Eco-complete

[Luketendo]

Hey so i'm going to buy Eco-Complete for when I redo my tank, I just have a couple of questions on it.

Is it suitable for Corys? (I like Peppered Corys, I had some before and plan to get them again.)

How do you clean it?

 

[danski]

should be fine..my cories loved it..digging around on the bottom was no problem for them..

 

[Luketendo]

Ok great, how about the cleaning?

Also I have a new question about lighting. How many Watts on lighting would work for a planted aquarium (hoping to plant it quite heavy) of 17 gallons (US) need? I need 18 inch tubes if anyone could suggest one for delivery in the UK. (Also note that I do not want CO2 and would wish to keep Algae away as much as possible, as anyone would.)

I do not know the Wattage of my lamp and it does not say it on the lamp, but it's an Arcadia Original Tropical Plant Growing lamp and I think I have a reflector behind it, (It's like a white plastic curved sheet clipped to the tank roof.)

I think the lamp must be about 15 Watt so apparently reflectors double the wattage so i'd have 30 watts and about 2 WPG. Is that ok? I have it on about 9 hours a day but I do have a 2 hour siesta in the middle of the day.

 

[chuts]

my corys seem to love it, they too like rumaging amongst the different size grains. And cos its black, havent needed to clean it yet as you dont see the mess

On the lighting front, if you can, go for Interpet compact T5's: here You should be able to fit a 16" 36w tube (add 2" for starter unit conector) giving just over 2WPG, add DIY CO2/ferts and jobs a good un.

I have a 24W unit in my 10 gallon with daylight plus tube, works a treat

 

[Luketendo]

My lamp is 15W I looked on the Arcadia website and found the one I have. It has a white reflector? Do white ones raise the wattage or would I need a silver one?

I'll have 30W / Almost 2 WPG with a reflector so that's good enough. I'll run my tank on Eco Complete and fertilise if needed, no CO2 though, i'm only 14 years old and I don't want to get into the complicated situation of not having a clue what to do with it.

Looks all good on the Eco Complete front though, so that's cleared. All I need now is to buy a temporary tank for my current fish while I redo everything.

 

[chuts]

a silver reflector will reflect loads more light, maybe able to modify it with tin foil?

I had a 'temporary' tank whilst re-did my trigon, 6 months on still got it!

 

[SuperColey1]

Also I have a new question about lighting. How many Watts on lighting would work for a planted aquarium (hoping to plant it quite heavy) of 17 gallons (US) need? I need 18 inch tubes if anyone could suggest one for delivery in the UK. (Also note that I do not want CO2 and would wish to keep Algae away as much as possible, as anyone would.)

I do not know the Wattage of my lamp and it does not say it on the lamp, but it's an Arcadia Original Tropical Plant Growing lamp and I think I have a reflector behind it, (It's like a white plastic curved sheet clipped to the tank roof.)

I think the lamp must be about 15 Watt so apparently reflectors double the wattage so i'd have 30 watts and about 2 WPG. Is that ok? I have it on about 9 hours a day but I do have a 2 hour siesta in the middle of the day.

18 inch tubes (T8) are 15W.

Arcadia Original Tropicals whilst being OK for plants are not the best colour IMO. The Arcadia Freshwater is a better viewing colour and seems to be fine for my plants.

I would steer clear of over 2WPG if you want to go the non CO2 route.

Take a look at a thread on www.barrreport.com on non CO2 tanks where you should find most of the info you require.

If you have 2 fittings I would stay with the 15W over what I guess is a 15 - 20USG??? This should be OK as long as you steer clear of the plants that require high light (and CO2 injection)

Andy

 

[Luketendo]

Nah I only have one fitting, do you think I should take out the white thing as it probably would still reflect quite a bit compared to the black top.

 

[Luketendo]

Oops sorry this wasn't meant to happen.

 

[SuperColey1]

I kept my white reflector in but also added an arcadia reflector (£5 in P@H). With just 1 lamp in there I would suggest a reflector is a must to redirect as much of the light that is being lost back at the tank as when you calculate your WPG it assumes that you are using reflectors.

Andy

 

[Luketendo]

Oh so the 15W isn't achieved without a reflector?

 

[nry]

Not exactly - but you'll get the most from the light with a reflector in.

 

[Luketendo]

Not exactly - but you'll get the most from the light with a reflector in.

Well since I have no CO2 I want to keep my light low don't I?

15W = 0.9 WPG in my tank.

So would it be worth covering it in foil?

 

[nry]

Ignore the 'lose light' thing to be honest - there will be an improvement with a true silver reflector over the white one in your tank but not a massive difference. Covering it in foil can help a bit but foil is not as shiny as the 'proper' reflectors. I covered my white one with foil but can't say it made any difference. 1 15w tube over your tank won't cause major hassles with or without a reflector. 1wpg is about the minimum you want to look for and you'd be surprised what can grow with that amount of light!

For reference, and my old scaping skills, this was my tank with 1wpg and no CO2:

 

[mlawson]

Apparently Eco-complete is sharp, and therefore not ideal for corys. But mine seemed to love it. I think substrate damaging Corydoras barbels is more myth than fact.