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Which is better? Or should I do a mix of both?

I don't have experience with both, but I really like the flourite I used.

HTH

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

i dont think theres a point to mix them unless u want the multi color effect. i have eco-complete sand, like it a lot, its helped my rooted plants dramatically. only minor thing i didnt like was how the sand has chunks in it, which made the surface of the gravel looked kinda messy. but that was no biggy

I wouldn't mix them. Part of how eco complete works is seperating into layers of various sizes. The bottom will turn into fine sand and at the top will be the largest pieces. The fluorite would probably just get shoved to the top. Eco complete doesn't look so great when you first add it to the tank but after it's settled it looks a bit smoother and more natural. Mostly I went with eco complete just because I wanted sand without the problems of sand. It doesn't compact around the roots, get anearobic areas as easily, or get stirred up and cloud the tank like sand.

I prefer EcoComplete for the lack of cloudiness, the coloration, and the fact that IME crypts have less melt when placed in that substrate.

I have Eco in my planted 125G. I had tried it in a 30G before the 125G. I have also used fluorite. Eco has been great for plants, I like the color and consistency. The five most important resons for choosing Eco are:
1. No rinsing,
2. No rinsing,
3. No rinsing,
4. No rinsing,
5. No rinsing.

As a side note, I setup the 125G, landscaped it, planted it and added 11 adult discus the same day. I did add a fully seeded Eheim Pro II. I never had a trace of ammonia or nitrites. Instantly cycled!

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

can you get eco complete in australia?

OH TOLEEDY!

Email Caribsea and ask.
Shipping will kill you.

I like Floruite personally over EC, it's heavier which makes planting easier, but it does need a good rinse, but you do not pay for water(so it's actually much less product.

Onyx sand is a lighter color than EC, but have a much better grain size than any other substrate making it heavier and easy to plant in.

It's my favorite commerical substrate but I'd like and prefer a slightly off white rounded consistent grain a tad larger than Onyx made out of similar material.

EC can arrive milky, send it back if you find any like that, they hit some bad patched when mining it and will take care of it.

As far as that baloney about "bimodel" and some of the other nutty claims Flora base and EC claim, I'd not pay the least bit of heed to those issues, that occurs with all substrate. It's a nice way to add a spin to inconsistent grain sizing.

Regards,
Tom Barr

www.BarrReport.com

Okay I personally prefer Flourite over any other susbstrate. The rinsing isn't that bad if you have a smaller tank (less than 20g) Just grab your handy dandy noodle strainer, and the hose. It wasn't as bad as everyone thinks, swear. My plants loove it, and its super easy to plant in. The susbtrate lightweight, but not enough that newly planted plants float up. Eco is cool, if you want black gravel. But I have heard stories of the wrong type of bacteria being the Eco and killing all the plants they put it later.