# I've decided on black substrate-questions



## seaecho (Jan 31, 2012)

My 10 gal tank is close to being cycled. I'm looking at my mostly white substrate that came with the set-up, and starting to hate it. I have albino corys, an ivory Mystery snail, ghost shrimp and a blue betta that I think would show up much more and look so much better with black substrate. There is only about 3/4" of substrate in there, and I know that's not much compared to the 2" most people have. So I was thinking. . . what if I just put black on top of the white? I mean, most of it would be black if I added and inch or an inch and a half, or would that look stupid? If I mix it up, and most is black I still think it might look all right, and there would be less stress on the fish if I didn't change it completely. Has anyone ever done that? Of course, I would wait until my tank is completely cycled. My Anacharis will stay in the substrate better too, as what it has now is just too shallow, and I have to keep sticking it back in, every time I do a pwc. Also, what kind of black substrate do you recommend? I don't want something that is going to chip or lose its color. Is Eco Complete my best bet?


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

I would say Eco-Complete or Floramax are your best bets for black substrate. You'll want to wash them first (naturally), and you might want to QT your fish in a bucket while you overhaul the tank.


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## gar1948 (Jan 25, 2012)

I would remove all the white gravel. It will eventually mix with the other substrate and give you a specked look which I personally don't care for.


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## vdanker (Jan 3, 2012)

Choose whatever creates the look you want. I used both in one of my tanks. I placed the black along the back and tapered down the sides, then filled in with white.


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## arenkel (Nov 28, 2011)

Gizmo said:


> I would say Eco-Complete or Floramax are your best bets for black substrate. You'll want to wash them first (naturally), and you might want to QT your fish in a bucket while you overhaul the tank.


I was told not to wash Eco-Complete, because of the way it's packaged. It didn't create much dust in my aquarium, either.


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## Marci99205 (Dec 13, 2011)

arenkel said:


> I was told not to wash Eco-Complete, because of the way it's packaged. It didn't create much dust in my aquarium, either.


I didn't wash my Eco-complete, i just put the whole thing in, i did hear you are suppose to drain it, Guess I should have read the bag . : /


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## scooterlady (May 10, 2011)

I didn't drain my Eco Complete either and it was easy to do. You don't have to rinse it, just throw it in...


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

My eco complete wasnt rinsed either.I would do a full change myself.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

One of the main reasons I use Eco in a few of my tanks - no rinsing required. Tried it once though....nice big mess.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Ok, my bad. No rinsing for Eco-Complete


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