A post concerning Eco-Complete from another forum was brought to my attention by an ACF member. I in turn sent an email to CaribSea yesterday with a copy of the post. Below is my email to CaribSea, the POST concerning Eco-Complete and the reply from CaribSea, Inc. My hats of to them for such a quick response.
EMAIL
Could you please read this post I found on the internet. I just rescently purchased 140#s of Eco-Complete for the freshwater planted aquarium. I am curious if you have ever received any communications regarding the problem stated in this post. Are there any concerns with using this product that you are aware? Most of the feedback I have read has been positive!
Thanks,
Scott
POST
Hi all,
This morning I am breaking down my planted 38g tank, removing all the Eco Complete and replacing it with plain Ole sand..sand I use in all the rest of my tanks.
I was wondering if any of you have had a bad experience in using this substrate? I have had nothing but problems ever since I started this tank last December.
First, I have very hard water, ph 8.6, GH 32+. No CO2 on this tank. I have 3 watts per gallon of lighting. With water this hard I keep mostly African Cichlids, but had some success with a couple planted tank in the past. I have had no problems with the plants I keep in the African tanks.
The major problem I have had in using the Eco Complete is I can NOT keep the diatoms or diatom like substance off the plants! I was doing a 30% water change once a week and running a diatom filter after each water change. The tank looks great for about 2 days and then it's right back to looking like a rusty old box. I stepped-up the water changes to 50% and running the diatom filter twice a week..which doesn't seem to help much. Some of the plants got so bad..I threw them my QT tank, which has regular sand. To my surprise those plants are doing great.
I really don't know what is going on, but never had a problem like this before..until I used this substrate. I really loved it at first, it looks great & feels great. Every time I move alittle of it around in the tank..I get this thick cloud. Is it breaking down? Is it because it shouldn't be use with such hard water? Have any of you that use it..had this problem? I only have a AC300 filter running on this tank..but I could add a Ecco Eheim; before tearing this tank apart...Do you think this would help?
Any answers are appreciated.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: weeds, Thu April 15 2004 06:29 AM Thu April 15 2004 06:29 AM
CARIBSEA RESPONSE
Scott,
I read the post you sent with this communication and I can honestly say that I have never heard anything like it and we have sold hundreds of thousands of pounds at this point. We pack the substrate in a soft/black water solution which gives a gentle "push" to the plantlife in the first few days. Perhaps this person added something additional to the solution. Water clarity and thriving plantlife are the results most often mentioned by our customers. If you are still wary, drain the fluid in the bag and discard before using it in your setup. Though the material is relatively rare, and has been hard to come by in this country until now, Asian, Japanese and European aquatic plant enthusiasts have been using it for years. Good luck with your new setup! You will not be dissapointed with the results.
Rick
Could you please read this post I found on the internet. I just rescently purchased 140#s of Eco-Complete for the freshwater planted aquarium. I am curious if you have ever received any communications regarding the problem stated in this post. Are there any concerns with using this product that you are aware? Most of the feedback I have read has been positive!
Thanks,
Scott
POST
Hi all,
This morning I am breaking down my planted 38g tank, removing all the Eco Complete and replacing it with plain Ole sand..sand I use in all the rest of my tanks.
I was wondering if any of you have had a bad experience in using this substrate? I have had nothing but problems ever since I started this tank last December.
First, I have very hard water, ph 8.6, GH 32+. No CO2 on this tank. I have 3 watts per gallon of lighting. With water this hard I keep mostly African Cichlids, but had some success with a couple planted tank in the past. I have had no problems with the plants I keep in the African tanks.
The major problem I have had in using the Eco Complete is I can NOT keep the diatoms or diatom like substance off the plants! I was doing a 30% water change once a week and running a diatom filter after each water change. The tank looks great for about 2 days and then it's right back to looking like a rusty old box. I stepped-up the water changes to 50% and running the diatom filter twice a week..which doesn't seem to help much. Some of the plants got so bad..I threw them my QT tank, which has regular sand. To my surprise those plants are doing great.
I really don't know what is going on, but never had a problem like this before..until I used this substrate. I really loved it at first, it looks great & feels great. Every time I move alittle of it around in the tank..I get this thick cloud. Is it breaking down? Is it because it shouldn't be use with such hard water? Have any of you that use it..had this problem? I only have a AC300 filter running on this tank..but I could add a Ecco Eheim; before tearing this tank apart...Do you think this would help?
Any answers are appreciated.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: weeds, Thu April 15 2004 06:29 AM Thu April 15 2004 06:29 AM
CARIBSEA RESPONSE
Scott,
I read the post you sent with this communication and I can honestly say that I have never heard anything like it and we have sold hundreds of thousands of pounds at this point. We pack the substrate in a soft/black water solution which gives a gentle "push" to the plantlife in the first few days. Perhaps this person added something additional to the solution. Water clarity and thriving plantlife are the results most often mentioned by our customers. If you are still wary, drain the fluid in the bag and discard before using it in your setup. Though the material is relatively rare, and has been hard to come by in this country until now, Asian, Japanese and European aquatic plant enthusiasts have been using it for years. Good luck with your new setup! You will not be dissapointed with the results.
Rick
