# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Eco Complete



## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Does anyone here have experience with the commercial product Eco Complete?

It was praised by someone who has a business setting up planted tanks for paying clients. I passed on this information to a local aquarium store after the owner had problems with another commercial product. The resulting display tank, a softwater tank without CO2 injection, looks nice. There was no gravel washing required and no initial cloudiness. Plants seem to be growing nicely and all fish (including Discus) doing well. Eco Complete comes with beneficial bacteria.

The Eco Complete looks like it is made up of humus-type particles, humus liquid, and gravel particles. The humus layer in the final tank is very shallow, maybe a 1/4 inch and the gravel is maybe 2 inches deep.

[As an aside: Based on this I might consider using less potting soil and more gravel in future aquariums.]


----------



## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Does anyone here have experience with the commercial product Eco Complete?

It was praised by someone who has a business setting up planted tanks for paying clients. I passed on this information to a local aquarium store after the owner had problems with another commercial product. The resulting display tank, a softwater tank without CO2 injection, looks nice. There was no gravel washing required and no initial cloudiness. Plants seem to be growing nicely and all fish (including Discus) doing well. Eco Complete comes with beneficial bacteria.

The Eco Complete looks like it is made up of humus-type particles, humus liquid, and gravel particles. The humus layer in the final tank is very shallow, maybe a 1/4 inch and the gravel is maybe 2 inches deep.

[As an aside: Based on this I might consider using less potting soil and more gravel in future aquariums.]


----------



## Jessy (Mar 29, 2004)

I love it! last summer I replaced the florite in my 58 gallon with eco-complete. I love the look and feel of it, and it is important to me to have smooth, rounded gravel for loaches and bulb plants. I suspect the sharp edges of florite may damage crinium bulbs. We changed some of the plant tanks at Adam's Aquatics from florite to eco-complete and I think it is a much better contrast, especially with red plants. I get great root growth with this substrate, even with slower-growing anubias and criniums. My glosso seems to like it too.


----------



## hubbahubbahehe (Mar 29, 2004)

eco complete is pretty cool...it works...to me it looks like black lava rock that is smoother.... anyway, both flourite and eco complete work well.


----------



## imported_Piscesgirl (Feb 19, 2004)

I love my Eco Complete as well -- so easy! just pour it in and add water. I love the color too. Great stuff!


----------



## Stevenl (Mar 31, 2004)

Does anyone know if it's ok to use eco-complete for non-planted tank?

I used 50/50 flourite gravel mix in my 66G (main tank). Because I like dark color substrate so much, I set up a low-maintenance 20G with eco-complete as the substrate. Currently there's only a pair of apistogramma in it. Lighting is by a 20W daylight CF.

Should I plant the tank?


----------



## Wally (Aug 31, 2003)

I do not think it will hurt anything, but plain black gravel would have been way cheaper.









Also I would worry about having 1 watt of CF per gallon of water with no plants. Lotsa light+noplants = Big time alage problems.

Even if you do not want to plant it I would float some hornwort or anacharis.


----------



## Stevenl (Mar 31, 2004)

Wally: That CF is just screw-in type compact fluroscent bulb...so I guess the actual wattage is down to about 0.5WPG. But anyway this tank will have some java moss and ferns soon









Black gravel is a rare item here. I don't want epoxy coated black gravel, and black tahitian moon sand is actually more expensive than Eco-complete. So the final choice is eco for me


----------



## hubbahubbahehe (Mar 29, 2004)

yea i'm surprised that it doesn't cloud the water like flourite does...i wonder where eco complete comes from?


----------



## Raul-7 (Feb 4, 2004)

Diana, I think using humus/sand and laterite is better than Eco-Complete on all levels. You probably saw Enrico's tanks that have NO liquid fertilizers what-so-ever for a year, and his E.Stellata is still pink! By the way, have you tried Greensand? What does it provide?


----------



## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Thanks for all the input on Eco Complete!

As to Raul-7: No experience with Green Sand, etc. I don't test commercial products (the onxy gravel one company sent me is now part of my driveway)! 

Also, I've not seen Enrico's tanks or know who he is. Perhaps someone could put his tanks on URL for us newbies.

I'll probably stick with potting soil, but I wanted to pass on info about Eco Complete, since some people do like standardized products.


----------



## imported_Piscesgirl (Feb 19, 2004)

well, I do not fert my tanks either other than occasionally a few drops of iron, and the Eco complete has done beautifully. I will add some ferts soon just to see if it will help my R. Macranda redden up a little bit. I do add Iodide and reef calcium for my shrimp, and that's it. It's a 29 gallon, 130 Watts of compact fluorescent light and only a hagen CO2 system. Occupants are only some shrimp and snails. 

I'm going to try to figure out how to post a pic here.


----------



## imported_Piscesgirl (Feb 19, 2004)

I hope this works


----------



## Raul-7 (Feb 4, 2004)

People always like the standardized substrates, but they are costly and don't provide anything but long-term Fe.

Here's the link to his tanks, just scroll down till you see them...







Enrico's Tanks


----------



## hubbahubbahehe (Mar 29, 2004)

wow piscesgirl, that's a beautiful tank. will you marry me? =P


----------



## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

What a pretty tank!


----------



## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

That looks awesome Picesgirl! I hope mine fills in a bit more before next week. If not, I'm not sure I want you seeing mine.









Best,
Phil


----------



## imported_Piscesgirl (Feb 19, 2004)

Thanks Algae Grower -- if you mow yards I may have to take you up on that! (well, except I found I'm really terrible at being married).

Thanks for all the nice comments, but I really have to give all the credit to Eco Complete because I don't do much to it. I don't have the patience to test, nor the desire to worry about fert levels, and I don't want to add anything with copper in it because of my shrimp. I did just order some potassium nitrate and potassium sulfate because my shrimp aren't going to be enough to keep them fertilized eventually, but I doubt I'll be consistent with that either. And, in terms of algae, I really have very little! (knocks really hard on wood!) 

My 55 gallon doesn't look anything like the 29 (it has sand, though I'm slowly removing sand and adding Eco complete to one half of the 55). I won't post pic of the 55!


----------



## The Bishop (Mar 11, 2004)

Diana,

I have a friend who has two tanks, one set up using your method and the other set up with Eco-Complete without CO2. He says that so far (four months in), it's pretty much neck-and-neck, though the first few months are sort of a grace period with such rich substrates. Even the colors of the plants are pretty much the same (perhaps indicating a similar iron content?) and the root growth is similar. Both are 29 gallons with 65 watts of 6700K Power Compact Fluorescent and similar flora/fauna. He's doing nothing but feeding the fish so far.

Piscesgirl: I mow yards, like long walks on the beach, and know lots of Latin names.









Spiffy tank, BTW. That Rotala is so...appealing.


----------



## imported_Piscesgirl (Feb 19, 2004)

Thank you Bishop









I appreciate the thoughts - I can assure everyone I make a terrible wife.


----------



## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

I don't know if Enrico's tank qualifies as a natural tank or not just because he uses worm castings in his substrate, but they are very nice looking. Diana, the pictures Raul is reffering to are from last years AGA aquascaping contest.

I started a community gallery here to post pictures. It is real easy, you can actually up load a picture right from your desktop. Diana, this is a new feature of the board since we last talked.

I have always though that it is possible to be artistic even when using a low tech method. Giancarlo Podio I think is a good example of this. His methods may not be pure low tech, but are pretty close. He is also a skilled phtographer. His WEB site is http://www.gpodio.com/ . He is also a member here and perhaps he will join in and share his pictures!


----------



## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Thank you Robert for letting me know about direct uploading of pictures and putting pictures of Enrico's tanks in forum.

My vote is that worm castings are part of the natural world. They're in my garden somewhere!


----------



## Alfie (Jul 3, 2004)

Diana, 
Wouldn't an Eco-Complete substrate releaseless natural CO2 than a soil substrate, requiring CO2 injection? 
P.S. - I'm a big fan of your book!


----------



## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

I suspect that a soil substrate would release more CO2 than Eco-complete.

I've never used Eco-Complete. You have to understand that many people don't value something unless it is expensive or comes in a package. Clay soil from the backyard isn't pushed by advertisers and aquarium hobbyists. Yet clay soil is something that takes thousand of years to develop. It is a natural treasure.


----------



## fishtk75 (Sep 6, 2006)

dwalstad said:


> Does anyone here have experience with the commercial product Eco Complete?
> 
> It was praised by someone who has a business setting up planted tanks for paying clients. I passed on this information to a local aquarium store after the owner had problems with another commercial product. The resulting display tank, a softwater tank without CO2 injection, looks nice. There was no gravel washing required and no initial cloudiness. Plants seem to be growing nicely and all fish (including Discus) doing well. Eco Complete comes with beneficial bacteria.
> 
> ...


Diana,
You help alot from other messages I posted.
So I am letting you know the other members that do not know.
But there is bad bags of Eco-complete out there that are bad.
My PO4 was very high and one member said to take The Eco-complete and test it.
The other members tolded me they had some. 
I put some in a jar and cleaned it with zero reading water and let it set for three days.
I tested the jar water it was over 10ppm.
I tested it again with differant test brands the reading was over 10ppm again.
I e-mail CaribSea and they are going to get me new media.


----------



## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

John,

Thanks for your comments. You have spoken well about your experience.
I was trying to be generous towards the Eco-Complete product.  

Should I set up another tank, I would use an ordinary and very inexpensive potting soil. With the possible exception of a nice loamy garden soil, I see no reason to use anything else. It's not just the cost; ordinary soil has the organic matter that can provide much-needed CO2 to plants.


----------



## fishtk75 (Sep 6, 2006)

dwalstad said:


> John,
> 
> Thanks for your comments. You have spoken well about your experience.
> I was trying to be generous towards the Eco-Complete product.
> ...


Diana,
Your welcome
This stuff happens to me all the time.
I thinking when the new media comes put soil and media.


----------



## littleguy (Jan 6, 2005)

Has anyone ever mixed potting soil with eco-complete?

I'm curious about eco-complete more for its aesthetic appeal than whatever nutrients it's advertised to provide. I like the way it looks better than the black painted gravel, plus since it's rough it should have a lot more surface area for bacteria to colonize.

My question is, does mixing soil and eco-complete provide TOO much nutrients? Any experience here?


----------



## Ingrid (Dec 7, 2006)

Hi, I just set up a tank with cheap potting soil on the bottom and eco complete on top of that. You can see it in this thread, here. I liked the look of eco-complete better than black gravel, and I thought the minerals and stuff would be good for the tank. I hope it works out OK!


----------



## fishtk75 (Sep 6, 2006)

Ingrid said:


> Hi, I just set up a tank with cheap potting soil on the bottom and eco complete on top of that. You can see it in this thread, here. I liked the look of eco-complete better than black gravel, and I thought the minerals and stuff would be good for the tank. I hope it works out OK!


I am still leaning things the coconut house is used for as a what?
And how did you make it pic does not show all. 
It is very good tank setup.
So you know I was told here on APC that there is bad eco-complete with high phosphate and I with my luck got bad lot.
What they told me is to clean some with zero phosphate tested water then set it in a jar for two to three days and test it.
But the good news is that CarbiSea replaced it with new gravel put I did not go back to Eco-complete I told them to give me Super Natural Gravel.
In the end they all told me if the plants and fish are ok and you like the look of the Eco-complete let in in the plants and fish will tell you if it bad for them and do not worry about the phospate level.
I tried it did not like the dark color.
Just letting you know what happen to me and everyone to help you as they all here help me.
and I am very thankful for that.


----------



## Ingrid (Dec 7, 2006)

I didn't make the coconut house, I bought it at a reptile expo. They are sold for hermit crabs and frogs to live in, you see them in terrariums a lot. I just thought it was cute and would make a nice hiding spot for the cories I hope to add in the future.


----------



## fishtk75 (Sep 6, 2006)

Ingrid said:


> I didn't make the coconut house, I bought it at a reptile expo. They are sold for hermit crabs and frogs to live in, you see them in terrariums a lot. I just thought it was cute and would make a nice hiding spot for the cories I hope to add in the future.


Ingrid,
That is a good thing for putting green moss on and for breeding.
thank you


----------

