# eco complete bad?



## blazeyreef (Mar 17, 2008)

looks like my eco!
I tried emailing them to see if they would replace it... never even heard back from them. I gave up and just decided I wouldnt use it again


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## rrogan (Nov 5, 2007)

have you noticed if its raised your kh/gh at all?

well I called Jud by calling this number 1-888-461-1113 and then 4 was Jud's extension. I talked to him about it and then he told me to send him an email at [email protected] with the receipt of purchase. He replied back shortly and he's going to send me some new stuff this week.

Now I just need to figure out how I want to change it out. I'm thinking of just scooping off the top layer or something and then just adding the new stuff on top.


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## nikonD70s (Apr 6, 2008)

i believe what you got was the newer version of eco, the old ones was more if not pure black. you should of went for the new flourite black if you wanted all black. i bought 5 bags of black flourite black for my 60g and i love it.


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## rrogan (Nov 5, 2007)

well i thought the newer one should be all black too. there were just some that went out that had the different colors in it. I found a small shell in there too. I guess we'll see when the new bags come in.


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## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

Those are not newer versions, just a huge bad batch that stores still have in stock. They have corrected the issue and if you contact them they may replace your bags with the good stuff.


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## rrogan (Nov 5, 2007)

do you think i should just replace all of it or just get rid of the ugly stuff and put the new stuff on top?


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## Complexity (Jan 30, 2008)

Is this just a color issue or does it affect its ability to grow plants? I have the colored one in my 75g. I had wondered why it had colors in it, but I ended up liking the colors so I didn't worry about it.

But if it is "bad" in the sense that it isn't as good for my plants as the pure black stuff is, then I should change this out. I'm spending too much on my plants and all to have a bad substrate.


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## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

Its cosmetically bad I would say.


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## Complexity (Jan 30, 2008)

So it will grow my plants just as effectively as the pure black colored version, right? If so, I'm going to keep my multicolored one. I originally wanted all black, but the subtle colors make it look more natural to me.


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## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

I have a few clients tanks that are maintained by us that have the stuff. Its a bit larger in grain size and multi colored. But it will still grow your water weeds just fine.


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## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

does the different color version affect the pH and such? i have little pieces that look like shell fragments and my pH is pretty high, do you think its because of the substrate?


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## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

Yes it very well could be. The machine they used to extract the substrate was the same machine they used to make there Crushed Coral product.


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## Complexity (Jan 30, 2008)

If it does affect pH, that would go away after awhile, wouldn't it? It would be more like crushed coral dust than anything. Any real coral pieces should be so few as to not have an effect, right?

Dang. Now I need to test my pH.


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## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

I use it in a few office tanks and the PH was up for a few months. Settled now and not really any problem.
Im glad I get to hand pick our stock when it comes to Eco, we get to pick the good stuff.


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## Complexity (Jan 30, 2008)

At least this has cleared up my questions about what I received. I have always wondered why the Eco Complete in my 75g wasn't the same as all my other tanks. I had wondered if the store ripped me off, but I saw them carry the actual bags in. So I just figured it was a different batch or something. I'm glad to have a definitive answer that the store did not rip me off.

I think the only issue I may have is blending in the colors when I add more Eco Complete to the tank. I'm planning to shut down some of my smaller tanks and putting that substrate in my 75g, Plus, I have 3 more bags (that are pure black) that I was thinking of putting in the 75g so I could do a better job of sloping the substrate.

Looks like I'll just have to be good about spreading the new stuff around rather than just putting it in one place. But once that's done, I shouldn't have any problems.


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## rrogan (Nov 5, 2007)

I've had my eco complete for about a month or two now, and my kh is 4-5 and my gh is around 10. out of the tap both are about 1. I would like them a little lower. after my 50% wc i notice the gh goes down to around 5-7 and then after a day or 2 its back up to 10.


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## NyteBlade (Aug 19, 2006)

Does anyone know whether it's "safe" to order eco-complete yet? I'm setting up a 20L and need a substrate. I already have eco-complete in my 29 gallon and I was going to order another few bags of the stuff to avoid complication, but with all of these color problems I'm thinking about just getting some Flourite Black instead...


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I haven't heard any reports of the bad stuff for the past month or two. If you want to be sure you could always just order it from Orlando at www.GreenLeafAquariums.com - he made sure to only stock the good stuff.

You can't go wrong with the Flourite black though, IMHO.  Just make sure to rinse it really well before adding it to the tank, and IME letting it dry out afterwards also makes a big difference. I've had NO clouding with it at all using this method. :thumbsup:


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## NyteBlade (Aug 19, 2006)

lauraleellbp said:


> I haven't heard any reports of the bad stuff for the past month or two. If you want to be sure you could always just order it from Orlando at www.GreenLeafAquariums.com - he made sure to only stock the good stuff.
> 
> You can't go wrong with the Flourite black though, IMHO.  Just make sure to rinse it really well before adding it to the tank, and IME letting it dry out afterwards also makes a big difference. I've had NO clouding with it at all using this method. :thumbsup:


Thanks for the reply. What kind of consistency is Flourite Black as compared to Eco Complete? I bought a few bags of eco complete a few years ago and the stuff is pretty fine...only a little bit thicker than sand. With all of the inconsistency though, I'm not too sure what exactly Eco-Complete is supposed to be like


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

The regular Flourite black is the same size and texture as the old Flourite- kind of like small gravel. There's Flourite black sand if you want something finer. That is the same size and texture of beach sand.

Here's the regular black in comparison to the size of an Oto









And here's the black sand:


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## Manda99 (Apr 30, 2008)

I got the bad stuff from my LFS initially and didn't realize it was the bad stuff until I bought a second bag from Drs. Foster and Smith and it came all black. I called the company and they offered to send me a new bag, but I wasn't going to bother with pulling all that back out. They said it wouldn't affect growth or affect the water quality and that it was just an aesthetic issue.

Never occurred to me about it affecting the water hardness, but I guess it's possible since I just tested the gh/kh on that tank the other day and it was off the charts (could be testing error on my part though).


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## Complexity (Jan 30, 2008)

I got 6 bags of the bad stuff, and while I don't really mind it, it has created a problem when it comes to adding more to the tank since it won't match. I might look into getting a replacement or at least enough to blend the colors in with the black so any new bags I add won't look out of place.


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## NyteBlade (Aug 19, 2006)

Complexity said:


> I got 6 bags of the bad stuff, and while I don't really mind it, it has created a problem when it comes to adding more to the tank since it won't match. I might look into getting a replacement or at least enough to blend the colors in with the black so any new bags I add won't look out of place.


Atleast I feel a little bit better knowing that if for some reason I do get some of the bad batch stuff, I can get new bag(s). I've had pretty good luck growing plants in eco complete and given the fact that I use eco complete right now, it'd save me from keeping track of 2 substrates :icon_cool


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## jelisoner (Mar 27, 2008)

ive ordered 12 bags over the last few months all of them bad :icon_cry:


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## NyteBlade (Aug 19, 2006)

jelisoner said:


> ive ordered 12 bags over the last few months all of them bad :icon_cry:


Really? Geeze :icon_cry: Maybe it is worth it just to order some Flourite Black and be done with it. Of course then I might like it so much I'd want to replace my eco-complete with it :icon_roll


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## Complexity (Jan 30, 2008)

Actually, I kind of like the "bad" batch of eco complete. The added colored pieces seem to give it a more natural appearance (show me where nature has just one color). If it wasn't for the problem of trying to match it with other bags of eco complete, I wouldn't mind at all.

What I may do is go ahead and add the other eco complete even though it won't match. And then when I move my tank to my house, all the eco complete will get mixed up, making the new stuff blend in. All I'm wanting is enough eco complete to do what I want in my tank and for the substrate to have a consistent color throughout (even if that color isn't pure black).


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