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CaribSea Eco-Complete African Cichlid Substrate
Product details »
User Ratings: (36 reviews)
Overall: 8.58
Value/Cost: 7.92
Effectiveness: 8.64
Quality: 8.67
Ease of use: 9.08
CaribSea Eco-Complete African Cichlid Substrate
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Found: 36 reviews Page  1 2 3 - View all
cjacob316 has used this product for 0-1 Month.
Overall Rating: 8/10 August 24, 2009
"great for pH"
Didn't really seem to help with cycling my tank, but deffinately helps with the color and pH
DeJa has used this product for 1-3 Months.
Overall Rating: 10/10 September 9, 2009
"Best and Easiest to use Substrate by far..."
I switched from crushed coral to Eco-Complete and I have been very happy with it. Product does cloud the tank initially but clears up totally after a few days with good filtration. My fish seem to love it. I would highly recommend this product.
tankhead has used this product for 3-12 Months.
Overall Rating: 8.75/10 March 20, 2009
""
I tried this on a new 125gal tank w/ 25 juv. fish. Ammonia never spiked after 30 days and only a small nitrite spike after 21 days.
Markolodeon has used this product for 1-3 Years.
Overall Rating: 8.25/10 September 26, 2008
"It would seem the only option for African Cichlids"
One of the big reasons I like the eco-complete sand is the look, all my future tanks will use it. And when you stop to think about it appearance in and compatibility with the fish should be the driving factors. The fact it has buffering capacity (say, like grotto/lace rock) is just icing on the cake. The cost, setting aside PFS, is on par with anything else out there.

My only complaint is that after about a year I'm fighting off a pretty good snail invasion (the spiral kind). The "perils" of live sand I suppose.
cichlidlover80 has used this product for 0-1 Month.
Overall Rating: 7/10 October 30, 2007
"Basically good stuff"
I have had the sand in my 150 gal. for about 2weeks now and the ph has not gone up yet it is still at around 7.5 On the other hand as far as looks it looks GREAT! and the fish are really enjoying it! when u first put it in your water will be EXTREMLY CLOUDY but depending on how good your filtration is it will clear up.I thought mine would never clear up but it took about 8 days with my rena xp3 and emperor 400 working overtime but it is now crystal clear.
gheitman has used this product for 0-1 Month.
Overall Rating: 10/10 September 7, 2007
"great for buffering tank to higher pH"
After reading the reviews posted here I never seriously considered using any other substrate for my Lake Tanganyikan setup than Eco-Complete African Cichlid Sand. It buffers my tank to a pH of around 8.4 and my multies dig around in the sand moving it from around the shells in the tank. I wouldn't recommend using anything else.
quickSilver29 has used this product for 0-1 Month.
Overall Rating: 8/10 August 18, 2007
"It lives up to its advertising!"
I just re-did my tank, switching from a South American theme to Lake Malawi set-up. I used the gravel version of this product. Like another reviewer stated, it's a little lighter in color than I'd figured, but I added a pound of black gravel, a pound of silica sand, and a pound of my existing fine river gravel. There are A LOT of shells in this product, probably about 75%, but it was still dusty as heck when I poured it in to a 1/4 full tank. Hours later, its still a little cloudy. My pH went up from 7.8-8.0 to 8.2, just like the packaging stated. Overall, it's a good looking, authentic Rift Lake gravel - after a little customization. However, it's up really to you if its worth $25 per 20lbs.
jes3287 has used this product for 1-3 Months.
Overall Rating: 8.75/10 April 1, 2007
"Great stuff!"
This stuff looks great if you like the salt & pepper look. I mixed 3 bags of this with 1 30lb. bag of Aragamax select in a 90 gallon.
robdoty has used this product for 1-3 Months.
Overall Rating: 3.5/10 March 11, 2007
"Didn't like it"
I used the gravel variety and the look was not what I expected and I didn't like it. It does not look like the picture which appears to have a brown gravel look. Instead, the bags I received we mostly shell and produced an overall white, pale look. In the end, since I was after a different look, I bought another substrate to cover it (mostly). Also, one of the bags I received was leaking which I understand has happened with others. Finally, I don't know that this stuff did anything to help my tank cyle. Overall, I was not pleased and would not recomment it.
benn05 has used this product for 1-3 Years.
Overall Rating: 10/10 December 10, 2006
"Best substrate for cichlids. no question about it."
if you are looking for something that will keep a clear, ph-balanced aquarium for cichlids - this is your product. It has aragonite for max surface area to provide a home for those wonderful little nitro-fixing bacteriums.

Compared to Cichlid Gravel from Carib-Sea - it does not require a rinse (less work w/ eco), and takes a shorter time to go from cloudy to clear.

A+. buy it and youll see.
mittzgame has used this product for 1-3 Months.
Overall Rating: 9.25/10 November 10, 2006
"AWESOME!!"
I Loved how this sand worked. It brought my pH up to 8.2 from 7.2 in 5 days and has been perfect ever since. It's awesome for starting a new tank though! We added 5 yellow labs right away and another 5 met. callainos after three weeks and we never had an aammonia reading over 1ppm and have had 0ppm reading for the last three weeks. DEFINITELY recommend. Just make sure you dont rinse the stuff!! yeah your water is cloudy initially, but rinsing it will kill the bacteria!!!!
curio has used this product for 3-12 Months.
Overall Rating: 8.75/10 October 27, 2006
"Good stuff!"
I use the gravel version in one of my tanks, and the sand in another. Both versions buffer the water effectively.

The gravel looks just like the picture, but the sand is much whiter then the picture shows.

Even after a good preclean and soaking, the sand will take some time before there is no more dust in your tank - but that is no different then any other sand. Use a diatomaceous filter to help get your tank clear quickly.
dakski has used this product for 0-1 Month.
Overall Rating: 7.5/10 July 14, 2006
"Works well and looks great"
First of all - this gravel looks great. Secondly, they say it speeds up the cycle and I can't comment on that because I used Bio-Spira as well. However, it does seem to help buffer and maintain the PH over 8. When you first put it in there will be a lot of dust, but that settles in 12-24 hours. After that, you tank will look great. The fish look good against this gravel and it is small enough that even smaller fish can pick through it. I would recomend this product.
geoff_tropheus has used this product for 0-1 Month.
Overall Rating: 5.5/10 June 24, 2006
"Be Careful!"
Make certain your bags have no holes. 3 out of 5 bags I used had small holes which allowed the bacteria to become active, and with no food they died.
So, when I added this gravel to my cycled bare bottom Tropheus Tank, the tank had a Ammonia spike to 6ppm the next day. I lost about 15 out of 50 fish in a 180 gallon.
I used the gravel substrate, and it has a nice look to it, but I did find some plastic strips, some leaves, and couple twigs in there that I had to take out.
Not the cleanest stuff. The gravel looks nice in the tank, especially with Petrified wood pieces. Really nice...

Just be careful what you do, and watch your water conditions.

I used Kent Marine Ecco-Start to get the tank cycled in about 5 days.
Obs has used this product for 0-1 Month.
Overall Rating: 9.75/10 March 10, 2006
"I Love This Stuff. So Do The Fish"
Set up a 55 gallon and used 3 20lb bags of the sand. Cycled in 2 weeks with Danios and did not lose a fish. Place my Africans in the tank today and they are like kids in a sand box. Great stuff. Only complaint is a bit more work to clean the sand.
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Ratings are submitted by Cichlid-Forum users based upon their own subjective views and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Cichlid-Forum.com. CF disclaims any responsibility for the accuracy of information contained in reviews submitted by users, or for any damage or liability arising from the content of any review appearing on Cichlid-Forum.com. All product information on this site, including descriptions and specifications, is based soley on information made available by manufacturers. CF disclaims any responsibility for this information or the products listed. Product information may be inaccurate and is subject to change without notice. You should confirm all information before relying on it by contacting either the manufacturer or vendor with any questions about the products or the information presented.






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