# eco-complete question



## zcfish (Jan 31, 2009)

plenty of reviews for this but i have a few questions regarding this as I am building a new 90g tank. 48 by 18 inch footprint.

1. does this sand have bigger or smaller grain than regular PFS?

2. is this lighter or easier to get picked up vacuum?

3. how many pounds do i need for the said tank. for like one inch of coverage.

thanks in advance.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

This article says one pound of sand per gallon for an inch of coverage.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/r ... _setup.php

Sounds like a lot to me, I don't think I used more than 50 pounds for my 75G but it's a mbuna tank and a lot of the bottom is covered with rock.


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## Steve St.Laurent (Oct 2, 2008)

1. bigger grain than PFS

2. I haven't vacuumed PFS so I can't tell you that but I vacuum off the surface of mine weekly using a python that I replaced the regular syphon end with a length of tubing the same od as the id of the python and I don't have much problem with sucking up substrate. I suck up maybe a table spoon or two each time

3. I put 100 lbs (5 bags) in my 90 gallon tank. I have quite a bit of rock in there and also have some egg crate down so I have mine a bit deeper than an inch so the egg crate doesn't show through but then there's the rock that takes up space too (the rock is sitting right on the egg crate). Here's a picture showing how much I have in my tank:


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

i have tried both and pfs gets sucked up straight through the tube, where the eco-complete will accumulat in the vac first and gradually climb up in a large mass so just kink the line and let it drop


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

also pfs is a lot cheaper so sucking some up isn't a big deal

if that is somehting you are considering, but i do like the eco-complete


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## cjacob316 (Dec 4, 2008)

and i feel like you need at least 40 lbs to cover a 30"x12" bottom, like i have, because 20lbs is just too thin


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## FSM (Nov 11, 2009)

It has varying sized bits. Some are gravel sized, some are more like dust.

Most is sand sized though


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

Are you talking about the eco-complete planted or african? I think everyone is assuming the african.


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## FSM (Nov 11, 2009)

oops, I didn't realize the african cichlid stuff was called eco-complete too.


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

That's okay *FSM*, I always automatically assume it's the planted when people ask about 'Eco-complete' ... not that other stuff. :lol:


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## FSM (Nov 11, 2009)

The other stuff looks like it is just black and white sand mixed together. You could just get 2 bags of 3M color quartz and do that yourself for half the price.


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

True, but I think it's supposed to help buffer the water for those hardwater cichlids. Plus the benefit of shortening cycle time if the tank is new.


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