Aquasoil vs. Eco Complete

[wbf]

I am changing the substrate (Flourite) in my planted aquarium and would appreciate any information regarding the pros and cons of both Aquasoil and Eco Complete. Are they best used alone or with a bottom or top layer of gravel/sand? Any problems with cloudy water? Thanks.

[Glasstapper]

I can't tell you about Aquasoil, but I have used eco-complete before. I only have eco-complete as the substrate. Over time and siphoning, the larger pieces of the eco-complete move to the bottom and the finer sand-like parts stay on top giving you a fairly smooth top layer. My plants are a little starved for light (they need about 2 watts per gallon, and I'm giving about 1.6 watts per gallon), but with the eco-complete helping to feed them, they are doing wonderfully. My anubias nana has sprouted four new leaves in the past two months and my corkscrew val. is constantly sending out new runners. It's also a nice black color and dark substrate tends to help fish feel more secure and bring out their best colors.

As for adding a layer on top of the eco-complete, I've read that it doesn't matter at all if you use sand, gravel, pebbles, or none on top. The water is a little cloudy on the first day and with siphoning, but it clears in a few hours.

I hope this helps.

[wbf]

I just set up my 90 gallon with the Eco Complete and am still amazed at the ease of setup with this substrate. I too have used Flourite (for many years) and it always worked excellent. Unfortunately, I was never able to get used to the colour and I dreaded the rinsing of that stuff! With the Eco Compete all I had to do was pour the bags in and fill up the tank with water. I didn't have any cloudiness at all! I'll keep everyone posted on how it goes in the next few months....