Question on Eco Complete...

[Lonewolfblue]

Just a quick question on Eco Complete for planted tanks. Is it safe for fish that likes to burrow in the substrate, such as eels? also, how do you all have your set. Eco complete, then covered with gravel/sand, or just the eco complete as the only substrate? Thanks.

 

[caribou]

Eco Complete is usually used by itself but I've heard of some people extending it with black gravel. Burrowing fish should not be a problem. This is the substrate of choice for planted tanks. Unlike some other substrates, no layering is needed if its used by its self.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Cool....

It's probably what I'll be using for my next tank, which will be my first planted tank. I think it will be another 55G long. Was thinking about a 75G I saw, but is just a little too deep for me.

Edit: Scratch that. I relooked at the 75G and it's the same depth, just wider (front to back). I might go with that instead, will give a little more room for decor.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

What's a good depth for the eco complete? Might have some low light plants, but mostly medium and possibly some high light plants, as I'll have 4.7W/G and CO2.

Edit: And the W/G would be lower for the 75G, right? Even though it's the same length (48") and same depth (21")?

 

[caribou]

Eco Complete is great, but pricey. All posts seem very happy with it. When I was looking for my first "big tank", I thought it would be a 55 gal. I'm glad my dealer had me consider a 90 gal because it would be a planted tank. I like a lot of stuff in my tanks (driftwood, rocks) so a 90 was great for me. Depth hasn't been a problem for me or my lighting, but I did get a new step ladder for Christmas!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

As for depth, what do most use, 2", 3", 4"?

 

[sherry]

Usually people recommend 3 or 4 inches.. I have four in a 20 inch high tank and it works great.

btw.. if you do use eco complete throw away those stupid mag float algae cleaners... eco complete has iron in it and the magnets pick up the iron and manage to lodge it in the cleaner. Great way to scratch a tank.

My ONLY method of cleaning my glass (acrylic in my case) is snails.. olive nerites, and they do a great job. NOt a spot of algae on my tank walls.

 

[crazyred]

How may pounds of Eco complete would be needed to get at least 3" inches into a 55 gallon tank? I just got my 55 for Christmas and I might buy Eco complete for it, but would like to estimate pounds needed to see how much I'm going to have to fork over. 8O

 

[crazycat]

http://www.plantedtank.net/substratecalculator.html

is a great calculator for determing how much substrate you need.

i have 2.5" of eco-complete with about an inch of reg gravel on top. most of my plants do well with this--although i am having a tough time getting the lilleopsis to root.

i have 17" of height, so i went with as minimum a depth of possible while being able to support the plants. my loaches like to dig around in the gravel, and usually uproot some plants, but i just go and replants them. pesky little devils!

 

[Lonewolfblue]

So for a tank that's 48" long, 18" wide (75G) and 3.5" deep, you need 168lbs of Eco-Complete?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Can you mix eco complete and flourite, or is it not necessary?

 

[greenmaji]

not nessisary

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Cool. It will be spendy, but worth it I think.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Where's a good place to get eco complete? I tried bigalsonline, and they have it on sale, but it costs more to ship it than the total cost of the eco complete.

 

[Holokai]

Eco Complete is usually used by itself but I've heard of some people extending it with black gravel. Burrowing fish should not be a problem. This is the substrate of choice for planted tanks. Unlike some other substrates, no layering is needed if its used by its self.

You did see this, right? Might be worth looking into. Even replacing 30% of it would probably save you quite a bit of cash.

- Chris

 

[crazycat]

i've found that (believe it or not), drs. foster and smith has the best prices for eco-complete--it's the shipping that kills you, but their bags come out to about $24 incl. shipping (at least to ny). that's where i bought mine. i also gthought of doing 2/3 eco and 1/3 tahitian moon sand. i opted for eco-complete and regular estes "natural" gravel (in dark and light--see my gallery), because i like the look of the natural gravel better than a straight black substrate--purely aesthetic. i've also mixed eco and flourite, again purely for aesthetics--to break up the dull black--and thought it looked nice too.

with my current setup (gravel over eco) the only thing i've noticed is that i definitely have to use root tabs for the heavy root feeders like my swords. otheriwse, it was a little more cost effective, and aesthetically satisfying.

hth

 

[azn_fishy55]

at aquariumplants.com their eco-complete is 9.99 a bag and up depending where you are and how many bags your gonna need. http://aquariumplant.com/cgi-bin/cart/SS695.html

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

I found that at www.aquariumplants.com the shipping was cheapest if you bought 3 bags at a time. If you buy more than that there is an oversize charge so the price goes up. For my bro it ended up being a little under $20 a bag (better than their truckload sale) but YMMV.

 

[Holokai]

FYI - I just checked out drsfostersmith.com for eco-complete - you can get a bag of it for ~20 bucks, 8 dollars shipping. If you get more than 60 bucks, shipping is free. But in your case, for a large order like 180 lbs, the other website is still cheaper.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I could do smaller orders and have multiple orders.