# ADA vs. Eco Complete



## VeeSe

ADA aquasoil allows you to rescape, as it won't cloud up like dirt does when you pull plants out. 

As for eco-complete, you should probably use root tabs right from the start if you want to cover your bases. Eco-complete doesn't have any nutrients in it (they advertise that it does, but it is pretty much inert). It will adsorb nutrients fairly well, which is good, but as far as starting out with them, it doesn't.


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## carpalstunna

I believe the Aquasoil also will lower your ph so that could be good for keeping discuss


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## Lil' Swimz$

ADA Aquasoil is da bomb, if your gonna get anything, get Aquasoil. If you really think about it, it's not THAT much more. Yes, it is more but it's not anything that is way out there...


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## tatersalad

The only problem with aquasoil is it is very hard to find right now. I can't find anywhere to get it from online, and I'm not close to any cities that have ada stores in them.


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## Kevchan

My experience with both Eco complete and a bead like soil such as aquarium and fluval stratum is that
1 it won't scratch your tank up like the course pellets Eco complete has
2 comparing the two in a dry start is almost unfair to eco complete
3 I buy Eco complete for about 20 lb for 40 dollars at my local fish store while I can get about 17 pounds of fluval for 35 shipped. Aquasoil is a little more expensive but not by much considering how long it will last you. My as in my mini s survived 3 years and many scapes and is still doing well. Just don't inject hydrogen peroxide in to it... And it should last a while 

Eco complete did make a good bottom layer for me because I did have it laying around.


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## Kevchan

tatersalad said:


> The only problem with aquasoil is it is very hard to find right now. I can't find anywhere to get it from online, and I'm not close to any cities that have ada stores in them.


If you want some as I am going to japan soon I can mail you some via priority. But I doubt you'd want to front the cash for the soil and shipping


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## kalawai2000

Will have to order ADA Aquasoil online and shipping it is a real bummer.


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## aznartist34

Aquasoil is pelletized soil that was fired and hardened and has nutrients and will also lower your ph.

Eco complete is inert just like any other gravel but it will absorb nutrients.


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## sepulvd

Am able to get ADA soil but I don't know have the shipping would be this is at the fish store by me


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## lbacha

I will warn you not all Aquasoil is made the same. The new amazonia seems alot better than the second release of it (unless you like ammonia that is). Malaya will really lower PH so you have to watch what plants you plant in it, I have killed some very nice harder water crypts because of it. I don't have much experience with africana. I will say while it is completly inert the Sarawak decorative sand I got is very nice, I doctored it up with some malaya to make it more muddy and root tabs and I'm trying some C Keei in it.

Len


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## In.a.Box

these type of soil isnt hard to make if you know how to fire soil.


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## f8puffy

sepulvd said:


> Am able to get ADA soil but I don't know have the shipping would be this is at the fish store by me
> View attachment 46255


Woah...How much in US $ are the different aquasoils in Japan?


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## f8puffy

Kevchan said:


> ...3 I buy Eco complete for about 20 lb for 40 dollars at my local fish store


As an FYI Petco has it online for $17 to $22 plus shipping depending on sale


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## grogan

usually it will run between $35-$50 per bag.


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## Snowflake311

Substrate

I have done lots of research and yes ADA seems to be great for plants and shrimp. It looks good, lowers ph, has lots of nutrients, BUT it's not cheap due to shipping cost when you buy online. It gives off ammonia so it needs some time to cycle.[censored]

The Eco compleat has iron in it and it has a pretty good CEC so it will take in nutrients from the water. It will last a very long time. It is an insert substrate where ADA is an active substrate. They are very different in how they work.[censored]

I have akamada this is an active substrate as my base. It lowers the ph a bit and will absorb nutrients. Then I used the Eco compleat on the top. So far so good. I have used Eco compleat on my other tanks one with co2 and good light. I grew HC really well with this stuff and my dwarf hair grass is doing well too.[censored]

If ADA was available in normal LF around me I would try it. But to buy it on line I can't see spending that much when the stuff I have used does a good job.[censored]


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## Kevchan

But all this eco complete stuff/ Ada stuff is all up to what makes you happy and how much you want to shell out of your Wallet for this stuff. 

I've seen people grow stuff in sand for crying outloud. 

This hobby is way too expensive to be cycling though pounds of substrate every month. Like ada says it's all about the fish!


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## Bhack

Thanks for all the responses, so its sounds like the aquasoil is the best you can go with for the plants. But is it something you are going to have to replace after any period of time? Just saw that last post mentioning that (not sure if you were referring to the ADA or something else) and want to be sure? I do like eco complete and would entertain something to muddy it up, I will have to look into the substrate you said that you mixed it with.

(Sorry for the brief response a little late, will disect the advice some more tomorrow)


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## lbacha

Yeah aqua soil is nice, I really like the look as well, I have a tank with Malaya and one with Amazonia and both look great. I'm in San Fran for a day or two so I'm stopping by AFA and hopefully they hold some bags back for the store. The airline is going to laugh when I check a box full of soil back to Cleveland.

Len


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## vincenz

Have to put it out there, but why do so many people say ADA soil looks good/natural? I don't know what's natural about uniform bb pellets. In nature, a river or lake bottom looks nothing like ADA soil. To me, it looks the exact opposite of natural. Not knocking its usefulness, just its looks.


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## CrazyCatPeekin

If you decide to go with Eco-Complete and have to order online, I generally get it from Drs. Foster & Smith. It's $24.99 per bag, but 2 or more bags is going to qualify you for free shipping. Last time I priced it out, that was the least expensive way to go.


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## 01111000

CrazyCatPeekin said:


> If you decide to go with Eco-Complete and have to order online, I generally get it from Drs. Foster & Smith. It's $24.99 per bag, but 2 or more bags is going to qualify you for free shipping. Last time I priced it out, that was the least expensive way to go.


Refer to this topic: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/other-websites/171719-eco-complete-petco.html

I bought 3x bags at 15.99 last week and a small thermometer to get the total to 50$ to qualify for free shipping. It's 17.99 right now.

http://www.petco.com/product/111998...-Aquarium-Substrate.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch


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## carpalstunna

bingo on petco they have to be loosing money on that stuff!! Get it while its hot, much cheaper than aquasoil at that price.


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## Ach1Ll3sH33L

this stuff is very similar to aquasoil, i use it in my tanks, not sure about shipping cause i get it at will call cause im local. http://www.marinedepot.com/Azoo_Plant_Grower_Bed_Gravel_Substrate-Azoo-AZ11026-FWPCPG-vi.html


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## flight50

grogan said:


> usually it will run between $35-$50 per bag.


I haven't seen it that high. Most places I have seen online are 25-35 bucks.
I too am torn been the different substrates. Eco,Aqua and even flourite. I have only used flourite in my tanks and with co2 and good lighting it does well for alot cheaper. The downside is that its clouds the water if not rinsed well. Eco the downside I hear about it is that it significantly raises the GH, especially with R/O water. I got an R/O to lower water parameters so this is iffy. With aquasoil, the downside is the price.

With all this said, half of this debate is personal preference. The other half is cost. For large tanks 125g+, you can expect to shell out quite a bit to cover your tank. Throw in some slopes and hills and that will really jack up the price. This all has to be accounted for. My plans are for a 4-6inch sloped/hilled terrain for a 175-180g build I am designing, so I have to shell out money in my case. My cheapest option is flourite, ada and then eco.
Rough estimates are
flourite - 17-25 bags= $272-400 using a price of $16 per 15.7 lbs bag
aquasoil - 12 - 18 bags=$360-540 using price of $30 per 9 liter bag
eco - 20-29 bags=$400-580 using price of $20 per 20lb bag


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## sbarbee54

There is no Place I have seen that has the large bags of aquasoil for 30.00. Cheapest Local I can find is 36.99 plus tax so 40 and change. Even shipping it is 35 plus shipping. You might be finding the smaller bags cheaper


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## plantbrain

If you need to make a slope and have a 3-6" rise, then you can use mesh bags filled with small lava/pumice etc. These are laid on the bottom to buil dup the soil, which goes on top. 

Very cheap power sand, but it's not for power, it's to use less ADA AS and not have it mix together with the pumice/lava rock later on.


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## kalawai2000

I used ADA Power Sand Plus under my Eco Complete and my plants are growing like hot cakes. 
Every week I'm pruning something...or something is flowering.
All I can say is that my plants are happy.


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## lbacha

plantbrain said:


> If you need to make a slope and have a 3-6" rise, then you can use mesh bags filled with small lava/pumice etc. These are laid on the bottom to buil dup the soil, which goes on top.
> 
> Very cheap power sand, but it's not for power, it's to use less ADA AS and not have it mix together with the pumice/lava rock later on.


Just add some bacter, penac and super clear to it and you have made it power sand, lol..

Len


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## flight50

sbarbee54 said:


> There is no Place I have seen that has the large bags of aquasoil for 30.00. Cheapest Local I can find is 36.99 plus tax so 40 and change. Even shipping it is 35 plus shipping. You might be finding the smaller bags cheaper


I haven't visited this thread in awhile but perhaps you used another search engine than google, lol. On the AFA site itself is cheaper than your found price. The shipping is what's high though. http://www.adana-usa.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=76_12_21. Your LFS really jacked up the price. I stated a rough estimate for the 9 liter bag not the 3 liter bag and even my rough estimate is cheaper than 36 bucks.

Thanks Tom for mentioning the media bag with lava/pumice. I really want a good quality substrate to incorporate slopes/hills without hurting in the wallet. MTS is out with my intentions. If I can't get AS by the time I am ready for it, I will just stick with either Eco or Flourite and implement EI dosing.


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## knuggs

ADA it great for growth off the bat but in time turns to junk and makes a mess especially if you like to rearrange things alot. I definitely recommend Eco, it just gets better in time. Especially with tap water due to its high CEC=Cation-exchange capacity in layman terms that is the amount of nutrients a soil is capable of storing.


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## patsplat

In.a.Box said:


> these type of soil isnt hard to make if you know how to fire soil.


how do you do that, i wanna know, this stuff is so expensive, i want it a bit cheaper, thnx.


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## patsplat

lbacha said:


> Just add some bacter, penac and super clear to it and you have made it power sand, lol..
> 
> Len


naw thats more like power sand special, powersand is peat and pumice


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## Highlander

Not trying to be rude, but you do realize that this thread ended a year and a half ago, right?


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## carpalstunna

did it really end? I guess not.


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## Highlander

I guess you are right. Just a very long dormant period. Lol


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