# Soils vs Aquarium Substrates



## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

Eco-complete has no nutrients in it. Soils, on the other hand, should be loaded. That's the key difference. Soils also have really high cation exchange capacity. Eco-complete will have more than regular gravel, but worse than soil. The thing with soil tanks though, is that it can create a HUGE mess if you ever want to move anything or replant anything, so initial placement needs to be planned for the long run, and there are just more problems that can come with soil tanks than with eco-complete, but soil would be hands down far superior in growing plants. Not that you can't grow great plants with eco-complete. Personally, I just go with eco-complete.


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## BlueJack (Apr 15, 2011)

Kamon said:


> How do the "soils" like Miracle Gro Organic Choice Mix/Soil and other forms of organic topsoil compare to substrates made specifically for aquariums such as AquaSoil/Eco-Complete?


PRICE!!! You can buy a cheap bag of topsoil for $2 compared to the ridiculously high price of "aquarium substrates".(means more money for plants and fish :biggrin I've used flourite black sand and Scott's premium topsoil and I'd have to say that the soil tank is doing a better. As for messiness they're both pretty bad. Flourite's clay base is pretty messy when replanting and so is topsoil. In addition I think soil has some nice slow release nutrients that clay based soils do not.(well, at least at the beginning)


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## accordztech (Dec 6, 2004)

VeeSe said:


> Eco-complete has no nutrients in it. Soils, on the other hand, should be loaded. That's the key difference. Soils also have really high cation exchange capacity. Eco-complete will have more than regular gravel, but worse than soil. The thing with soil tanks though, is that it can create a HUGE mess if you ever want to move anything or replant anything, so initial placement needs to be planned for the long run, and there are just more problems that can come with soil tanks than with eco-complete, but soil would be hands down far superior in growing plants. Not that you can't grow great plants with eco-complete. Personally, I just go with eco-complete.


I personally have minimal mess in my tank when I rescpe with soil. Maybe just a few pieces of soil that I just get with a gravel vac. I rescape maybe every 3 months.


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## Daximus (Oct 19, 2011)

Dirt all the way. If you have enough rocks/sand on top it's not too messy. You have to be gentle though and avoid moving large, well established plants.


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## manualfocus (Jun 15, 2011)

I have both Aqua Soil Amazonia and Eco-Complete in different tanks. Eco-Complete is by far much less messy and easier to work with. My plants are growing just fine, but I do have CO2, adequate lighting, and have recently started EI dosing. I like the look of Aqua Soil much better, but I don't see myself rescaping that tank much due to the mess. It's good for Iwagumi setups.


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