# cleaning eco-complete



## BriFran9 (Sep 5, 2006)

i have about a 3in layer of eco-complete in my 10G tank and ive noticed its very dirty and my water is becomming brown. I was wondering how you would clean eco-complete since its so fine you can;t use a vaccum. or are you not suppose to clean eco-complete at all should i just change the water? please let me know what i should do because i have no ideas.


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## bigstick120 (Mar 8, 2005)

Do you do water changes? If you have a siphon just hover it over the substrate and swirl it around, it should pick it up


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## BriFran9 (Sep 5, 2006)

i do about a 25% water change a week and if you do a siphon wont it pick up the eco complete even if you hover overall it because its so fine


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## blyxa (Jan 1, 2007)

No it shouldn't, if need be you can get a cheap siphon with a gravel trap. Or put filter floss in the end of the vacuum.


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

I've used a regular siphon and gone into the eco-complete with it (all the way to the bottom of the tank). The eco would go partway up the main tube, then fall back into the aquarium. It never got sucked into the bucket. Now I have soil under eco, so I don't clean it except for the very surface - and that only occasionally. 

So you should be able to do a good clean of the top layer of eco-complete without losing any. If it seems like the eco-complete is going to go into the tube to the bucket, just raise the siphon and it should fall back. You will need to do some leveling of the eco-complete after you clean it. BTW, I only did the deep cleaning in an area where the eco-complete was deep and I didn't have any plants, as I was worried about anaerobic conditions forming.


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## BriFran9 (Sep 5, 2006)

i guess the only way to find out if the eco complete will get sucked up is to try and clean it


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## SpaceBug (Jan 10, 2007)

Do you have drift wood in the tank? That could be the cause of the water turning brown.


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