Eco Complete

[Newbeeh]

Do I need to wash this substrate or dump the water it came in before putting it in my tank?

 

[meegosh]

I've got two 20lb bags at home that I am going to put in my 30g long. What I've read seems to be that you dump the extra water in the bag out and just put it in the tank. I haven't read any posts saying wash it. I'll let you know tonight though, that is my project after work!

 

[herp_mommy]

Don't wash it. Eco complete goes straight into the tank.

 

[meegosh]

I can now confirm, you definitely do not need to wash Eco Complete. I poked some holes in the bottom of the bag and drained out some of the "live water" and then dumped it right into the tank. No cloudiness or any problems.

 

[Newbeeh]

Thanks for the information meegosh

 

[Bud]

How do you guys like the Eco complete? I really like the look of it and I'm considering changing to it. There's going to be an election here in my house to vote between it and PFS. I like the looks of both, but leaning towards the darker to show the plants better.

 

[mfdrookie516]

I recently switched from PFS to a mix of flourite and floramax. Floramax, from everything I've read, is just a dry version of eco complete. I love it. While I was very happy with the functionality of the PFS, the mix of the red in the flourite with the black of the floramax is just what I wanted. I think planted tanks look best with dark substrate and a solid black background.

 

[fort384]

IMO, dark substrate looks better in a planted tank.

Lighter colors are good as accents here and there in a show tank, but other than that, I like black substrate.

 

[jetajockey]

i have floramax in one tank and ecocomplete in another. I mixed the floramax with some multicolored 3m colorquartz. The floramax seems to have more texture,sharper edges, or something. Either way, I keep cories and plecos on it without any issue. Both are nice substrate choices, although I've really taken a liking to the look of oil-dri, so much so that I capped the soil in my 125 with it. (not to mention its ultra cheap)

 

[Bud]

I like the look of the dark substrate with a black background as well. From the pictures I've seen, it's what I tend to gravitate towards. More of a natural look. Thanks for the reply.

 

[pantherspawn]

Setting up my planted with eco complete and caib sea crystal river, getting the red and white contrast. was going to do black but all of my other tanks are black, wanted something different. We'll see how it looks on Wed.

 

[Cereal]

I've set up 2 tanks with EcoComplete and never had to wash it or even drain the water. Just read the instructions on the bag. They say if you are adding it to an established tank then drain the extra water in the bag, if adding to a new tank then just pour all of the contents straight in. Remember there is a packet of water clarifier in each bag.

I've always added it to a new tank and used the clarifier to no ill effects. On both tanks the water parameters were perfect within a day or two.

 

[Pecktec]

Petco online has it for $17 pluse 6 bucks shipping no matter how many bags you buy. I just got 80lbs. My wife is going to kill me.

 

[mfdrookie516]

What I dont like about eco complete is that it takes about twice as much as floramax (weight wise), which is essentially the same thing, minus the live bacteria. And, it still costs about the same per pound. I have a mix of flourite and floramax and love it.

 

[AquaCheatah]

i have been using Eco Complete for 2yrs now and i love it makes all my plants look more alive and not to mention the texture altho it does turn grayish over time i just buy a new bag dump on top to return the nutrients to the old rocks

heres a ~rule of thumb~, make sure to do this after a complete water
and filter change but water change will just do fine

1) do not wash rinse,drain the rocks this will kill all the nutrients
2) using a quart cup shake and dump EcoC into your tank
3) make sure to cover all areas using the Shake and Dump routine
4) after your done dump the Eco Water into your tank
5) cut and pour the clear water solution given inside the bag

following these steps makes sure your tank dont look like you dropped a smoke bomb in there and your tank mates are looking for a way out bumpin into the glass and all (looks freaky to tell you the truth) but all in all this way your tank still looks clear and your smiling like if you just doing it for the first time.

shake and dump insures less cloud and more visual
keeping the filter on sometimes helps as Eco Complete
speeds up the filtration cycle x2 the normal rate
hence why it helps if you do a filter change as well

adding your fav plant liquids insures life rate before your rocks turn gray

anything else please feel free to ask

 

[Pecktec]

Thanks Aqua. I'm starting a new tank with it so I won't have fish in there when the water goes in, but I will keep all that in mind as I was thinking of adding left overs to another tank. I picked up one bag of the other thing they sell ( flora grow?) before I bought the Eco so the plan is to do the rinse routine with it and put it in as a bottom layer for the back. Then just pore the Eco right on top of it since it won't need rinsing. Then put a little water in and plant it out.

 

[AquaCheatah]

thats cool yea most of these things dont need rinsing or washing just dump it in
cause you kill or lose all the good stuff the plants need from these substrates

and if you say your not putting in any fish thats even better
cause you can just dump it in having the cloud will let you know
alot of things once the dust cloud is gone your cycle is complete
(only way i knew the first time my eco complete cycle was done)
when the dust cloud and water was crystal clear then i put all my plants first
then fishes

but now i just add another bag in with fish inside its safe and fun to watch them act like its food or watch the fishes move the rocks cause they feel it dont belong there

but i wish you luck with the product i can say i been happy and would recommend this over any other product out there

 

[jimenezlee]

Any updates? Did you finish setting up the Eco-Complete. I'm curious to know if you had any ammonia spike like I did when I added the substrate to my 55g. It was an already established tank and had a mini-cycle after it.

 

[Pecktec]

Nope I'm waiting on some other things before I get started. I'm driftwood shopping now.

 

[AquaCheatah]

did you do a water change prior to adding the eco complete

some how when i did a pwc and added my eco
never had a change in any of any kind

takes two weeks to know how much no2 and no3 u have after ammonia was always 0ppm