# Petco Plant Substrate?



## brent47 (May 29, 2009)

I was in a Petco the other day and there was a plant substrate I have never seen before. It seemed a lot like Eco-Complete, similar grain size and packed in water, only it was a very light color. I was not familiar with the brand and have since forgot the name of it. Does anyone know anything about this substrate? I know I am not giving a lot of information to go off of. It is the exact color I have been looking for, but I am not sure I want to buy some substrate I have never heard of before, especially from Pecto.


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## brent47 (May 29, 2009)

Also, I forgot to mention, I searched online for it and I could not find anything like it on the Petco website or anywhere else.


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Hmm if you can't find any information or reviews on it, then i wouldn't purchase it. I also did a bit of google-ing to see if i could find anything on it. Nothing.

I have never seen this "plant substrate" in petco before, it might have been a normal pea gravel being advertised as plant substrate. What color was it? Could it be laterite? I think i've seen that in petco before, it usually comes in a little rectangular box.


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## brent47 (May 29, 2009)

Thanks AzFishKik. It wasn't Laterite. It came in a 20 lb plastic bag packed in water. As for the color, this is closest I could find


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## Kfrey (Jun 20, 2009)

petco sells eco-complete in my area for $19.99 20lb bag


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## Solid (Jul 19, 2009)

I saw this substrate at my local Petco also. It comes in 3-4 different colors. A light one like described, a reddish one that looks like flourite, and a black/gray sand version. I wanted a black sand substrate but ended up not buying it because i couldnt find reviews on the intarwebs, kinda wish i had tried it. I couldnt remember the brand-name either, so i just called them and asked for the brand and here is there website http://www.activflora.com/


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## brent47 (May 29, 2009)

Thanks for the link Solid. That is exactly what I was looking for. The Floralite (sounds a lot like flourite) color was the one I was looking at. It looks like it should be a decent substrate. Any opinions? Should I just go for it?


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

Im a little sceptical about this "plant substrate" - it just looks like normal pea gravel to me. Worth a shot though i guess if you want to be adventurous. If you decide to get it, let us know how it is!

The Floracor red and black look like they may be legit, but the other colors i'm not sure about.
Hope someone else can comment on this.


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## hbosman (Oct 5, 2006)

I saw it in a store once, it looks like regular gravel in a bag of water to me. If it is indeed gravel, how high can the CEC be? Are the nutrients in the water? If so, they would only be of use temporarily. The grayish colored one looks good to me. I wished it was legit.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

There is a new substrate on the market, I've seen the ads in TFH. IDK anything about it, though, and it does look suspiciously like plain pea gravel...


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## anh (Jul 20, 2009)

make sure its not pre-made substrate where they have the amonia eating bacteria inside it.


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## SubWolf (Jul 13, 2009)

I am trying out the black for the first time in my 14 gallon. I do not know about the other colors/types but the black is made up of fine black sand and what looks like it may be crushed pumice/lava rock in various sizes. There are also flecks of red and white material (possibly pumice as well). It's actually a good looking substrate IMO, but I can't tell you how it works for plants yet as I have not gotten around to planting this tank yet.


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## Damian (Jun 17, 2009)

SubWolf said:


> I am trying out the black for the first time in my 14 gallon. I do not know about the other colors/types but the black is made up of fine black sand and what looks like it may be crushed pumice/lava rock in various sizes. There are also flecks of red and white material (possibly pumice as well). It's actually a good looking substrate IMO, but I can't tell you how it works for plants yet as I have not gotten around to planting this tank yet.


I have 2.5 bags of this in my 29 gallon atm. I have had no problems growing stem plants and rooted etc. I have yet to try a decent ground cover with this substrate but I looks like it is not a problem. It does have a sand like mixture with some gravel in there. Overall pleased with the product although it is a bit messy. Here is my tank journal to see. http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/t...664-29-gallon-planted-tank-first-attempt.html


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Dream2MkBlve said:


> I have 2.5 bags of this in my 29 gallon atm. I have had no problems growing stem plants and rooted etc. I have yet to try a decent ground cover with this substrate but I looks like it is not a problem. It does have a sand like mixture with some gravel in there. Overall pleased with the product although it is a bit messy. Here is my tank journal to see. http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/t...664-29-gallon-planted-tank-first-attempt.html


That is a very nice looking substrate. And, it obviously grows plants well. I didn't read the whole journal, but do you have any cory cats in the tank? I only ask because some black substrate material has sharp edges that are very hard on the mouths for a cory. Right now, this stuff looks like a winner!


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

it looks good, what are the prices on these things.


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## Damian (Jun 17, 2009)

No cory cats atm. Just a few otos. I paid around $20 a bag at petco. of the three bags purchased though, they all seemed to have different textures. one bag had nice rocks and shapes while the other would have less rocks and more "sand" like texture. I dunno. I mixed in some black gravel on the top layer to balance it out.


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## A Hill (Jul 25, 2005)

I would be hesitant to buy this substrate personally. To me it looks like pea gravel put in a bag with water labeled as special to drive up the price.

If it is as inexpensive as normal pea gravel then I would be all for it, if it isn't and it is on par with eco complete and fluorite and stuff I would go with the trusted brand.

-Andrew


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## Rob in Puyallup (Jul 2, 2009)

anh said:


> make sure its not pre-made substrate where they have the amonia eating bacteria inside it.


Anh...

Why? That's the kind I have in my tank... (Eco-Complete)

Rob


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