# Eco complete and cloudy water



## hungryhound (Apr 1, 2007)

Hello all,

I don't post much, but I value expertise and friendly nature of this site. I have run into a bit of a problem and am wondering if you could provide some answers.

I am no stranger to setting-up planted tanks with Eco complete as I currently have three tanks with this substrate. The fourth tank I tried to set-up today, but have run into a bit of a snag.

When emptying the bags into my tank, I noticed that these bags contained more water than any of the previous bags I had used. This water was a muddy brown . I went ahead and added it anyways, but am now a bit concerned as my tank is currently a milky brown color and as the particles precipitate out they are leaving a brown film on top of the substrate.

To illustrate my point here are a few images:


















Is this something to be concerned about, or was I sold a bad bag?


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## frozenbarb (Dec 16, 2006)

Bad bag, You email cabriSea or the makers of Eco and SAy you got a bad Bag

they should send you a new one


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## hungryhound (Apr 1, 2007)

frozenbarb said:


> Bad bag, You email cabriSea or the makers of Eco and SAy you got a bad Bag
> 
> they should send you a new one


Thank you. I will send an e-mail tonight. 

I should have known when i saw the milky water go in, that it was, but I wanted confirmation. 

IS this stuff still usable or do I need to take it all out and scrap it? IE. Can I vacuume the top layer off and keep the rest or will this precipitate give me problems down the road?

Thanks for your help.


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## Chrona (Feb 25, 2007)

The bad batches of Ecocomplete contain a ton of phosphates iirc. Just scrap it imo.


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## Storm_Rider (Sep 30, 2006)

i think it would be reusable if you spent the time cleaning it up and drying it out in the sun. that's just something i read someone else do though so i can't guarantee it will work.


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## zackish (Jun 12, 2007)

I just put in eco-complete in my tank about a week ago and it's very clear...could be even clearer if I wasn't in the middle of cycling my tank with 2 rotting shrimp in it!


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## hungryhound (Apr 1, 2007)

I called the company today and they have agreed to replace it. The company representative stated that the cloudy water was the result of ?????? (I cannot remember and did not write it down. Stupid Me). He stated that it was a desert mineral that got into the substrate and that it would be fine to use but I would need to do a lot of water changes. 

I asked him about the phosphate issues and he stated that he does not know of any. The only problem that he knows is that about 4 years ago a shipment in Canada had argonite mixed in that was high in calcium carbonate and caused a white milky color and that may have been what I heard. 

Either way he has agreed to send me three new bags to replace the ones that I already own. I might try and clean it up but we shall see. The tank is to be used as a breeding tank and frye tank so I guess I might as well give it a try, because if it does have an outbreak of algae it won't be that big a deal, and I should have three bags to replace it with if it does. 


Thanks for all of your help.


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