Eco-Complete for Planted Aquariums black sand being fazed out...

[bradleyheathhays]

Setting up my first aquarium here and being a 125 gal I'm asking lots of advice before I commit all this $ to it. Been researching substrates and I've settled on possibly doing a bottom layer of ADA Amazonia of an inch or so, followed by about an inch of Eco-Complete for planted aquariums black (3-6mm), and then topped off with Eco-Complete for planted aquariums black sand. I wrote CaribSea with some questions about the Eco-Complete for planted and they said they're fazing out the sand version and anything left in the distribution system is all that's left.

So my question is...I happened to find some but it's online and I'll have to pay for shipping. I was wanting to cap with sand b/c I've heard some complaints that the 3-6mm version of the Eco-Complete for planted gives some plants a little trouble rooting. Is the Eco-Complete sand I've found a good enough product to go ahead and snatch up? Or are there other similar nutrient filled sand products out there that would be just as good?

Thanks!

 

[SFAquariums1]

I've used Eco complete on several aquariums and not once have I capped it with anything. I think theyve turned out awesome too! After a while the nutrients would diminish so I would start to add my own to the tank.

I've now switched to dirted tanks and capping them with sand to hold the dirt down. It's a far cheaper option but in my opinion a little bit of a challenge for beginners. Not sayin it's impossible!

 

[Mebbid]

Eco complete doesn't actually have its own.nutrients but is good at absorbing them from detritus to make available for plants more efficiently. This means it never has to be replaced.

It also doesn't need to be capped with anything. It's by far one of the most popular planting mediums out there and has been for a long time. It might be fun to do a dirted tank capped with eco complete though

 

[Luananeko]

I had no idea Eco-complete even made a sand version... Too bad I just bought a bunch of local dune sand for my tank! Sand is best at keeping detritus from falling down into the substrate, so if you don't want to do much vacuuming and just suck it up from on top then sand is definitely worth it.