# life span of eco complete in a tank



## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Forever? Eco contains no nutrients that will last past a few days.


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## GeToChKn (Apr 15, 2011)

It's an inert gravel with high rate for storing minerals via a high CEC rate. It should last forever. It's not a buffering or active substrate, so no reason it should last forever.


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## zherico (Mar 19, 2009)

awsome, so buying used eco should be okay....potential issue (obviously not a real issue because we would be hearing about it) i see in this is that with the use of co2, waters become more acidic, increasing the amount of h+ that will bind to these sites instead of other good stuff like ca2+, mg2+, etc....so why is this not the case, that the slight acidity is just not a big enough difference?


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## Robert H (Apr 3, 2003)

> Forever? Eco contains no nutrients that will last past a few days.


No, not exactly. Its made from some kind of clay, so just like Flourite or any other clay gravel it provides iron and other minerals in oxidized form, basically forever. It is also fortified with all the minerals plants need, and live bacteria. Its dust free too, another big plus. Don't rinse it before adding it to the tank. There is no reason to do so, and you would loose all the bacteria.


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## reddhawkk (Dec 28, 2011)

I have it in my 29 and when I added water it did not get cloudy at all. Good stuff.


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## Rainer (Jan 30, 2011)

Test thoroughly before adding sensitive shrimp to an eco-complete tank. There are reports of GH spikes.


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Robert H said:


> No, not exactly. Its made from some kind of clay, so just like Flourite or any other clay gravel it provides iron and other minerals in oxidized form, basically forever. It is also fortified with all the minerals plants need, and live bacteria. Its dust free too, another big plus. Don't rinse it before adding it to the tank. There is no reason to do so, and you would loose all the bacteria.


Its about 99% volcanic rock, and although it has a beneficially high CEC, it doesnt contain much for nutrients. Dust free is good but the so claimed "Bacteria" is a gamble at best as to whether its alive by the time you use it.


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## randyl (Feb 1, 2012)

I just set up a 20G long the past weekend with 2 bags of eco-complete, it is clean I agree, but so far it's increasing the PH. I haven't tested GH and KH, will do it tomorrow because I just did a water change.

I set up two tanks the same day, one with 2 bags of eco-complete ($70+), the other one with 2/3 of a bag of Akadama ($40). Eco-complete keeps PH at around 8.2 (my tap is around 7.8) TDS 185 (my tap is 165), and Akadama keeps the water at 6.5 and TDS around 85. I just did a WC 3 hrs ago, drained about 90% water from eco-complete and fill it with the Akadama tank water. About 10 minutes later I checked the PH, guess what, it raised it from 6.5 to 8.0 again (and it's again 8.2 after about 3 hrs).

I am suspecting this is due to whatever is in that water that comes with the substrate in the bag, since it's still cycling, I'll start adding some plants (mostly moss and riccia) and monitor the parameters. I can get pretty mad if it keeps raising PH/GH/KH, and I don't think it's looking good.


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## szenic (Aug 15, 2011)

randyl said:


> I just set up a 20G long the past weekend with 2 bags of eco-complete, it is clean I agree, but so far it's increasing the PH. I haven't tested GH and KH, will do it tomorrow because I just did a water change.
> 
> I set up two tanks the same day, one with 2 bags of eco-complete ($70+), the other one with 2/3 of a bag of Akadama ($40). Eco-complete keeps PH at around 8.2 (my tap is around 7.8) TDS 185 (my tap is 165), and Akadama keeps the water at 6.5 and TDS around 85. I just did a WC 3 hrs ago, drained about 90% water from eco-complete and fill it with the Akadama tank water. About 10 minutes later I checked the PH, guess what, it raised it from 6.5 to 8.0 again (and it's again 8.2 after about 3 hrs).
> 
> I am suspecting this is due to whatever is in that water that comes with the substrate in the bag, since it's still cycling, I'll start adding some plants (mostly moss and riccia) and monitor the parameters. I can get pretty mad if it keeps raising PH/GH/KH, and I don't think it's looking good.


Apology in advance to OP as this doesn't answer the question, but I've had similar experience with it raising my pH, any idea how to counteract this? Or does it settle back down after however many months?


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## Robert H (Apr 3, 2003)

They list all the minerals it provides, right on the bag. Live bacteria has come a long way since the days of bottled Cycle.



> The secret lies in rich basaltic volcanic soil which contains iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sulfur plus over 25 other elements to nourish your aquatic plants. Eco-Complete™ Planted Aquarium Substrate is mineralogically and biologically complete,


Basaltic rock is rich in minerals and can be high in iron. *There is a guaranteed analysis of minerals along with the ppm amounts on the bag that I could write here,* but it is too time consuming and I am too lazy.

Here is something from Wikipedia



> Basalt in the tops of subaerial lava flows and cinder cones will often be highly vesiculated, imparting a lightweight "frothy" texture to the rock. Basaltic cinders are often red, coloured by oxidized iron from weathered iron-rich minerals such as pyroxene.


There is also a warning label on the bag that says the following:

" Eco Complete Planted aquarium Substrate is a natural product with natural variations and, as such may include a trace amount of carbonate mineral on some grain surfaces. This can temporarily raise pH and KH of the aquarium for a period of up to 3 to 6 weeks before becoming permanently neutral."

In ten years setting up over a dozen tanks, I have never had this problem. Of course this whole arguement is from another thread, but I am sure you knew that!


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Used EC is fine. All the original bacteria and minerals may be gone, but you can add tablets, or fertilizer to the water column, and the EC ought to accept them just fine, so it becomes again a good source of nutrients for the plants. 

I would be more worried about fish diseases or parasites if the EC is coming from a tank that had a lot of deaths in it. It could probably be baked to kill these things, though. (If it is volcanic in origin, what is an hour or two in the oven going to do to it?)


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## speerwashere (Feb 24, 2012)

Diana said:


> (If it is volcanic in origin, what is an hour or two in the oven going to do to it?)


 Could sound like popcorn LOL


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## zherico (Mar 19, 2009)

How about a vinegar bath for the eco as opposed to baking it?


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