Miracle Gro Organic Potting Soil Vs Eco Complete

I'm looking to re-do my planted tank and go with a nutrient rich substrate. The tank has been up and running and established for about a year now, I currently only have gravel substrate with diy root tabs. Ive been looking into different organic dirt/soil options and also eco complete. I'm on the fence about both because ive read that eco complete will initially raise ph and organic potting soil can release pockets of gases that could kill my livestock. I would like to get some insight from everybody that has some experience with eco complete or miracle gro organic potting soil, how was ot starting off and what the outcome was eventually. Thanks in advance

 

I would go with Eco-Complete! Much easier to deal with since you treat it like gravel! With the soil you have to cap it with gravel and it can get messy! Here is my tank, it has sand in the front and eco-complete in the back:

 

Did you cycle your tank with eco complete in it? Did you have ph issues?

 

I used MG and sand, worked out well in my 40gb tank.

 

Did you cycle your tank with eco complete in it? Did you have ph issues?

Nope! I actually upgraded from a 20 high! I had an AC50 on the 20 and a AC 110 on the 40b. So all I had to do was take the biomax from the 50 and put it on top of the AC110 and it was an instant cycle.

What size tank do you have and what is the stocking? You should be able to just remove the old and add the new. I also did a light rinse on the eco-complete before I added to try to get rid of most of the cloudiness

 

Nope! I actually upgraded from a 20 high! I had an AC50 on the 20 and a AC 110 on the 40b. So all I had to do was take the biomax from the 50 and put it on top of the AC110 and it was an instant cycle.

What size tank do you have and what is the stocking? You should be able to just remove the old and add the new. I also did a light rinse on the eco-complete before I added to try to get rid of most of the cloudiness

U put a 110 on a 40b? Holy the current mustve been crazy. I have a 40b also w/ ac50 n ac70 fully stocked..overstocked maybe.

11 harlequins rasboras
16 cardinal tetras
4 cherry barbs
6 emperor tetras
5 false juliI corys
2 panda cory
2 bolivian rams
2 amano shrimp

Golden nesaea
Red green tiger lotus
Ludwigia peruensis
Telanthera
Anubias
Java fern
Java fern lace windelov
Amazon sword
Brazilian pennywort
Water wisteria

No co2
Seachem flourish dose
Diy root tabs

But it seems like my plants are slowing down in growth. I'm looking to move everything over into a 75 gallon so everything can grow out properly

 

I used MG and sand, worked out well in my 40gb tank.

How long have u had ur tank going w mg? Do u use flourite also? How bad is it when u move plants or plugging new ones in? Does it stir up the tank a bunch?

 

Nope you can see the pic above which is a recent photo and the current isn't that bad however what was bad was the suction. When I first started the tank it sucked up 4 of my 16 rasboras and 12-14 of my 20 rcs! I added a prefilter, also I have some filter pads that I added so maybe with combination of those 2 it had lessen the flow?

As for your stocking you do have some problems! Corys are shoaling fish and are different species. Each species need a minimum group of 6. The barbs are also shoaling fish and need a minimum group of 6.

So here are my specs for my 40 breeder:
Plants: anubias, crypts, bacopa, wisteria, staurogyne repens, java fern, amazon sword, hygrophilia, hornwort, java moss,banana plant, and pothos(hanging over tank)
Fauna: 12 lambchop rasboras, 8(now 6,2 died...will add more when I get the chance) peppered cories, 2 male guppies, RCS, mts, and 2 nerite snails
Equipment: AC110, 200 watt heater, Finnex Stingray(on for 10hrs), no ferts!!!

You can see I have a big filter and my stocking is small! But I'm a conservative stocker and go for only a few kind of fish and like it to be more natural where there are space for them to swim

Do you have a pic on your tank? What lights are you running on them and how long?

 

Aqueon optibright for 8 6-8 hrs daily. I don't have any pics right now, iam at work, but I can once I get home

 

So with the eco complete, it was recommended that I do not rinse prior to putting it into tank because of the live bacteria it comes with. Is it possible that adding eco complete w the live bacteria w/o rinsing it, to a fully cycled seeded tank would cause the ph to spike? This is the main concern of mine bcuz my ph is already at 7.5 n I can't afford it to go any higher.

 

Mine did not, but lets see what others say about theirs.

 

Mine did not, but lets see what others say about theirs.

You have eco complete and it never spiked your phor changed your water parameters either? Hmmm.. I'm starting to think maybe its bad batches in which people are giving bad testimonies

 

Nope you can see the pic above which is a recent photo and the current isn't that bad however what was bad was the suction. When I first started the tank it sucked up 4 of my 16 rasboras and 12-14 of my 20 rcs! I added a prefilter, also I have some filter pads that I added so maybe with combination of those 2 it had lessen the flow?

As for your stocking you do have some problems! Corys are shoaling fish and are different species. Each species need a minimum group of 6. The barbs are also shoaling fish and need a minimum group of 6.

So here are my specs for my 40 breeder:
Plants: anubias, crypts, bacopa, wisteria, staurogyne repens, java fern, amazon sword, hygrophilia, hornwort, java moss,banana plant, and pothos(hanging over tank)
Fauna: 12 lambchop rasboras, 8(now 6,2 died...will add more when I get the chance) peppered cories, 2 male guppies, RCS, mts, and 2 nerite snails
Equipment: AC110, 200 watt heater, Finnex Stingray(on for 10hrs), no ferts!!!

You can see I have a big filter and my stocking is small! But I'm a conservative stocker and go for only a few kind of fish and like it to be more natural where there are space for them to swim

Do you have a pic on your tank? What lights are you running on them and how long?

 

Tk82
I read some of your concerns as well. There a lot of misinformation I think on eco. I haven't had any parameter issues. But personally I won't use it again in a SMALL tank. I have hard time planting in it. The dynamic is the cec value. But there's no way to really tell how good it is. Do my plants grow in it yes. But they have grown about the same in any substrate ive ever used. So....idk. It looks nice.

 

Tk82
I read some of your concerns as well. There a lot of misinformation I think on eco. I haven't had any parameter issues. But personally I won't use it again in a SMALL tank. I have hard time planting in it. The dynamic is the cec value. But there's no way to really tell how good it is. Do my plants grow in it yes. But they have grown about the same in any substrate ive ever used. So....idk. It looks nice.

Yes, this was my concern also because I want my plants to truly take off without going the c02 route. I dose liquid ferts n root tabs but just seems to me that theyve slowed down a lot or just not been getting proper nutrients for that push to become lush with just gravel. So my attention started to focus on substrates, thinking that this is where the problem lies, and with mixed reviews I don't want to head down a route where id regret and have to rip everything back out to start again and again

 

I also don't have problems with my EcoComplete! All my plants have grown really well with it!

 

I also don't have problems with my EcoComplete! All my plants have grown really well with it!

Did u have any ph spikes in the beginning? Did u transfer from one tank to another or did u start ur tank fresh w eco complete?

 

I had moved my filter from my 20 high, and then also moved all the rocks, driftwood, and plants! However the sand and the eco-complete was new.

What fish are you keeping? Unless they are sensitive fish then you shouldn't worry , When you add the fish make sure you acclimate them to the tank just like you do when you get a new fish! I like the drip method but you could just add water from the tank in to the cup or tank you have the fish and then every 15 minutes add another cup and so on

 

My cardinal and emperor tetras and amano shrimps are what I'm mostly worried about with the ph swings. Did u use the beneficial bacteria that came in the bag also or did u rinse that out?

 

The BB I believe that comes in the bag is the liquid? Or the BB is on the gravel and then the liquid help to moisture rise it? Either way I did take only 1 gallon of eco complete and then ran water into the bucket then dumped out the water and then added it to my tank.

I think either way you shouldn't rely on it to cycle your aquarium. BB are aerobic bacteria thus they need moving water, have the eco-complete soaked in the water in the bag won't be effective so if the bag was out in the water for more than 18 hours I say that most of the BB will die.

 

The BB I believe that comes in the bag is the liquid? Or the BB is on the gravel and then the liquid help to moisture rise it? Either way I did take only 1 gallon of eco complete and then ran water into the bucket then dumped out the water and then added it to my tank.

I think either way you shouldn't rely on it to cycle your aquarium. BB are aerobic bacteria thus they need moving water, have the eco-complete soaked in the water in the bag won't be effective so if the bag was out in the water for more than 18 hours I say that most of the BB will die.

The liquid that comes in the bag is what they call a "water clarifier" if I remember correctly. It's used to clear the water after initially adding it because it's very cloudy.

And it's actually counter-productive to rinse Eco-Complete. You're more or less rinsing the nutrients from this HCE substrate along with the beneficial bacteria bed it claims to contain (reason why it comes with a quart of the nasty water) and then you'd have to add micro nutrients back to it later through liquid dosing.

Totally agree when it comes to cycling. This will not cycle a tank. The beneficial bacteria this contains is only meant to aid in creating a bed of nitrifying bacteria to speed the process of converting fish waste into a nitrates since this product is not a complete substrate like other planted tank specific substrates. It lacks macro nutrients, which is the reason for the BB it is said to contain.

As may have been mentioned previously this substrate is inert, meaning it will not alter pH, however, I have noticed a small rise in pH (less than .4 PPM) on occasion. Sometimes this happens, sometimes not. Just keep an eye on pH levels for the first week. After a few WC then there is no alteration of pH. Like I said, this hasn't happened 100% of the time. More like 1 out of 5 with tanks I have set up.

Tk82

Miracle Gro is what we would call a Complete Substrate, meaning it contains all the nutrients a plant needs. If the tank you wished to add this to is already established this would be a bad decision if you need fish in it right away because nitrates are usually high even with a cap that's done correctly. It's also very messy and this method sometimes means a lot of free floating wood chunks if you don't sift them out. It does provide a natural means of Co2 (however small) by the break down of the small wood chunks within it over time.

The amount of nutrients this contains is a lot higher than an aquarium planted tank substrate. When moving plants you can release this very quickly into the water column which can cause algae, cloudy water.

It also compacts quite a bit over time, which is bad for hardscaping or general heavy stones as it can unbalance them, which is why I recommend using plastic egg crates along the height of soil level beneath any rocks to help these shifts.