Re: [APD] substrate

["S. Hieber" <shieber at yahoo_com>]

First of all, I'd say that, if you're going to cover the
Flourite, then don't spend the money on it.

However, unless the sand is coarser than the Flourite, it
will tend to sink down below the surface of the substarte
anyway.

If you want something that looks like the sand, either use
the sand or try to find a gravel that looks similar.

Eco-Complete has fine and coarse material and the finer
material, as with most such substrates, tends to make its
way toward the bottom over time -- the littler grains fall
between the larger grains. With the larger material at the
top, it can be slightly little harder to plant your plants
in it than say, Onyx Sand, which is finer overall.

I set up two aquaria, one with Onyx Sand and one with
Eco-coimplete, and never noticed a a diff between the two
tanks except that Onyx Sand buffers the pH slightly.

Don't rely on the substrate for nutrients unless you
collect a lot of mulm in it, put ferts in the substrate, or
place soil underneath (a particular method that has its
good and less good points, imo).

While Flourite may be a source of iron, you will probably
have adequate iron if you use a good trace mix like
Flourish or Tropica Master Grow.

Sand, gravel, Flourite, Eco-complete, they all work
although the sand or plain gravel does better once  it has
some mulm in it. If the sand is much finer than about 2-3mm
in grain size, it might tend to pack once it gets mulm.
That's not a problem if you have lots of plants with roots
that will keep things moving through the substrate.


Hope that helps,
Scott H.
--- cowiew at bellsouth_net wrote:
> This is my first post so please bear with me, thanks.
> I had decided on Sechem Flourite as a substrate possibly
> covered with sand. I?ve recently read some posts on
> ECO-COMPLETE from Carib Sea and would like to find out
> more about this product. I?m unable to find reports or
> any comparisons of eco-complete to Flourite or other
> substrate products, or user comments. Can anyone help?
> Setup: 135 Gal tank, for Discus and live plants.
> 2Watts/Gal. light, 84-86F, RO water aged in peat, CO2, PH
> 6.5. This tank is still being planned so my choices can
> easily change. I would like to avoid as many ?set-up?
> problems as possible by doing my home work first.
> Thank you for any help you can give me,
> Ftlaud806. 
> 
> 
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