Glass Substrate?

[tophat665]

hey tophat did you add eco-complete to a tank with water?
i wanto change my substrate but dont want to have to take everything down to do it, i know i can add sand with fish and water in there.. but as i hope to hav some good planting i was thinking of something more suited to planting so eco complete may be what i need...

also do fish really prefer the darker substrates? i was thinking of a lighter coloured sand....

oh dilema... decision..

I did add it to a tank with water. The guy at the LFS said I ought to be able to just dump it straight from the bag. I had to dink around with my filters for like a half an hour to get the impellers spinning again. So I wouldn't do that again in a hurry. If you wanted to add it to a functioning tank, I would consider starting with a 50% water change, and sticking a pre-filter on the filter intake. Then, before adding water back in, add the eco complete, then the water. That ought to raise half as much junk into the water column and a quickie sponge pre-filter would capture most of it before it got into the filter's guts.

Some fish do prefer dark substrates, in the same way some guys prefer to drink in a dark wood paneled pub, as opposed to a chrome and formica fern bar. It's an ambiance thing. Dark substrate with a dark background tends to give the fish the perception of a lower light level. This is good for fish that inhabit shady areas - tetras, bettas, gouramis, and so forth. However, the chief reason I prefer a dark substrate is that it makes brightly colored fish really Pop out visually (From the same Ambiance effect - the lighter colors contrast better.) OTOH For my Loach Motel, I am using a light tan gravel and regular play sand, so it takes all kinds. OTGH, it's your tank, so don't let anybody tell you not to suit your own taste (unless it will hurt the fish - choice of substrate color won't).

 

[andyt_uk]

i'm very much a dark oak beamed bar with open fire and a nice selection of single malts kinda guy (and there arent so many of them round leeds )
i bought a bag of play sand today, would sand sit nicely on top of the eco complete?

when you suggest adding a pre-filter to the intak do you actually mean in the intake pipe inside the tank (i have an external canister)?

thanks for the help

 

[tophat665]

i'm very much a dark oak beamed bar with open fire and a nice selection of single malts kinda guy (and there arent so many of them round leeds )
i bought a bag of play sand today, would sand sit nicely on top of the eco complete?

when you suggest adding a pre-filter to the intak do you actually mean in the intake pipe inside the tank (i have an external canister)?

thanks for the help

Now, I don't know if the workings of a cannister make it vulnerable to grit gumming up the innards. If they do, then stick a piece of filter sponge over the intake tube to keep any raised grit in the tank. This will be a problem with any sand put directly into a tank full of water, unless you rinse it about a godzillion times, and probably even then.

I honestly don't know how play sand would work over Ecocomplete. Probably fine for a while, but if you have fish burrowing, they will eventually mix to a muddy brown, I figure. If you want play sand, use play sand only (or even all purpose sand or, better yet, pool sand), and put root tabs near plants that need a good source of iron.