# Eco-Complete African Cichlid Gravel



## lewmel (Dec 25, 2008)

Hi everyone,
I am getting ready to set up my first cichlid tank. It is a 125 gallon (6ft long) that I am planning on stocking with Malawi cichlid. I am curious if anyone has used this product (Eco-Complete African Cichlid Gravel) it states that it will maintain the high PH cichlids need without adding any chemicals. But for 125 gallon tank it recommends 1 pound of gravel for each gallon of water. So I would need 6 bags for a total cost of 161.00, which seems like an aweful lot of gravel. How many pounds are normally added to 125 gallon?
I am new to the hobby and dont want to spend waste money on products I dont need. 
Any input would be appreciated!


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## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

I have this substrate in my 38 gallon - about 2 bags' worth. My pH is 7.7 out of the tap and about the same in my tank - I also have holey rock and a fair number of shells - so although it certainly hasn't _lowered_ my pH, I wouldn't say it the substrate has raised it.
There's a good article here: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/sand.php
I'd pick a substrate that you like. Unless your tap water is super acidic or you're popping wild caught fish in your tank, it won't matter much.


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## lewmel (Dec 25, 2008)

My test kit is not here yet. Ordered it online last week. I live in Vegas and am not sure what the PH will be out of the tap. It sounded like a good way to lower the maintenance of the tank, but I thought 160 for gravel was alot! Also 125lbs of gravel, that just doesnt sound right to me!


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## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

I bet you could phone a few Local Fish Stores (LFS) and just ask them what the pH is in your tap water. If they won't tell you, they're not very nice and you don't need to take your business there!


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## CalvusCali (Jan 3, 2009)

I think its 1 pound per 10 gallons, i have a 75 and i used 1 bag of cichlid substrate (looks like salt and pepper), and two bags of fine crushed coral, and my tank is perfect! That and it's so easy to clean. Plus some black lava rock, fake plants, and aquatic wood.


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## frozennorth (Dec 16, 2008)

There is a neat calculator for this on this website. Just put in dimensions of bottom of tank and how deep you want the sand (I did it with 1 inch) and it gives you the amount of pounds required. Worked great for me.

Here it is: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/calculator.php


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## lewmel (Dec 25, 2008)

Thats a neat calculator! I think I have decided to go with the T grade 3M colorquartz for my substrate. There are many local dealers here in town and I have read alot of good reviews on the forum about it. And instead of 160 for the gravel, it will be 52.00 for the quartz. Hundred dollar bills are adding up very quickly with this tank!


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## illusions2281 (Jan 25, 2009)

great, i just read the link http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/sand.php and i have wayyy to much sand and gravel in my 85 gal hex tank. I have almost 5 inches of eco - sand & gravel. I have 3 20lb bags of eco - gravel and 3 20lb bags of eco sand. Sould i take some out?


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## CalvusCali (Jan 3, 2009)

yes, that is a lot, i have about 1.5" in the bottom of my 75, and it seems to be just enough.


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## illusions2281 (Jan 25, 2009)

Yeah, i got a little over zellious. I thought the more sand and gravel i had the higher the PH would go. Same reason I bought a tx holey rock a couple days ago. But from what i gather the rocks & sand dont raise the ph they just "buffer" it.

I'm not really sure what is ment by buffering the ph


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## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

illusions2281 said:


> Yeah, i got a little over zellious. I thought the more sand and gravel i had the higher the PH would go. Same reason I bought a tx holey rock a couple days ago. But from what i gather the rocks & sand dont raise the ph they just "buffer" it.
> 
> I'm not really sure what is ment by buffering the ph


It basically means that your tank is less prone to dramatic pH swings. A high buffering capacity is a good thing in an African Rift Lake tank.


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## girlon88keys (May 25, 2008)

we have a 50/50 mix of crushed corral and shale in our 75 gallon,we also use the rift lake recipe found in this forum in the diy and we have no problems with ph swings,ar water stays at about 8.4 ph with an extreme hardness level,are mixed cichs seem to love it.we have about aninch allthe way across the bottom this took two 20 pound bags with some left over for a cost of about 40 bucks.hope this helps.


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