its effectiveness over all time? Or does all the organic matter from the fish in the tank actually make it better?

Thanks!

 

[Purrbox]

The substrate will slowly loose the initial nutrients that it had in the bag, but fish waste and fertilization will help to make up for that. Rather than replacing the substrate, just start using root tabs if the plants appear to need some extra root fertilization. As long as the substrate isn't breaking down into mush, there's no real need to replace it.