ooibhuskyoo

Hey Guys!

I am new to the aquarium hobby thing and I was planning to put some live plants in my 40 gallon. I was wondering if I can get away with 30 lbs of Eco-complete and 25 lbs of regular aquarium gravel in my tank.

Also, I was wondering if you also have to clean the Eco-complete before adding it to the tank.

Thanks! =)

Shaina

Hey!

Yes you can.

No you do not. In fact, you're not supposed to. That said, I would put it in first then fill water onto a piece of plastic over the Eco-complete to avoid stirring a lot of fine particles into the water column, as they can take a while to precipitate out.

agabr123

definitely are you trying to get a layer of ecocomplete and a layer of gravel or just mix the two? if you wanted have layers of each just keep in mind that the two will definitely start to mix

ooibhuskyoo

I know they will mix, I just want to know if it's ok for the plants if there's a mix.

Shaina, I somewhat don't understand the piece of plastic method you are talking about? Do you think you can add a little more detail please?

agabr123

ah okay, then yes it should be perfectly fine for your plants good luck!

Shawnie

im not shaina but I know what she means...almost like hold a glass or plastic plate on top of the eco complete and pour the water over the plate when filling so you dont stir up the subtrate and it disperses lighter so it kinda gets the water fall effect instead of making a mess stirring up the subtrate

ooibhuskyoo

OH! interesting... so do I have to hold that plate there the whole time? Or just til the water gets like a quarter fill?

Shaina

Yup, what Shawnie said

It's most important at the beginning, but I generally leave it in there pretty much the whole time.

Shawnie

me too!! heaven forbid I mess up my neat gravel LOL

Shaina

Exactly! Every rock in its place! Hehe

pepetj

I do use Eco-Complete, both as sole substrate and in combination with natural river sand. My plants surely appreciate the qualitative upgrade. I believe it would work perfectly well mixed with gravel, either using the Eco-Complete as bottom layer or all mixed up.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

ooibhuskyoo

I have another question!!

What if I am planning to put a peacock eel in my tank? Would the substrate hurt the lil guy?

ledzeppman

I used an eco-complete/gravel mix with 2 khuli loaches and they are just fine. Your peacock will do great

pepetj

My Kuhli loaches are in tank where the Eco-Complete is as bottom layer and the natural river sand as top. However, that arrangement is not 100% true since with substrate vacuum and handling of plants, some Eco-Complete reaches the surface. My Khulis, and my Pandas Corydoras are quite healthy and seem happy there.

As for the gravel, as long as you avoid sharp edges and stay with rounded ones, it shall be safe for your Peacock Eel.

Pepe
Santo Domingo.

ooibhuskyoo

Thanks everyone! I will keep everybody informed how everything is going once I get my tank going! =)