CaribSea Eco-Complete rant

[Sb1415]

I have recently switched to RO water for water change, given that my tap water is quite hard and have been interested in plants that like softer water and in general the consensus seems to be that plants thrive better with lower KH (atleast most of them).

But it was to my surprise that there was slow rise in KH even with RO water in my tank. No hardscape that can leach like Seiryu stones and other additives. I use APT sky for raising GH a little bit. But would have the KH down to about 4-5 with 50% water change but will slowly creep up to 8-9 prior to the next water change. I use all Seachem Matrix in my Oase filter so not adding anything from the filter either.

As i started reading about it, found multiple reports that Eco-complete raises GH/KH. Many of the websites that it is sold in notes that it is rich in minerals and buffers pH so i guess one should expect it to raise KH but overall seems to be against what most planted aquarists would recommend for a planted tank. It is also often included as an inert substrate which based on my experience it is not. It was also the recommended substrate for planted tanks in Ny times wirecutter who I typically trust to give not the best but also not the worst recommendations. SHould have probably researched more before i got it.

Hopefully others can share their experience so that it is not my only experience.

TLDR: Eco-complete caribsea raised my tank's KH, might not be inert.

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

Supposedly their “nutrient” claim is all marketing hype and not accurate. It’s my understanding their substrate is just crushed up basalt so other than being an anchor and potentially a good home for bacteria, I don’t see it affecting kH but can’t back that up either.

I used it way back when as well because it was once advocated for the novice crowd but it’s actually very light and difficult to plant in. With the commercial availability of multiple AS sources now and the cheaper and more practical alternatives to other inert substrates, it’s a defunct product.

 

[techman81]

I read the comments on your journal about KH creep and wondering if your substrate was the cause. I was going to respond that aquasoil should have the opposite affect before seeing that you were using Eco Complete. I, too, had read the Eco was inert when I was researching and that's why I chose not to use it. I wanted nutrient heavy substrate. I just did another quick search and do, in fact, see many comments from others seeing kh and ph rise with Eco.

 

[Kwyet]

I used it for about a year. It didn’t affect my gH or kH, but it didn’t grow plants very well. That was fairly early on for me though, so it may have been lack of experience rather than the fault of the substrate.

 

[Dennis Wong]

Back in the day, we actually had an Eco-incomplete shirt made to poke fun at how crappy it was.

 

[Sb1415]

Back in the day, we actually had an Eco-incomplete shirt made to poke fun at how crappy it was.

View attachment 9693

I am going to post a link of this to The NY Times wirecutter website as a comment on their planted soil recommendation

 

[gnatster]

We'd sell the stuff by the ton when I worked for a saltwater-focused shop. Great stuff for starting a fish-only SW tank. I hated the delivery days, pallet loads all broken down by hand.