how many inches of Eco-complete

[funguy11]

Ok, now I have been readding that 3 inches of substrate is what you want. This seems like so much to me. When I put my ruler inside my empty tank to see how far the substrate will go it comes up pretty high. Do all of you guys use 3 inches? I was thinking an inch and a half in the front and 2 inches in the back, is this going to be to shallow for plants to grow in? I have a 75 gallon, and will be using eco-complete.

Thanks for your help

Fun guy

[Verminaard]

I have a 72g and have around 4in the front and maybe 5in the back. Its probably overkill since I grow mostly fast growing stem plants but I never have to worry about it.......I would still go a bit deeper for both front and back though- 1.5in in the front is definately too shallow IMO.....

[funguy11]

Originally Posted by Verminaard

I have a 72g and have around 4in the front and maybe 5in the back. Its probably overkill since I grow mostly fast growing stem plants but I never have to worry about it.......I would still go a bit deeper for both front and back though- 1.5in in the front is definately too shallow IMO.....

4 and 5 inches? Wow, that would go up a fifth of my tank, my tank is 20 in tall. I just can't see myself with that much in my tank. Well thanks.

Fun guy

[amanda huggenkiss]

I've got a 29g with probably 2.5 inches in the front and 4.5 or 5 inches in the back, and my tank is 18 tall to begin with. You should have plenty of height still! Plus with less depth to go through, the light will reach the lower plants better. What were you planning on growing?

[trenac]

I go for as close to 3" depth as I can get. Don't go no lower than a 2" depth.

[thezone]

wow i used half a bag of flourite and i only got about 1 inch for my 5g. hmmmm maybe i should use the whole bag now. But none of my plants have roots that go down that far except my crypts and rotala indica so should i use a whole bag?

[malkore]

for a 5 gallon low light tank, flourite's not gonna be that beneficial. per your other post, I think mixing some pea gravel in will be fine.

as for this thread...yes, you want no less than 2.5" of substrate. Plants need to put down roots, and if you have any plans to keep a sword plant or other heavy root feeders, you'll need that deeper substrate.
Remember in a fish only tank, substrate is mainly for looks, and a little for good bacteria growth. In a planted tank, it's like potting soil...and you can't grow a rose bush in an inch of dirt

[bigpow]

".. an inch and a half in the front and 2 inches in the back"

How do you intend to keep them sloped like that?
Water will level any substrate in time...

[Mori]

I'm curious--whenever I have gravel up against the glass, I can see too much organic stuff smashed up there that I don't really want to see. How do you get around that? Just get used to it?

[Wasserpest]

I think the depth of substrate depends a lot on what plants you will grow. Naturally, large sword plants will need a deeper layer than say pearl weed.

In my 10 gal tank, I have about 1.5" in the front, and 2.5" in the back. More than enough for small plants, even crypts in the back.

Unless you have extreme slopes and moguls, or digging fish and MTS, water will not level substrates like flourite or gravel. Plants with an extensive root system like Crypts will further stabilize slopes.

I use wood panels outside of the tank to cover most of the visible gravel. If there is an ugly build-up of fish poop, I just go with my algae scraper a little deeper to distribute it, fluff it up, send it to the back, whatever. Careful not to pick up sand or rocks and scratch the glass.

[malkore]

tahitian sand gets pushed around by water currents too easily.
flourite is the opposite (as is pea gravel) and from what I've seen, my eco-complete doesn't move much either.
If you peak at my 75gallon photo, you can see how I used rocks to shore up the sides of large substrate mounds.

[cich]

heh... here I am with my 1" deep gravel-only substrait.... *blush*

Good news though! I have a bag of Flourite, and I'll be fixing this, as soon as I feel like spending so many frustrating hours with the tank :P

--cich