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Has anyone used this stuff -Eco-Complete African Cichlid Substrate

bschuhart

Members
Has anyone used this stuff? Any benefit over sand? Does it cycle a new tank faster?

Eco-Complete African Cichlid Substrate

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Maintain higher pH without conditioners*Cycle a new aquarium fast, yet safe*Substrate maintains the high pH African Cichlids need
Makes cycling a new aquarium faster and safer! Creates a natural biological balance. No rinsing required – packed in water conditioning solution for immediate results. Maintain the high pH African Cichlids need without the constant addition of chemicals. Contains live water purifying bacteria. Available in both fine and coarse grading. Fine grade is for small cichlids and featherfins; coarse grade is for all others. Coarse can be used with or without an undergravel filter. Dark substrate color encourages rich coloration in fish. High internal surface area allows more room for water purifying bacteria to thrive. 20 pound bags.


http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+10742+8976&pcatid=8976
 
I've used both the sand and the crushed coral versions. I liked them both, but didn't find they did squat for helping the cycle . . .
 

golsama

Corresponding Secretary
I used the sand for setting up my shellie tank. I absolutely love it. For me it did help with the cycle a lot. Sped the whole thing up.
 

emartin

Members
It's just overpriced crushed shells...

Two cheap alternatives if you want an alkaline gravel substrate:
Go to a market or beach and gather a ton of oyster shells or other kinds of shells. Bring them home and smash them to tiny pieces. Then soak them in a diluted bleach solution overnight and then in regular tap water with LOTS of dechlorinator.

Or, just go to a feed store and ask for a 50lb bag of Calcium Chips (crushed limestone) or Crushed Oyster Shell. They should have one of them. It's sold as a soluble grit for Hens to help with food digestion and provide extra calcium for their eggs. It's little tiny pebbles/rocks the same size as the crushed coral and stuff eco complete sells.

Sand is the best substrate for non-planted tanks... Cichlids love it...

Oh and the Eco Complete Crushed Coral and African substrates (I bought some when I first got into african cichlids) did NOTHING to raise the pH. I have checking over 1-2 weeks and it just sat at 6pH...

Oh and companies will say anything to sell their product.

Seachem claims that their conditioners Prime and Safe detoxify Nitrites and Nitrates on the bottle. On their website, they admit they have NO scientific proof it does that nor any theories or chemical equations or anything to explain it. They say it was reported to them by customers. So we're supposed to put our faith in a product when their's no actual proof it works?

And besides, why dump a lot of Sodium thiosulfate (the MAIN (not the only one though) ingredient in Prime and Safe) in the tank when the simple solution for getting rid of nitrites and nitrates is water changes, less feeding, and adding biomedia from another established healthy tank...???
 

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
^^^^^ What Ed said. :)

In terms of cycling a tank, once you get a few other tanks rolling, just pull a couple of handfulls of sand/gravel from an established tank to throw in the new one along with some of the tank's water. Alternatively, use bio-media or a sponge to get the new tank started.

Sponge filters FTW!!!
 

Jumbie

Members
I had a tank service client use this before the client loved it, I thought it was ok but I also agree with Ed. I think it’s really over priced, and there are a lot cheaper routs you can go with. With all that said it wouldn't hurt to try it out for yourself.
 

lonlangione

Members
IMHO the only way that a substrate could "effectively" speed up any nitro cycle would be to use an undergravel filter. And I don't know many african cichlid people using them.
If you look at the picture on the link, it looks like dark natural gravel with pieces of oyster shell in it. Ed is right on the mark here as far as I can see.

Lonny
 

chris_todd

Members
Funny how when you take otherwise cheap things and add "Aquarium" to them, the price triples, huh? I am setting up a 40 breeder for some Labidichromis sp. Hongi, and I went by Sweetwater Pool supply and got 50 lb. bags of pool filter sand for ten bucks a piece. I use it in my 65g Malawi tank, along with a few pounds of crushed coral. The mbuna love it. I learned the pool filter sand trick from others on this forum; I love this club!
 
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