# How many bags of eco-complete to buy?



## skiboarder72 (Oct 13, 2006)

I'm surprised there isn't a sticky somewhere that gives some insight into how many bags of substrate someone should buy to get an adequate depth in their tank. 

Anyways, how many bags of 20# eco-complete would someone have to buy to cover a 40g breeder (36x18)?


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## Church (Sep 14, 2004)

Yeah we should have a substrate calculator here. Anyway I googled one up for you: http://www.mizuworld.com/pages/calculator


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## skiboarder72 (Oct 13, 2006)

Thanks, thats just what I needed!


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

If you want to calculate it manually, one bag of E-C contains ~ 350 cubic inches of substrate material. It's water isn't included when you do this calculation.

So, 36" x 18" x 3" ÷ 350 cubic inches per bag = 5.6 bags for a depth of 3"

This comes out to ~ ½ bag more than the mizuworld calculator.

Sadly, the substrate calculator on this site is a dead soldier.
http://www.plantedtank.net/substratecalculator.html


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## SvenBoogie (Jul 3, 2009)

Interesting, this makes me hopeful that I should have enough flourite black to do my 40 breeder. I realize flourite black comes in different size bags, and covers a different area due to the size of the substrate, but I've got 5 bags, hoping that should come out about right.


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## RedFocks (Oct 16, 2009)

Hey guys... I found a similar calculator here: aqua-calc.com/calc_gravel.php

Dunno how accurate it is, but it does let you choose the type of substrate you want to use (eco-complete is included)


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

SvenBoogie said:


> Interesting, this makes me hopeful that I should have enough flourite black to do my 40 breeder. I realize flourite black comes in different size bags, and covers a different area due to the size of the substrate, but I've got 5 bags, hoping that should come out about right.


Seachem has a calculator for everyone of their substrates. This is the one for Flourite Black. It is near the bottom of the page. Flourite Black comes in one bag size which is 7 kg.
http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/FlouriteBlack.html

Seachem gravels: http://www.seachem.com/Products/Gravel.html


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## gsxunv04 (Oct 22, 2009)

Would 1 bag of eco-complete be enough for a 20g long?


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

gsxunv04 said:


> Would 1 bag of eco-complete be enough for a 20g long?


Using http://aqua-calc.com/calc_gravel.php one 20# bag of E-C in an aquarium with a 30" x 12" footprint (like your 20 long) will give you a substrate depth of 1". We normally use 3" of E-C.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I'd go with 2 bags.


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## gsxunv04 (Oct 22, 2009)

I think 2 bags will be good. Will I be fine not topping it with any sand or quartz? Or should I add a layer over the E-C?
Thanks BTW


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

Most of us use E-C by itself.


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## gsxunv04 (Oct 22, 2009)

Ok thanks. I think I am going to get 2 bags of E-C and a bag of black gravel to mix in with it to achieve my 3" layer of substrate. Sound good?


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## skiboarder72 (Oct 13, 2006)

gsxunv04 said:


> Ok thanks. I think I am going to get 2 bags of E-C and a bag of black gravel to mix in with it to achieve my 3" layer of substrate. Sound good?


Sounds amazing!

Anyways I ended up going with 5 bags of E-C for my 40g breeder. It was a bit overkill, I could have gotten by with just 4, oh well, the plants are growing like a bat outta hell!


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## nismo tetra (Oct 11, 2009)

gsxunv04 said:


> Ok thanks. I think I am going to get 2 bags of E-C and a bag of black gravel to mix in with it to achieve my 3" layer of substrate. Sound good?



i have 2 bags in my 20 gallon....pour the 2 bags of eco first before you add the extra black gravel. I feel the 2 bags of Eco were plenty. So use your personal preference for judgement.


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

gsxunv04 said:


> Ok thanks. I think I am going to get 2 bags of E-C and a bag of black gravel to mix in with it to achieve my 3" layer of substrate. Sound good?


That will work just fine.

As a suggestion for that extra bag of black gravel, you could also use Flourite Black or Flourite Black Sand. You could also use 
Tropic Isle Tahitian Moon Black Sand.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/fish-supplies/pr/c/3578 offers $5.99 flat rate ground shipping until Dec 31 for all orders even with heavyweight or over sized items.

E-C: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+10742+9087&pcatid=9087
Flourite Black and Black Sand: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+10742+4870&pcatid=4870 
Tropic Isle Tahitian Moon Sand: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+9805+7324&pcatid=7324


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

Left C said:


> That will work just fine.
> 
> As a suggestion for that extra bag of black gravel, you could also use Flourite Black or Flourite Black Sand. You could also use
> Tropic Isle Tahitian Moon Black Sand.
> ...


I just got a DrsFS.com in the mail. It has the catalog number for plain black gravel that I was looking for. A 25# bag costs $14.79. APG-18800.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12131&prodid=23575&catid=1313

Since the shipping is $5.99 for all items included on your order., You could get all your substrate materials from here rather cheaply.


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## gsxunv04 (Oct 22, 2009)

thanks for all the help!


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## johnzimm (Jul 1, 2017)

gsxunv04 said:


> Would 1 bag of eco-complete be enough for a 20g long?


Sounds like 2 bags are needed if you want to do any hills or other type of aquascaping.


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## clownplanted (Mar 3, 2017)

johnzimm said:


> Sounds like 2 bags are needed if you want to do any hills or other type of aquascaping.




LOL. My guess is after 8 years those hills have corroded 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## geisterwald (Jul 18, 2016)

clownplanted said:


> LOL. My guess is after 8 years those hills have corroded [emoji16]
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I love when super old threads like this get revived, it's always such an adventure getting to the end to see why they were brought back... Lmao.


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## SKYE.__.HIGH (Mar 18, 2017)

Just realized this thread was from 2009 when I read your post. Why not just go with ADA aquasoil ? You would only need 1 9L and 1 3L bag. You have probably done like 3 tanks since asking this question. But it's probably just as expensive as EC.


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## Kubla (Jan 5, 2014)

Yeah it's 2017! Use BDBS. It would only take one bag and the cost is the same as shipping a bag of EC.


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