# Eco-complete over fluorite



## mrbelvedere (Nov 15, 2005)

Looking back, I think I should have bought eco-complete. I'll probably put it in a nano tank I'm starting after Christmas, but what advantages does it have over fluorite? Fluorite has never given me any problems except horrible cloudiness the first week. Is eco-complete worth my money? Someone convince me.


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## Sudi (Jun 28, 2005)

mrbelvedere138 said:


> Looking back, I think I should have bought eco-complete. I'll probably put it in a nano tank I'm starting after Christmas, but what advantages does it have over fluorite? Fluorite has never given me any problems except horrible cloudiness the first week. Is eco-complete worth my money? Someone convince me.



Fluorite is usually chepaer, and even though it makes a big mess, it is a good substrate. am starting a new 75 g tank now, and i am using fluorite + gralev.
It's not recommended to mix Eco Complete with gravel, but you sure can mix fluorie...

For the nano tank i would go with 100% Eco Complete 

matt


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## Jim (Apr 4, 2005)

Flourite just needs to be rinsed before you put it into the tank. If you do, it creates zero mess/cloudiness.


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## New 2 fish (Dec 26, 2004)

I've mixed ecocomplete with gravel in about a 2:1 ratio. Plants are doing well.
However, after reading up on a substrate called Soilmaster, I'll never buy eco or florite again. You can get 50lbs of Soilmaster for something like $20!!
Any new tanks I do will have it... I just can't justify spending all that money on substrate...


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## MiSo (Oct 26, 2005)

i mixed ecocomple with black sand. it looks very good imo. lots of debris can get inbetween (flourite) and would be a big hassel to clean, especially if you've got a densly planted tank. 
my tank is pretty well planted and it seemed like vacuuming the eco would be easier than vacuuming flourite so thats why i choose eco.


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## malkore (Nov 3, 2003)

Florite's only universally agreed upon downside is the cloudiness. Even over time, it'll cloud if you do major replanting, but it'll clear up within hours, without a diatom filter.
On that same vein, the rinsing prior to using flourite is a pain.

I find flourite a little heavy for some small, fragile plants...but I've seen others grow the same plants in flourite without problems, so hard to say how 'universal' that one is.

I tend to prefer eco complete now, simply because it's good to go out-of-the-bag, no rinsing, and doesn't cloud on its own. But it'll trap lots of detris, so a replanting will cloud up the tank with detris.

Flourite is easier to vac than eco due to its slightly heavier weight/density per grain.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Having used Ec and Soil master, I like soil master better.
I got a wooden nickle says it's got a much better CEC also.

Looks wise, I prefer the SM, I also prefer replanting with SM, and at 18$ for bag full of water, you probably only get 10 lbs of actual material. Water does weight something. I'll rinse and use my own water thank you.

50lbs for 17$ for SM, 10lbs for 17$ for the EC.

It's your money, I highly doubt anyone could tell a difference as far as growth rates etc.

You could grow plants in similar solutions emmersed, then weight the before and after in grams, then get a Relative growth rate in terms of fresh weight to compare.


Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## random_alias (Jun 28, 2005)

If you siphon the flourite well a time or two after adding it to the tank it completely removes the clouding issue. I've done this with 100% flourite. I didn't mean to, it was just the natural results of siphoning my substrate.

Flourite is the cleanest planted tank substrate I've ever used after it's been cleaned. To that end, siphoning a substrate isn't a very difficult thing to do if you do it while you are setting the tank up. Just keep the filters off until you've siphoned it clean or you'll obviously have a muddied up filtration system. Running the filter also keeps the dust in suspension longer, increasing the waiting time between cleanings.


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## Rex Grigg (Dec 10, 2002)

malkore said:


> Florite's only universally agreed upon downside is the cloudiness. Even over time, it'll cloud if you do major replanting, but it'll clear up within hours, without a diatom filter.
> On that same vein, the rinsing prior to using flourite is a pain.



Hmm... never had that problem. But then again I rinse the Flourite clean before adding it to my tank. Takes about 10 minutes per bag. I have detailed how I rinse Flourite in my Guide. Never had a problem with cloudiness when setting up a tank nor when working in the tank. If you get the dust off BEFORE you add it to the tank you are good to go.

I would love to try the Soil Master but there is no distributor close by. I found one place that could get it but the price was nuts. Something like $45 a bag, unless I wanted a full pallet.


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## Opiesilver (Nov 3, 2003)

Isn't Soilmaster just crushed Acrilite?


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## Buck (Oct 13, 2002)

mrbelvedere138 said:


> but what advantages does Eco have over fluorite?


 Ummm.... color. :wink:


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## MiSo (Oct 26, 2005)

when i meant eco was easier to vacuum, i was talking about if its densly planted.

i have dwarf hairgrass and micro swords in the foreground and i can't just stick the syphon into the substrate because it will disturb the roots. thats why i chose eco over flourite. but if you dont have plants with fragile roots, then flourite would be easier to vacuum because the syphon wont pick up flourite.


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## Jackfrost (Jan 8, 2005)

Where can one buy Soil Master from ?


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## matpat (Jan 22, 2004)

Jackfrost said:


> Where can one buy Soil Master from ?


www.lesco.com, type in "Soilmaster Select" in the search field, and look for either the red or charcoal version. The "Select" is a much smaller grain size than regular Soilmaster.

Not many places carry the charcoal color, but if you order online, they will get it in for you from another store. If you call them, they will either tell you they can only order a pallet (2,000 lbs) or charge you a very steep price.


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## scrimp (Oct 20, 2004)

Does anyone have a picture of the soilmaster select?


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## matpat (Jan 22, 2004)

Try a search on this site. I know their are a few pics out there. APC also has several links to tank with Soilmaster in them. A Google search may be best for coming up with pictures.


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## aquaphish (Dec 20, 2002)

I have a 40 gal with Flourite and when I started it did not have much cloudiness. I cleaned it pretty good before placing it in the tank.

As for Eco-Complete. I just walked in with a new 8 gal tank with a compact flourecent light. And I did buy some Eco-Complete for the substrate as well as some small white rocks that will be used in the foreground. I prefer to see small tanks with light foreground substrate instead of the darker type stuff.

I know EC is dark but most of it will be covered by plants.

Might start a journal for this with pictures from setup to the planted aquascape.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Opiesilver said:


> Isn't Soilmaster just crushed Acrilite?


No it isn't. Soilmaster looks like tiny little black lenses, very smooth particles. I don't know how it is made, but it certainly isn't a crushed product.


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