# Eco-complete questions from a newbie



## Ridgeback (Feb 6, 2010)

As a newbie to the hobby setting up a 40 gallon breeder I have a couple of questions about Eco-complete...

This stuff looks like great stuff for the beginner even though it is expensive. Has anyone had any "bad" experiences with it?

How many 20lb bags of this stuff do you need (in this case for a 40g breeder tank)?

I've read that if you use this stuff, your tank will be "cycled". I am a bit skeptical of this claim although I would think that cycling a tank would be faster since I believe this is packaged in blackwater. Can anyone confirm any pieces of this info?

I've read somewhere that there is a ph spike (ph jumping to 8.0  ) when setting up an aquarium with Eco-complete? Has anyone else experienced this? It would seem this would be a problem if you are adding plants during the initial setup. If this is true how do you work around this temporary side effect?

Thanks for your help...


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## geeks_15 (Dec 9, 2006)

I've had no "bad" experiences with it. I use it in many of my tanks.



> How many 20lb bags of this stuff do you need (in this case for a 40g breeder tank)?


At least 2. Maybe 3 or 4 depending on how deep you want your substrate.



> I've read that if you use this stuff, your tank will be "cycled".


I wouldn't consider the tank immediately cycled. Eco contains beneficial bacteria which provide a head start. I still stock slowly when I start a tank to make sure things are going well before adding a bunch of fish. I would wait to make sure the tank is cycled and well established before adding apistos or rams.



> I've read somewhere that there is a ph spike when setting up an aquarium with Eco-complete?


I have experienced the spike in pH and hardness. How much of a spike you get will depend on the water in your tank. The spike caused by the eco will gradually resolve. Many plants will grow with a consistent high pH, especially many good beginner plants so it shouldn't be a problem for most plants. I usually add substrate, then plants, then water and this has worked for me. Pour the water into a bowl or onto a stone so your plants and substrate are not overly disturbed.

I'm a fan of eco-complete and use it in many of my tanks. Even better is a bottom layer of plain unfertilized topsoil (1-2" deep) topped with eco-complete (1-2" deep). This gives a nice rich substate, though soil can be messy to work with. And if you scimp on the top layer of eco you will have cloudy or brown water from soil mixing into the water. If you are interested in this type of substrate check out the El Natural section of the forum.


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## plamski (Oct 27, 2009)

I have It mixed with regular black gravel 60% to 40%.My PH 6.4,GH 4 and KH 5 are stable for 5 months now.


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## WhiteDevil (May 7, 2009)

I used 5 bags for a 45g tall tank and 4 bags for a 40g tall tank.


I have a tank with flourite in it as well, the eco complete is so much easier to work with and the sheer root growth between the flourite and eco complete is no competition, eco complete truly is a great planting substrate.


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