# Capping Eco complete with gravel



## Blackheart (Jul 5, 2011)

So does anyone use Eco complete topped with just regular plain old gravel? Does it still work as good this?


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## valsfreak (Apr 14, 2008)

shouldnt hurt anything. the plants would be absorbing the nutrients through their roots. so i can see someone capping eco if they dont like the appearance of it


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## King of Hyrule (Apr 29, 2013)

I use Eco-complete to cap, Miracle grow.


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## xjasminex (Jul 26, 2011)

King of hyrule, how does that work, what type of fish to you house...do they dig?


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## vinniemabuna (Oct 20, 2006)

Hi, a better option could be MTS capped with ecocomplete. Bamaplants.com sells MTS good price and great customer service his name is Ken..


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## King of Hyrule (Apr 29, 2013)

xjasminex said:


> King of hyrule, how does that work, what type of fish to you house...do they dig?



The cory cats are ok with it, they might be happier with something more like soft mud. I don't have any other fish that seem to care about the substrate. Mostly tetras in the tank at this point. 

It's a bit tricky embedding plants into it. Have to use one hand to hold the plant down while pushing gravel (eco complete) over it. Once the roots reach the MGO then there's no turning back - the plant is locked in. (side note: I used a kitchen strainer, to filter out all the little wood bits in the MGO, to avoid issues with tannin -- it worked). 

I've been struggling to balance CO2, fertilizer and light; resulting in an algae tank over. I starting to think there's more nourishment in the water than I had thought. Possibly from the eco-complete. I've moved away from this theory, I thinking I need to give the snails a chance to recover their numbers, (to eat the algae). I have a murderous dwarf puffer in the tank that's absolute hell to on the snails. (I've not seen one snail since dropping in the puffer, but there are dozens upon dozens of empty snails shells on the bottom of the tank.)


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## pantherspawn (Dec 21, 2011)

It should work fine, though I would suggest something smaller like a pea gravel or even moonsand etc.


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