Flourite Or Eco Complete

[Discomafia]

For those that have experience using either of those two products, or from what you've heard, which would be better?

Also, would it be as effective if I used just 1/3 or 1/2 for my 33G, and used gravel for the other half, or would I have to go 100% for it to make a difference?

Thanks in advance,
Cheers.

 

[George Farmer]

Personally I'd go for 100% Eco-complete if I had to choose. Budget allowing of course. There have been reports of phosphate contamination in some older batches though so just beware.

My ideal substrate now though would be ADA Aqua Soil (Amazonian).

 

[Themuleous]

George,

Whats your reasoning behind the ADA Aqua Soil? Ive not heard of that before is it new? easy to get hold of?

Sam

 

[oldwhitewood]

I would steer away from flourite on the basis of it looking horrible unless you are covering it with a top layer of nice gravel. Eco-complete is excellent I've been using it for a long time in my smaller tank and plant growth has always been good (with a heater cable).

ADA amazonia though is really good, try aquaessentials if you're in the UK as they may have some left, as well as loads of other ADA kit.

 

[Discomafia]

Personally I'd go for 100% Eco-complete if I had to choose. Budget allowing of course. There have been reports of phosphate contamination in some older batches though so just beware.

My ideal substrate now though would be ADA Aqua Soil (Amazonian).

Alright, so Eco-complete it is then...

Would it be as effective if I went for 50% Eco-complete? Also, how many kilograms would I need to get a 2 inch depth? I read that 1 kg should be enough for about 200 cm2 (31 in2) of tank bottom, and a website selling Flourite recommends a 7 kg (15.4 lbs) bag for about a 2 inch deep bed in a typical 10 gallon tank. If thats correcnt, I should need 21kg at least?

Would it be alright if I used Eco-complete as the bottom layer, and normal gravel for the top?

 

[penguinpimp1990]

it wouldnt be as effective as 100% eco complete but should work good. A bottom layer of eco complete and a top layer or normal gravel would be fine aslo.

 

[Discomafia]

Thanks for all the replies folks.

I'll be getting the Eco-complete tomorrow, and I was wondering if it would be just as effective if I mixed my substrate with a bag of Eco-complete, instead of laying it as a bottom layer, and then laying gravel or whatever on top.

I'd like to see the Eco-complete, as I think the black color would look good in my tank. If I used it as a bottom layer, I can't see it. Or else, would using it as the top layer benefit too?

Cheers,