How to add ecocomplete to existing sand substrate

[Eyecandy]

Hi Everyone... hope you all are having a great new year.
I have an existing 120 gallon, 4x2x2, tank with sub adult discus and a pool filter sand substrate and driftwood with anubas. I tried the swords in clay pots and really rather have them in the substrate. So I got some eco complete to put either by itself or under the sand on the right hand side of the tank which will be the more heavily planted side of the tank while the left side is mostly driftwood and anubas.
Questions....
I never used eco complete before...Since the tank is up and running, how much do I rinse it so that I don't get an algae outbrake from all the nutrients? Can I put sand on top of it??
I have no place to put 8 large discus while I do this..it would stress them to much to all be crammed in my plastic 10 gallon qt tub... so with them in the tank I thought maybe I could push the sand on the right side over to the middle and then put in the eco complete on that side with the filters turned off and the water level lowered.What if I used a large funnel with some hose... kinda like an oil change funnel or one used for filling radiators.. The hose I can attach has a one inch diameter... Will the eco complete go down it?? Am I gonna end up with an awful mess in the tank?? Are the fish gonna have a very dirty tank for awhile... will it be ok??? Has anyone tried this??? Do I need to do immediate water changes or wait for a day ot two or what??Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated by me as well as my flat little friends...
Thanks in advance for any help. Sue

[kmsray]

I just did that about two months ago with no harm to my discus.

IMO don't bother rinsing too much as one of the good things about eco complete is the varied particle size. No matter what you do, it will cloud your tank for awhile. I used and old fish net and did a scoop at a time and went slow. I also added an external filter to help clear the water.

Again, go slow and you should be fine.

[Mick B]

Use a piece of plastic drain pipe (about 2.5" Dia x as long as the waters depth + 3").

Put one end in the water, down where you want to place the sub-st, and drop in a handful (at the top of the tube), slide end of tube slowly sideways (not up) and add another handful or so.

Slowly raise tube a few inches and relocate to next drop-zone.

Wait a few mins, repeat as required.

Then leave the tube in place for 1/2 hour, prior to drawing it out of the tank, slowly.

This minimises the 'cloud issue' and helps get the stuff where needed etc.

HTH, Cheers, Mick B

[Eyecandy]

Hi... Just wanted to say thanks for the replies... I did it today using a funnel with a one inch diameter hose attached.. Just lowered my water level a bit, turned off the filters and did like you suggested with moving side to side. My gold masters spawned on the inlet filter tube again last night but even they weren't bothered by my moving the sand and adding the eco complete to the one side adding back some plants and then covering it back with sand... the small bit of cloudiness bothered me more than any of the discus.... now to get some more plants LOL and maybe try adding the amano shrimp from my other tank...Thanks again Sue

[senso]

Hi EyeCandy

Due to particle size and weight, you will find that the ecocomplete will likely rise to the top.

Rossano