# How much Eco-Complete for 10 gallon?



## moonwasaloon (May 24, 2011)

Would 1 bag of Eco- Complete be enough for a 10 gallon?


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## Quagulator (May 4, 2015)

moonwasaloon said:


> Would 1 bag of Eco- Complete be enough for a 10 gallon?


1 bag is more than enough if you really want Eco-Complete.


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## moonwasaloon (May 24, 2011)

Quagulator said:


> 1 bag is more than enough if you really want Eco-Complete.


Lol Sounds like your not a fan


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## Quagulator (May 4, 2015)

moonwasaloon said:


> Lol Sounds like your not a fan


Too much money for crushed up lava rock. 

Hard to plant into (espetially if you are using smaller plants in a 10 gallons). 

Traps detritus / mulm like crazy.

Uneven granule size.

Low CEC - Inert Substrate. Sand is 100% easier to maintain and clean and way way way cheaper. 


Yes, I am not a fan


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## moonwasaloon (May 24, 2011)

I guess i'm using my left over BDBS...

I just thought eco complete...was complete haha, and it would have been fine with proving all the nutrients to my crypts.


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## Quagulator (May 4, 2015)

moonwasaloon said:


> I guess i'm using my left over BDBS...
> 
> I just thought eco complete...was complete haha, and it would have been fine with proving all the nutrients to my crypts.


Eco-Complete provides dormant bacteria, and virtually 0 nutrients. (It has some calcium and iron, but barely any). 100% inert substrate.


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## moonwasaloon (May 24, 2011)

Well thank you for saving me money haha


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## Aku Sakana (Jul 27, 2017)

The large grit BDBS grows the best roots, you have to use tabs but I don't mind . Some of my tanks I do a top coat of eco because I don't like the shine of BDBS . BDBS is way easier to plant stems and I just can't see paying for overpriced substrate. I did a test with glass cups so I could see the roots grow and I couldn't believe the difference between BDBS and eco, not even close in root mass over the same time . 

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## Quagulator (May 4, 2015)

Aku Sakana said:


> The large grit BDBS grows the best roots, you have to use tabs but I don't mind


You also do not need to use tabs in sand if you are dosing the water sufficiently. I use tabs, but only for lower tech where my dosing is very inconsistent. I also build my own tabs to suit my needs. Urea anyone?  

Now, I want to explore higher nutrient substrates in my next setup, likely a non-buffering higher CEC substrate with tabs plus water column dosing. Now I'm just rambling on....


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## Aku Sakana (Jul 27, 2017)

Woops , my bad . Wrong wording for sure .
You do not need to use tabs .
I use tabs for my tanks because I have echinodorus and cryptocoryne that I like to look and grow strong. 
I also use tabs that do not have a gel coating , those are a pain . 

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## reddhawkk (Dec 28, 2011)

What tabs do you use?


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## Aku Sakana (Jul 27, 2017)

I use glosso tabs and like them very much. They are higher than diy gel tabs but I just got tired of those caps coming up. 

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## Asteroid (Jul 26, 2018)

i have mixed feelings about Eco. I know many feel it's difficult to plant in and certainly inert sand is easier, but on the other hand I like the look of it and it doesn't need to be rinsed and is clean to work with which is important if your first starting out. I also don't think it's completely inert. I once got this statement back from Caribsea when i inquired about the product.

Caribsea

"Thank you for your inquiry about Eco-Complete. Eco-Complete is composed of a geologically recent volcanic basalt. The fact that it is not super old is in its favor as many of the nutritive minerals are still somewhat soluble. That, along with the mycorrhizal fungi which work in concert with these minerals to make the actual trace elements more biologically available makes for a really nice planted aquarium substrate."


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## Kubla (Jan 5, 2014)

Why does Carib Sea have to make deceptive claims to sell this stuff? Right on the front of the bag it says, "It has all the mineral nutrients necessary for luxuriant aquatic plant growth without algae." "...and it never needs replacing."
I guess you can say it's not an outright lie, because they never say your plants are going to get the nutrients, but inferring that this stuff will nourish your plants forever is enough to make me avoid this company.


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