Water leakage from bags of eco-complete

[doug z]

I got a friend to pick up some eco-complete from Big Al's in Vancouver (1000km away) wheile he was there..

He emailed me last night saying the "bags are leaking water a bit"..

Is this bad?

I thought the water the eco-complete came in was full of plant nutrients?

[gm72]

They pack it in "black water". Not much you can really do about it if they are already leaking. Won't do any harm though.

[Lady Hobbs]

They will be fine. A small leak will most likely not drain the bag and I imagine these leaks are common. Hard to totally seal up every single bag of liquid perfectly, I assume.

[doug z]

Hmm..

Ok, follow-up questions..

What is "black-water"?

Should I not open the bags until I am ready to add water to the tank?

Will it dry out?

Because I was thinking I could put it in the tank and start thinking about aquascaping options, looking at scale, etc..

Will still be 2 months till I get back from my trip, though..

[Lady Hobbs]

2 month trip? Wow

You might return to a jungle! The really smart way to plant a tank is to set it up a couple months before adding fish, really. The plants have time to root without being disturbed and the fish ripping them all up. Nanaglen planted her big tank like that and she says only in the US are people so impatient that we plant the tank and add the fish at the same time. I've read it's really the only smart way to do on other sites, as well.

You will be getting a timer light, as well?

[travie]

What is "black-water"?


It is exactly the thing you don't like/want even though there is no harm in it, and is good for tetras, discus, angelfish, and any other fish from the Amazon. Black-water is tannins in the water.

[Wild Turkey]

It is exactly the thing you don't like/want even though there is no harm in it, and is good for tetras, discus, angelfish, and any other fish from the Amazon. Black-water is tannins in the water.

Yea it means soft and acidic water.

[doug z]

Hmm..

Ok.

So if I soak it in the water my driftwood has been soaking in, I'll be ok? :)

Hobbs, I'll be going to Ukraine in June, for 6 weeks..

When I get back I'll put water in my tank and plant it, then let it cycle for another month or 2..

I was considering planting it, then leaving it for my 6 week trip, then adding fish right when I got back (providing it was good and cycled)..

But most of the fun will be seeing how the plants grow over the first 2 months, so..

I'll have a timer for the lights, yes..

I think there's a timer control on the Pinpoint pH moniter I'm getting for my C02 system, but I'll have to check..

Now, getting back to my question re: the drying out..

DOES eco-complete have to be water-logged for optimal performance?

Because like I say, I was hoping to play at hardscaping till my trip, and then plant just as soon as I got back..

But if it's going to dry out over the weeks, to the co-complete's detriment then I'll leave it all till I get back..

[Wild Turkey]

Hmm..

Ok.

So if I soak it in the water my driftwood has been soaking in, I'll be ok? :)

Hobbs, I'll be going to Ukraine in June, for 6 weeks..

When I get back I'll put water in my tank and plant it, then let it cycle for another month or 2..

I was considering planting it, then leaving it for my 6 week trip, then adding fish right when I got back (providing it was good and cycled)..

But most of the fun will be seeing how the plants grow over the first 2 months, so..

I'll have a timer for the lights, yes..

I think there's a timer control on the Pinpoint pH moniter I'm getting for my C02 system, but I'll have to check..

Now, getting back to my question re: the drying out..

DOES eco-complete have to be water-logged for optimal performance?

Because like I say, I was hoping to play at hardscaping till my trip, and then plant just as soon as I got back..

But if it's going to dry out over the weeks, to the co-complete's detriment then I'll leave it all till I get back..

Buy A web cam, and or a really big hard drive. You can subscribe to 1 of a zillion sites that let u see ur web cam from any computer in the world, or record to an external hard drive and play it at like 100x speed that would look really cool. Note with 6 weeks of footage ur gonna want like 500 gigs+ and put the quality on low

[doug z]

Well, I want to enjoy my holiday, not worry about finding web cafes..

And I'll want to be there to moniter the water parameters, see how fast it cycles, just for curiousity's sake..

There may be algae blooms I'll want to nip in the bud..

So no.. :)

Now, getting back to the question of eco-complete needing to be waterlogged or not..

[Lady Hobbs]

Me? I would put the Eco-Complete in the tank, plant it and add the water so the plants can grow. Add lights on timers and go on your trip.

I wouldn't use a filter due to water level dropping while your gone but a bubbler to kept it oxygenated. Many fish love the black amazon water and plants do well in it.

[doug z]

Yeah, it's tempting, but I need the experience of seeing how it turns out, this being my first time and all..

If I was an old hand, it'd be a different story..

So should I wait till I get back to open the bags?

Can I do my hardscaping, and then go, if I leave a bit of water in there?

Or will that cause an problem, gunk-wise, by the time I get back?

[doug z]

For those that were interested, I heard back from a Carib Sea rep, and he had this to say:


There are no nutrients in the liquid all minerals are in the substrate
itself. You should be fine as long as it is used in a few weeks.

Bottom line: make sure that the material has no foul odor before using. Basically, as I stated before, there are no nutrients in the packing solution, they are in the actual substrate. You are basically dealing with a semi sterile culture
that selects for certain organisms, (nitrifying bacteria), As long as there
are no competing petrifying bacteria or organisms present you should be OK.
Again- no foul odor = OK, foul odor = give a quick rinse.

[gm72]

Thanks for posting that clarification. Good to know.

[doug z]

Your welcome!

I think I'm just going to play it safe and take the affected bags back and exchange them..

A hassle, but oh well..

After 13 years working at a pulp mill, my idea of "foul" is probably warped..

[gm72]

I'll bet though that they are fine.

[Adrian]

Doug, I have eco-complete in my tank. I was told that you don't need to rinse it, just put it in, and you are good to go.

What I found happened next was something that I should have done, as I have always done, and will continue to do in the event I ever get more.

Rinse the frikin gravel. I ended up with extremely cloudy water that did not dissapate in a few days or weeks. I had to tear my tank down, rinse the gravel, and do it all over again.

If you are going on a trip, rinse the gravel, add it to the tank, fill it up partially to get your filters running, and you should be fine. Add some plants, have your lights on timers, and have a ball on your vacation. I would NOT add expensive plants as of yet, as there is no fish waste for them to feed on, so get some inexpensive plants to help "prepare" the water column for your fish.

Just my thoughts....

[gm72]

Interesting. I didn't rinse any of it and didn't have any clouding that didn't clear over a day or two.

[doug z]

I was told that you don't need to rinse it, just put it in,

I was told the same thing..

Well, I'm just going to put it right in, and if I have any issues with extended cloudiness I'll run some carbon in my filter till it clears up..