David C

I've decided to change out the gravel in my tank for eco-complete. I don't mind the work but I do have a couple of questions. Will the new substrate be alright on my yoyo loaches barbels? Are there any excessive cloudiness issues I should be aware of? Is there really any difference in the 3 different types listed? I was thinking of going with the standard black, but not sure if that's the way to go.

Thanks for any tips/advice

tkfury

From what I understand Eco-Complete is wonderful for bottom dwellers - I've seen it commonly mentioned with cories so I don't see why it wouldn't be good for loaches as well. I keep hearing that because its packaged in water, you don't have to worry about rinsing it to prevent it clouding up the water. Plants really do stand out well with dark substrates. As for the reddish ones - I haven't a clue whatsoever about them.

sirdarksol

Tkfury is right, at least in my experience. My loaches love the stuff, I had crystal clear water from the first minute I put the ecocomplete in. My plants are doing wonderful.

I don't know if there's any difference, because I've never seen more than the standard black ecocomplete.

outlaw

I recently did a full gravel change and had nitrite issues, basically another mini cycle. Just make sure to have enough bacteria to keep up with the bio load while the bacteria regrows on the gravel. Or if you can, move the fish for a couple days. Either way, just make sure to keep an eye on the parameters of the water.

David C

Sirdarksol, i was going to buy the fluroite but i'm going with the eco-complete because of your recommendation on another post, so thanks

outlaw, i'm only going to change half the tank at a time, and wait two to three weeks in between changes. i figure this will keep the bacteria levels alright, plus i'm overfiltered so that should help (i hope) 700gph on a 55gal.

I'm going with a grassy green lawn across the entire bottom of the tank, i hope this works out because i saw a picture of someone else's and it was awesome.

outlaw

That should be good then. I thought I was in the same boat with the over filtering. Have a canister filter rated upto 75G (4 trays mostly with pads and bio balls in it) on a 46Gal. Sounds like you got it handled though.

Shaina

Good luck -- I'm looking forward to seeing pictures

I went with the black ecocomplete for my planted tank, and I'm glad I did...it's great stuff

David C

Oh yeah, i forgot the important questions.... the manufacturer recommends 2lbs per gallon, is this realistic because i dont plan on mixing... and then finally... do you need to reapply, like potting soil for plants needs to be changed every so often, or does fish poo refertilize the soil??

thanks again guys, and there will be plenty of pics soon enough. ill get before and after photos of course

sirdarksol

The lbs per gallon thing is kind of pointless. I've got a 40g tank that 80 lbs of soil would create a 1' deep bed, and I've got a 30g that 60 lbs of soil would make a 2-3" bed. They should give a per square foot recommendation. As it is, I have a 90g with a footprint of 4'x2', I used two bags to cover about 2/3 of the tank bottom (rocks and driftwood are your friend, you can use them to displace and maximize the EcoComplete), and I have 2-3", I think.

And you shouldn't need to change it out, but after a year or so, you'll need to start supplementing certain minerals, particularly iron. I plan on using root tabs or spikes to do this, likely.

David C

Thanks sirdarksol, you always seem to have the answers to my crazy question

Rep point for you, lol

Shaina

Handy-dandy Substrate Calculator:
http://fish.bakerweb.biz/calculators.html

David C

Thanks shaina, that was a good link that answered my question perfectly

sirdarksol

Thanks, Shaina. That will be useful when answering these questions in the future.

Shaina

**gives self a scratch-n-sniff sticker**

jk...glad it helped though