Just Bought 4 Bags Of Caribsea Eco-Complete

[yekram10]

hi I just bought 4 bags of the Caribsea Eco-complete and im wondering what people think about this substrate. I got it for $71 and free shipping!! Is Eco complete a good plant substrate??

 

[bumbleweasle]

I have some, but for me, it's quite gravelly.. Might not be best for some of the stem plants, or plants with finer roots - I prefer sand nowadays as it's less damaging - especially if you're prone to rescaping every now & then.

Can't help you in terms of plant nutrition, though - I put my eco-complete in when I didn't really know what I was doing, so the plants all died anyway, LOL .. it's still in there now, but likely exhausted.. Perhaps someone with more experience can comment?

 

[yekram10]

well i was thinking about mixing it with black sand ...... if it is tooooooo gravely.... do think i could maby crush it alittle and make finer??

 

[bumbleweasle]

Hmm.. I have no idea. COuld be worth a go, though! Mine is mixed as it is, with lotsa plain sand & the plants seem fine so far.

 

[RadaR]

Its fine to use without any extra preperation. The grain size is ok even for the smallest of plant species. Try search for The Behemoth tank. Its a tank that Tom Barr did for a wealthy client. At first it had ADA soil but the client decided to have it changed to eco complete. You can see the results yourself.

 

[Amunet]

Love eco complete. I think it's a great mix of fine sand and larger gravel-y sized substrate.
I mix mine with sand as well, mostly b/c it would be too expensive to use only it heh. It's been fine though. Only real problem I have is trying to get stem plants to stay put.

 

[yekram10]

sounds good .... it just arrived in the mail!....im hoping to do an iwagumi layout in a 10 gallon and then take some black sand and the rest ....which i assume will be about 3 to 3 1/2 bags and take that into a 30 gallon tank!



Do you guys believe this substrate can work good with foreground plants like hairgrass and the like?