# Mixing Fluval Stratum and Eco Complete



## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I don't know of any reason why you can't mix those two substrate materials, but I also don't know of any reason why it would be a good idea to mix them. Either one will work fine as a substrate, so why not just get the one you can find the best deal on? Both are good materials.


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## MoreyFan (Jul 3, 2014)

The break down of Fluval people talk about is real but in my experience is just a dusty filter floss. After a year the substrate is still clearly pebbles. The problem with it is it isn't very dense and very hard to plant. My dwarf baby tears cannot get nearly as thick as pictures I see on the interwebs with aquasoil because it floats much sooner. I really have to keep it trimmed. If you don't plan on HC it is a great substrate. S repens rooted in like crazy with the light substrate. The look is much better than ecocomplete.


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## spinsheet (Feb 7, 2016)

Thanks for the info. One reason I might be mixing the two is that I want to get the tank set up tomorrow and between all the pet stores in my area I'm not sure there's enough of either one for a 75. If I can find enough FS I'll go with just that, if not, I may have to offset the difference with the Eco Complete.

How much of either is recommended for a 75 gallon tank?

And if it makes any difference, I have two 20+ year old clown loaches that consider themselves quite the aquascapers.


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## MoreyFan (Jul 3, 2014)

I would be a bit more patient then. I wish I was. I paid about the same for Fluval that aqua soil would have cost just because I would have needed to wait a week. A year later and what difference would a week have made? If your fish will uproot plants, the Fluvl is probably the one two avoid between the two. They would have a much harder time digging eco complete and it probably would not create nearly the dust cloud fluval does.


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## spinsheet (Feb 7, 2016)

It took three pet shops but I finally found five bags of Eco Complete. So it will be all Eco Complete in the 75.

I also have an unopened bag of Flourish Tabs. Should I go ahead and put them in the Eco Complete? I got them for my 29 gallon with a pure gravel substrate but since I'm breaking that down I figured I might as well use the tabs in the new tank if they won't do any harm.


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