grappler

heya guys,

im starting up a new 45 gallon with ecocomplete. however ive only ever used gravel in the past. what are the regular cleaning procedures? can u clean it like gravel digging the siphon into the substrate or is it more like sand where you have to stir every week and vacuming is done by holding the siphon slightly above the substrate?

also how much should i purchase? the tank is 1220cm by 35cm and it will be planted.

any advise would be much appreciated. thanx!

Jim

OK, I have 2 planted tanks with a combo of Eco, Flourite and Laterite.
OK, assuming you've planted the tank and have a nice lawn started, you NEVER deep clean the gravel anymore. Just lightly, VERY LIGHTLY, stir the top substrate every now and then with your fingers to make sure it hasn't compacted. FYI, if you end up with some trumpet snails, which you probably will, they do a great job of this themselves.
When you do siphon, keep it an inch or so above the substrate, enough to suck any muck up but not enough to stir the gravil too much or you'll damage your plants roots. Also, I don't worry much about muck anyway, it sinks into the gravel and fertalizes my plants nicely.
As for how much to purchase. My tanks have 4 bags each, along with some Laterite and flourite mixed in. This gives me a nice deep substrate for the roots to grow into.
Obviously you'll need it at least a couple inches deep for the plants to root properly, and bigger background plants like Amazon Swords need more like 4 to 6 inches to grow big and lush. So I guess it depends on how you want the tank to look. One thing is you can mix Eco with regular gravel to make more without spending too much $$. Just realize if you thin it out too much you'll have to suppliment it some other way.

sirdarksol

What Jim said on cleaning it.

Another way to maximize the amount of ecocomplete you get is to use rock and/or driftwood to fill some bed space. Of course, you still have to buy the rock/driftwood, but if you can find it on sale, or if you already have some, you can put it down before pouring the substrate in. It will have a partially-buried look, and the substrate will be deeper without having to buy any extra.

Jim

Oh yeah... duh! I should have mentioned that as well. My column tank (I haven't posted pics yet, maybe this afternoon) has a big hillside built up in the back. It looks totally natural, but the truth is under the top layer there's layers of rock "walls" supporting much of the gravel, sort of like an Aztec step pyramid, and a huge rock in the very back maybe 6" down to fill in some space.

grappler

thanx for the help guys!!!