Caribsea Floramax - $10 a bag clearance!

[Brian_Nano12g]

Was pretty much set on getting eco complete online.. But stopped in my local petsmart for something else and found Caribsea Floramax (midnight - 12lbs) substrate on clearance for $10 a bag. I've been reading mixed reviews on it so I hope it's good stuff... Should be better than the standard black gravel I'm using now (I hope)...

Anyway, please let me know your experience with it.. Otherwise, just wanted to spread the word that it's on clearance (well at least here in AZ) for a great price in case you're looking.

 

[Mrc8858]

Have you gone to your local hardware stores, garden stores, or landscapers cause you can usually find the identical substrate you want for a fraction of the cost

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

No not really... I on occasion will stop in to Home Depot or Lowes for other things... but never thought of substrate for my aquarium. If I were looking for small pea gravel I think I'd hit up the local hardware store. Or, I suppose if my aquarium was really large, I would search for the most 'economic' option. However, since my tank is a 12 gallon, $20 for 24lbs of Flora Max seems good to go for me. I already have fish and plants in my 12g so I don't want to risk with trial and error on some gravel, rocks, or whatever at a hardware store unless I thoroughly did the research and know what I'm looking for exactly.

Out of curiosity, what did you find exactly that's like floramax or eco complete (if not comparable or better) at a fraction of the cost? I'm considering getting another much larger tank in the not so distant future... so that would be good to know

 

[Mrc8858]

Honestly if your going for the trace elements that price you found you probably can't beat but if color of texture is your concern then a local landscaper should be able to supply a black gravel/stone for a big savings. Everywhere is different though since your talking what your local owner decides to stock/supply so as with livestock when dealing with multi tank syndrome footwork is the key to savings haha

 

[jetajockey]

The closest thing to ecocomplete or floramax would be another fired clay type substrate material like oil-dri, soilmaster select, turface, or basic clay kitty litter. Gravel/stones are not the same. I've used floramax before and it works fine, it's a lot like ecocomplete but it's not in liquid and should be rinsed prior to adding.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

@jeta ... The bag says its fine to use by itself as a substrate with no need for laterite.. Why am I reading a lot of people mixing it with other substrates? Some ppl even using potting soil and capping with floralmax.

 

[jetajockey]

No important reason, it's fine on it's own. The soil thing is because soil needs a cap on it so some people opt for a high cec cap like Floramax, but nearly anything would work. Otherwise it's just an aesthetic reasoning to mix it with something else.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

No important reason, it's fine on it's own. The soil thing is because soil needs a cap on it so some people opt for a high cec cap like Floramax, but nearly anything would work. Otherwise it's just an aesthetic reasoning to mix it with something else.

Cool thanks for the info and also the alternate choices of substrates found outside of aquarium/fish stores.