Eco-Complete vs. Gravel w/Peatmoss and Laterite Base

[AquariumFreak]

I have ordered my 90gal tall tank and still can't decided on whether I should go with Eco-Complete or Gravel w/Peatmoss and Laterite Base for my Substrate.

Here are a few questions I have:

Will I have to change either of these out after a period of time?
Will one work better then the other?

This tank will most likely be a heavily planted tank so I want to make sure I put in the right substrate.

Thank you in advance for your advise.

Jeff

[TankGirl]

I know laterite will need to be changed out at some point, and my guess is the same for the peat, since it will decay over time and lose its effect. The other thing is that at least for me, laterite was just too messy and no matter how well I had the layers constructed, replanting or moving a plant created clouds of dust that settled into a debris that needed to be vacuumed up.

I do not know enough about EcoComplete to tell you whether it will have to be changed out, but I know that Fluorite would not need to be changed and, like the EcoComplete, it does not have to be carefully layered. The EC can just be dumped in there without need for rinsing. I plan to try it for my next planted tank.

[Mr Burns]

eco complete will never have to be changed out...unless you have some kind of life extension technology, which you probably don't...so don't worry about it. basically EC is going to be much less of a hassle in setting up, you won't have to worry about distubing the layer, and there is nothing that is going to deteriorate and foul up the water.

[TankGirl]

Not to hijack or anything, but does EC cloud up when you disturb it, Mr. Burns?

[madasafish]

BrianNY has said that the Eco-Complete doesn't cloud at all, but that's second-hand. Perhaps he can corroborate this statement...

BTW, Brian has BEAUTIFUL tanks!! Allivymar and I saw visited him last weekend. I was very impressed by his low-light 55 and floored by his beautiful high-light 125. Nice job, Brian!

Oh, and C. Montgomery--you seem to be the one with life-extending technology. Mr. oldest-man-in-Springfield at 104.

I just set up a planted tank a month ago useing Eco. The "Amazon water" as they call it is slightly brackish in the bag. When added to a tank, it is diluted so much you can hardly tell. My Filstar had the tank sparkling clean in an hour. Have'nt had any problems with cloudy water caused by eco. Even with gravel vacs and me uprooting the plants a few times, trying to get an arrangement I liked .

I personally really like the eco (so does my plants). My tank has a black background. With the black Eco the plant and fish colors really jump out at you.

[Mr Burns]

Originally Posted by TankGirl

Not to hijack or anything, but does EC cloud up when you disturb it, Mr. Burns?

nay

Originally Posted by madasafish

Oh, and C. Montgomery--you seem to be the one with life-extending technology. Mr. oldest-man-in-Springfield at 104. :wink:

aye...i've run the nucleon plant for three score and twain...that's 62 years in the "new english"
man, i gotta watch that episode again.

[szacherau]

I like the look of this product. I might try it on a new 20 gallon I was going to make. For information sake I wanted to also talk about Red Sea's Plant Success FloraBase. I use this in both of my plant tanks and I love the stuff. I tried Fluorite and hated everything about it. Florabase is light, nice red-brown color, very fine to the touch and does not cloud the water. These traits seem to be the polar opposite of the fluorite I used.

[bmg213]

Originally Posted by szacherau

For information sake I wanted to also talk about Red Sea's Plant Success FloraBase.

I've been using FloraBase for about 6-8 months now, and NOTHING I do stops it from creating a muddy/slimy coating in my filter. I just posted a thread about swaping out my substrate (florabase) for eco-complete. I could be an exception, or I may be doing something wrong, but Id avoid the FloraBase at all costs.

[szacherau]

That is odd. I have used Florabase in one tank for about 4 years and love the stuff. What you describe is what happened to me when I tried fluorite. Guess you can't count on consistency too much.

[TankGirl]

My fluorite does not gunk up a bit, but the description sounds exactly like what happened when I used laterite, and I rinsed that stuff to within in inch of it's life, or so it seemed.

[BrianNY]

Thanks for ego boost madasafish

I spent more time researching substrates than anything else. I opted for the Eco-Complete because I am convinced it's the best substrate available. I may have spent less time on this if I were doing a smaller tank, but I didn't want to be faced with possibly having to change the substrate on a 125g. IMO, the same holds true for a 90g.

One more thing.....I never rinsed the Eco-Complete. It went straight from bag into the tank and the water was never cloudy!!!!!!!