Hello,
According to the Original Post, the specific items of interest appear to be as follows>
All substrates work. The object of a substrate is to:
1) Anchor the plant to prevent it from washing away.
2) Provide an alternate source of nutrition to the more efficient foliar uptake via engagement with the root.
3) Harboring specific bacterial species which facilitate the fabrication of particular nutrient products.
Each substrate type or brand can achieve the above three goals with varying rates of success. One therefore must prioritize those objectives.
Sand retains structure for millions of years.
Sand looks nice to those that like sand.
Sand is very cheap.
Sand does an adequate job of achieving objective 1), a less than average job of achieving objective 2), and an adequate job of achieving objective 3). The lack of competence in achieving objective 2) can be easily compensated for by the regular addition of water column nutrient dosing, or by the addition of low cost nutrient added to the base of the substrate.
EcoComplete retains structure for millions of years.
EcoComplete looks nice to those that prefer dark substrate.
Ecocomplete is hideously expensive.
EcoComplete does an excellent job of achieving objective 1), a marginal job of achieving objective 2), and an adequate job of achieving objective 3). Themarginal competence in achieving objective 2) can be easily compensated for by the regular addition of water column nutrient dosing, or by the addition of low cost nutrient added to the base of the substrate.
ADA Amazonia retains structure for a few years and can turn to mush.
ADA Amazonia looks very nice to most and is a dark substrate.
ADA Amazonia is outrageously expensive.
ADA Amazonia does an adequate job of achieving objective 1), a phenomenal job of achieving objective 2), and an excellent job of achieving objective 3). It's high competence at achieving objective 2 greatly reduces the need for regular water column dosing and no supplementation is needed at the base of the substrate.
Cheers,