Rambling Eco-Complete post. Storage, mixing, etc...

[CGGorman]

Darn online shopping!

I go to order two simple test kits...maybe $20 worth. Then I think, "crap. my shipping cost is gonna be 50% of my bill.", so I start searching for other stuff I "need". Ended up adding a bag of floss, two thermometers, two boxes of bio-media, a sachet of phos-ban, and two bags of Eco-complete. Bill went up to $120 with shipping. Now I feel better. Shipping is only 15% of the bill.

Anyway, I've already got 80 pounds of Flourite in my tank. At only 2", the bed is little thin for my taste, so I've been planning on adding a couple more bags anyway. I've heard a lot of good things about the E-C, so I figured I'd just mix some in with the Flourite. The 40 pounds of E-C mixed with the 80 pounds of Flourite should give me about 3" of planting bed. Not too bad.

I've also got the substrate heater "encased" in 40 pounds of Caribsea moon sand, to help evenly distribute the heat and hold the cables in place. That stuff turns into "concrete" after it settles and compacts, so I'm not including it in the planting bed depth!

All totaled, that's a 4" thick, 160 pound bed of substrate. That's a lot, but the tank is 25" tall, so it should look fine. The portion remains unseen, just below the lower frame edge.

Once this last 40 lbs arrives, I'll probably let it sit in the bags for a few months since I'm breaking the tank down to move into a new house in the spring. Any problems with letting it sit? I only ask because of the way it's packaged with live bacteria...

Also, when it comes time to mix it in, whether now or later, should I layer it or try to mix it throughout? Is one significantly more buoyant than the other? What about the variable grain size of the E-C? Will it settle at the bottom of the planting bed anyway?

Just FYI, it'll be about 1/3 E-C and 2/3 Flourite. The color of the E-C is black and the Flourite is brown.

Sorry for the rambling post...and TIA!

 

[malkore]

Tahitian moon sand? that stuff is far from concrete...I've found it to be one of the better sand substrate choices for a planted tank.

The only thing I dislike is how easily it's blown around when refilling the tank with buckets.

 

[CGGorman]

No, the bag says "moonlight white sand". I looked around the 'net and can't find anything other than a Petco entry for it, and they don't have a picture. Figures. The Carib-Sea website doesn't list it, but thier "Marine Sand" seems like the same stuff from the picture and description. It's the finest sand I could locate that wasn't coral or lime based.

Marine Sand - An inert, natural substrate. Recommended for
freshwater aquariums with external filtration. Very striking. Do
not use with undergravel filtration. Grain Size 0.1 - 0.3 mm.
Product #: 00820 (20 lb. bag).

 

[CGGorman]

For comparison, This is their listing for Tahitian:

Tahitian Moon - An inert, synthetic substrate. Recommended for
aquariums with external filtration. Very bold look. Do not use with
undergravel filtration and avoid burrowing or bottom dwelling fish.
Grain size 0.1 - 0.5 mm. Product #: 00821 (20 lb. bag).

 

[gfink]

The eco-complete is mostly black, but has fine grey volcanic dust mixed in. When you first add it, the fine dust will cloud your water up and eventually settle out on top leaving a light grey color. I sort of mixed it around with my hand again, and the dust works it wasy down eventually. After a while, I don't see any grey dust anymore, just larger black grains.

You can try to layer it, but good luck keeping it startified. How are you going to avoid mixing up your brown and black layer as you plant and remove things?

 

[malkore]

Ahh, never used the white stuff, but it sounds like it must be pretty fine grained stuff, and if so, would have the compaction issues like you described.
Same problem with fine grain playsand. Even the MTS I added could not keep it stirred up sufficiently to prevent it from suffocating plant roots.

 

[CGGorman]

Yeah, but in my case, I WANT the compaction. Since I'll have 3" of planting substrate ABOVE the sand, I'll be perfectly happy if the plants don't/can't root into it. It will save me from worrying about roots burning and/or getting tangled in the cables.

 

[malkore]

ahh, i follow you now!