Eco-complete: messy?!

[gabysapha]

I got ecocomplete from a previous owner, and I put it in my tank and my water is crazy cloudy!

Does eco-complete always cloud water like this? Or is it more due to the mulm from the previous tank?
Whenever I stick a plant in the substrate a huge cloud forms! Whenever I move substrate to slope it it gets so cloudy that I must wait 10min for the water to clear enough for me to see what I did.
I'm afraid even movement from my cories will create clouds! Or water changes- those will be awful!

Right now I have only eco-complete as the substrate. Is it ok by itself?

Thanks!

-frustrated first-time eco-complete user

 

[Gboy66]

Yes i have it. Poured 20 pounds in with 20 already in, and it clouded like crazy. Dont worry though!! Itll get better. My catfish and eel can move around and dont make clounds

 

[gabysapha]

Yes i have it. Poured 20 pounds in with 20 already in, and it clouded like crazy. Dont worry though!! Itll get better. My catfish and eel can move around and dont make clounds

Oh ok good i was surprised, I thought it wasn't supposed to get cloudy. But it's understandable since it's so light. I put a handful into another tank that already has gravel in it, and it turned into a cloud immediately and coated my shrimp and otos in a light layer of dust. They seemed to enjoy it, although I'm worried I did them harm!

 

[Gboy66]

Your alright. Hope your shrimp are alright. Is your tank going to be planted

 

[gabysapha]

Your alright. Hope your shrimp are alright. Is your tank going to be planted

Yes, i got some AMAZING jungle vals to add to my growing collection of beginner plants.

The shrimp seem fine

Thanks for your posts

 

[Gboy66]

Yea dog good luck

 

[mfdrookie516]

I've always seen people say eco complete did not cloud. I've never used eco, but I have used floramax which is the exact same stuff, minus the bacteria. I never had issues with clouding. I did have major issues with flourite, however.

 

[Tifta]

I just put 80 lbs of Eco complete into my tank last week. I didn't have any cloudiness.