# FS - 1 bag used eco complete



## jkam (Apr 21, 2010)

Sold! More stuff coming soon


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## jkam (Apr 21, 2010)

ADA is gone now.


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## jkam (Apr 21, 2010)

to the top


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## jkam (Apr 21, 2010)

bump to the top


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## jkam (Apr 21, 2010)

bump. price is obo.


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## jkam (Apr 21, 2010)

no one does planted tanks anymore?


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

. . . . . . . .


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## Bien Lim (Apr 21, 2010)

I have Eco on my 44 gal that was set up 4 years ago and still running and still growing plants. The bag might say that you should change the Eco every 6 month but you don't really have to!! That's advertising!!!!!



kacairns said:


> I believe after being used in the tank the fact it is eco-complete is about useless for plant nutrition. All the nutrition and so on that the plants would need from the substrate are no longer there or greatly reduced making it just like any other substrate you'd buy used.
> 
> In fact when I bought the substrate for my current tank I was specifically told with eco-complete in 6 months it is the same as any substrate
> 
> With that said anyone buying it would be buying it for the look, if I didn't have 20 pounds of it sitting outside my back door right now in buckets I'd come get it =)


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

Well, fertilizers, fish poop and others help keep things active and growing as good bacteria that all buildup in the substrate.

I bought mine at a certain store on Kingsway just after Edmonds and that is just what was mentioned to me about it =)


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## jkam (Apr 21, 2010)

wow seriously...? If you're going to bash eco complete at least use some better anecdotal evidence. 

The substrate contains iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sulfur. Have you ever seen these minerals be used up within 6 months? I certainly have not. In fact, I use chunks of calcium to buffer the water in my FRT tank. I've had all of it for over 2 years and I haven't had to replace it. If you believe what the sale guys tell you and replace your eco complete every 6 months because "it's the same as every other substrate" you should probably just give them your money. 

Honestly.. Even going with your "6 months" timeframe, it was in water for 3 months in a tank with only moss. Please keep your opinions out of my ad. The purpose is to sell the product, not to debate how effective it is. If you have something to say about the substrate please pm me, I'll gladly have a conversation to understand how substrate works.


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## jkam (Apr 21, 2010)

You know what? I took such insult to that post I did some research in 10 minutes.

From Eco complete website: Eco-Complete Planted


> Eco-Complete™ Planted is a geologically recent basaltic volcanic material. Since it is not a weathered product such as clays or laterites it will stay active over the life of the aquarium, will not break down into a mud, and *does not need to be replaced*.


If you want to get scientific about it, eco complete has a high CEC (cation exchange capacity) which means that it maintains a level of cations. This results in the eco complete taking nutrients FROM the water column and storing it for future use. Unless the water column has nothing in it, then your eco complete will need "recharging" or replacing if you don't know how to recharge it.

Further, the purpose of Eco complete is to provide TRACE minerals, not the main macro (NPK) stuff. That comes from fish poo and supplemented dosing. So you're right that fish poo provide nutrients to plants but not the same stuff as eco complete.


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

jkam said:


> You know what? I took such insult to that post I did some research in 10 minutes.
> 
> From Eco complete website: Eco-Complete Planted
> 
> ...


Ok now take a breath, no one is bashing eco-complete, I use it in my own tank. You responded to two different posts by two different people and lumped it as one thing and in fact the post by Bien Lim was a response to my statement.

I can't speak for Bien Lim when he says the bag says something about 6 months as I honestly never did a in depth read of the bag itself. In fact if it required replacing at all, no one would buy the product especially for a planted aquarium as when most people set them up they don't plan to change often or at all!

All I can say is I was TOLD by a employee of the store when I bought my eco-complete (15bags) that after 6 months of or so the product is like other substrates, although I guess you could argue that it is like other substrates that provide the same high CEC as you posted. I would assume with the amount of substrate they sell through the store they'd have knowledge that the average user doesn't. If we go with what you posted then the product pulling nutrients from the water column is recharging itself and in itself will never yield anything close to what you have when you open the bag of eco-complete to begin with. With that said this makes the substrate only as good as the as the water column/bacterial growth ect of the tank that the substrate can "feed" off, if its deficient in one or more nutrients then the substrate will be as well.

Now eco-complete is "basaltic volcanic soil", which in my non-scientific mind and in my opinion means Lava rock. I wonder if the 5lbs lava rock I had in my 29gallon tank does the same thing as the substrate...


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## jkam (Apr 21, 2010)

> I believe after being used in the tank the fact it is eco-complete is about useless for plant nutrition. All the nutrition and so on that the plants would need from the substrate are no longer there or greatly reduced making it just like any other substrate you'd buy used.
> 
> In fact when I bought the substrate for my current tank I was specifically told with eco-complete in 6 months it is the same as any substrate


To sum that up, I think you're saying my substrate is useless for plant nutrition because it has been used and that it's basically gravel (which is a false statement). This statement alone, will ward off potential buyers who are not educated about the product.

Look, I appreciate you giving input but if it negatively affects my ad, I won't be a happy camper. PLEASE respect my wish, if you have any other issues PM me. I'd rather not clutter up my classified ad any further.


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## BaoBeiZhu (Apr 24, 2010)

kacairns said:


> Ok now take a breath, no one is bashing eco-complete


no one is, but your bashing his thread.
Leave it alone already. 
so disrespectful to bash when someone is trying to Sell.

Mod should clean this up?


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## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

I'm pretty sure it was dropped last night so no need for further replies as such. This was started because the OP asked "no one does planted tanks anymore?' And K seemed to just giving be a reason as to maybe why it wasn't selling in the beginning. I see no bashing here. With that being said, please don't reply unless you are interested in buying or have questions about it. 
Jkam if you'd like me to remove all the unnecessary post on here let me know and I will take care of it.
Good luck with the sale.


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## jstare (Feb 10, 2012)

Hey is this substrate still for sale? And how big of a bag is it that you have. I am looking for enough for my 10 gallon tank would this do it?


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