Does Eco Complete help?

[scarhbar]

I read that Eco Complete has Heterotrophic bacteria that converts fish waste into plant food. If that is true, shouldn't it help keep amonia levels down, compared to in a normal-gravel planted tank?

I'm not saying it is a substitute for water changes or anything, but just wandering if it'd help maybe even a little bit with keeping those amonia levels under control? It's readily availible to me, and at a good price, so I was planning on getting some either way, because I love how it helps plants :)

[jimg]

I haven't any experience with it but I think it will raise your ph too much

[nikond70s]

eco complete is a nutrient rich substrate which help plants to grow. as the roots suck in nutrients from the substrate. with a heavily planted tank. its very beneficial. helps make the water clean and clear. if its for discus i think its still best to do waterchange once a week. but for other small fish. u can do less waterchange.

[Orange Crush]

eco complete is a nutrient rich substrate which help plants to grow. as the roots suck in nutrients from the substrate. with a heavily planted tank. its very beneficial. helps make the water clean and clear. if its for discus i think its still best to do waterchange once a week. but for other small fish. u can do less waterchange.
Plants will help to reduce some bad things in water like ammonia and nitrAtes but the substrate and plants will trap a lot more poluntants and bad bacteria making the tank more polluted than if you did not have any plants w/substrate in there at all.
I myself use Seachem's plant substrates in my non-discus tanks and reallly like them but you still have to use fertilizers for the plants.

Ammonia levels can be kept down with large water changes. You should not have ammonia in your tank ever unless it is cycling, if you do have ammonia then you are overstocked, overfeeding, or did something that killed off some/all of your BB like medicine. If that is the case then use Prime/Safe to detox the ammonia and do frequent large water changes. You should never keep discus in a tank that is cycling they have less tolerence for ammonia than other fish.

Discus need more frequent water changes than once per week especially if they are not adults or they are in a planted tank.

[scarhbar]

Plants will help to reduce some bad things in water like ammonia and nitrAtes but the substrate and plants will trap a lot more poluntants and bad bacteria making the tank more polluted than if you did not have any plants w/substrate in there at all.
I myself use Seachem's plant substrates in my non-discus tanks and reallly like them but you still have to use fertilizers for the plants.

Ammonia levels can be kept down with large water changes. You should not have ammonia in your tank ever unless it is cycling, if you do have ammonia then you are overstocked, overfeeding, or did something that killed off some/all of your BB like medicine. If that is the case then use Prime/Safe to detox the ammonia and do frequent large water changes. You should never keep discus in a tank that is cycling they have less tolerence for ammonia than other fish.

Discus need more frequent water changes than once per week especially if they are not adults or they are in a planted tank.

Hey! This tank is already cycled, I was just going to drain it and add the eco complete soon :) I am not saying that plants should be a substitute for water changes at all :P I plan on doing 40% WC three times a week at least :) I was just wandering if maybe someone were rich, and had the extra money, if eco complete would be more helpful than regular gravel :)

[Orange Crush]

Hey! This tank is already cycled, I was just going to drain it and add the eco complete soon :) I am not saying that plants should be a substitute for water changes at all :P I plan on doing 40% WC three times a week at least :) I was just wandering if maybe someone were rich, and had the extra money, if eco complete would be more helpful than regular gravel :)
I do not know if eco complete will help but I do know that any substrate will most likely cause more water quality problems than if there was no substrate.
40% wc 3Xs per week is not enough if you have substrate unless it is a non-discus tank.
If your tank is cycled and you do enough water changes you do not need anything else to reduce your ammonnia.
All you need to do is 1) buy quality discus 2) have good filtration 3) feed quality food 4) do a lot of water changes using a good dechlor like Prime or Safe. Anything else is a waste of time and money Do not rely on stuff to fix/help water quality issues because it is never as effective as doing a water change.

[Bill63SG]

I do not know if eco complete will help Question answered.

[JenTN]

I used it in a non discus tannk and it cycled faster than the same tank did with gravel. Coulda been a fluke though.

[strungout]

And eco-complete has a buffer that liquid stuff that buffers out to neutral. 7.0