Carib Sea Eco Complete Pros And Cons

Hello all!! I’m looking for information on eco complete. I liked what I read so I ordered 5 bags. Now I have doubts. That’s just me I jump into things full tilt. Though about getting a new tank to combine my existing 2 tanks. So I bought a 90 gallon acrylic tank(never had acrylic before) a stand (still don’t understand why a stand is stronger than a peice of solid wood furniture) and 5 20 lb bags of eco complete. Always had planted tanks but have never used this stuff. What can I expect? How long does the stuff last? Will it change ph? Can I add regular gravel over the eco to change the color? Yes I know a lot of questions but any info is helpful. Thanks in advance

 

Lol also have these questions as I am buying 80 lbs for my 65. Heard the stuff messes up ph and kills everything...

 

Yours is a running 65 gallon? And another ? My tank will be a new tank but I am hopping to move my canister filter over to this tank so I can start it right up. Will the eco change that? Does eco mess up the bb in the filter?

 

Yours is a running 65 gallon? And another ? My tank will be a new tank but I am hopping to move my canister filter over to this tank so I can start it right up. Will the eco change that? Does eco mess up the bb in the filter?

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm I don't know exactly what you are asking in the beginning of that? The tank is not running yet. The PH of the water with the eco complete might shock the BB idk though good question tho.

 

I asked if your tank was running because some people throw this stuff into running tanks. So what does it kill?

 

I have it in both my 10 gallon and the plants love it! It does make the water a little cloudy when you first add it but its not that bad after a few hours. As time goes on this stuff breaks down into smaller pieces that sift to the bottom. And when you gravel vac it can het sucked up a little easy if your not paying attention. Overall I lik and and don't really have any complaints.

 

I have eco complete mixed with black diamond blasting sand in two tanks (a 40 and a 58). It does notably help the plants grow faster than just sticking them in gravel. I have noticed a pH spike after the tanks were running with several months with eco complete in the. From 7.6 to 8. However that is overall a relatively mI or change. It has not caused any crazy toxicity that has killed any fish or anything like that. It is cloudy when you first put it in the tank but that clears within a day. That's basically any substrate though.

 

I like eco-complete. This my 55 after 8 months. The plants seem to be doing good. Do not rinse before adding. Careful when adding the water to avoid creating a cloudy mess. I use the plate method. I know of some members here who also have successful planted tanks using eco. Here is a pic of my 55. Good Luck

 

Mschleimer and jmaldo nice tanks. Thanks all for info. So a ph rise shouldn’t be more than .2. That liveable my ph is around 6.8 so .2 shouldn’t hurt but if it brings it up to 8 that would be a big difference. Any other ph reading from eco users.

 

Eco complete did not effect my ph at all, one of the reasons I chose it. I have 15 tanks, about 10 are eco complete.
As mentioned above, no need to rinse it, very little clouding (with filters on will clear within 24hrs) compared to some other substrates.
You still need to use root tabs with it. It is a high CEC substrate, meaning it will “trap” excess nutrients from the water column and store them for release to the roots as needed...
the grain size is great for planting, root systems plants with the eco complete are amazing. Only thing that is a pain to plant are certain carpets (dhg and s. Repens are ok, but dbt and Monte Carlo are somewhat challenging)
Nice dark color.
Be careful cleaning your acrylic tank overall, they are prone to scratching. Eco complete, just like sand, can do a lot of harm if it gets caught in a mag scrape...

 

Yes the acrylic tank will be yet another thing to figure out. Can I put a regular gravel on top of the eco. Will it reduce its ability to trap nutrients? Will it trap gases are there negatives. I see now there is a brown version can you mix? Again thanks for any info given

 

Mine is almost black, there is also a reddish version. No need to add a cap... sand will sink through, gravel will just get mixed up. Yes you can mix the two colors, but I would just leave it eco complete...

 

Thanks for all your answers. Like I said in the beginning I jump into things. I’m not a fan of the black. Was planning on putting another 60lbs on top of the eco. This way I can vacuumed that top substrate and leave whatever is in the eco to let it do it’s job.