# Eco-complete and sand



## Waters (Oct 15, 2012)

I am setting up a new tank and have 60 lbs of black Eco-complete and 60 lbs of black sand. This is probably a dumb question, but do I have to use the Eco as the top layer or could I cap the Eco with the sand?


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## Nlewis (Dec 1, 2015)

Either way it's going to get mixed up. If you cap the Eco with sand, the sand will eventually make its way to the bottom. I can't see a reason to cap sand with Eco.


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## Ilikefish (Aug 25, 2016)

man. what you need the black sand for? eco complete already black gravel

Bump: if you do hardscape u need white sands


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## irishspy (Oct 22, 2007)

Yeah, eco-complete has such big grains (gravel, really) that sand will just flow down to fill the openings.


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## Waters (Oct 15, 2012)

My thinking was to use the sand to give me more depth....plus I like the look of the sand more than the larger grained Eco-Complete. Doesn't sound like it will work though.....what if I use the sand on the bottom just to give me more depth (since I already bought it lol)? Am I better off just buying more Eco?


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## Dr. Acula (Oct 14, 2009)

There's no real problem with using sand to give more depth to the substrate while saving some bucks, especially if the layer above is still deep enough. A lot of people use inert substrate or rocks or similar to do the same. Only concern I could think of is, depending on the grade of sand, having some of it compact or impact plant rooting or so.


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## scapegoat (Jun 3, 2010)

why not do something like this:

http://greenleafaquariums.com/content/images/wong1.jpg

The foreground is sand, while the area behind that would be a better substrate for plants such as eco


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

just use black diamond blasting grit. it is a nice fine black sand and it is dirt cheap. eco complete sucks IMO. i always think it's funny how people think eco complete makes plants grow better. this is false... I have used both with much better results with the black diamond.

black diamond is really easy to plant in because it is super heavy and consistent too. eco complete is very light and you end up with large chunks on top... plants struggle to stay down at times

whatever you do just don't mix substrates. unless you are capping dirt or something like that it is a bad idea


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## geisterwald (Jul 18, 2016)

scapegoat said:


> why not do something like this:
> 
> http://greenleafaquariums.com/content/images/wong1.jpg
> 
> The foreground is sand, while the area behind that would be a better substrate for plants such as eco


If you did that, you can also use a plastic divider to keep the substrates actually and more-or-less permanently separated.


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