Tetra Easy Balance....

[big mick]

Has anyone used that new Tetra Easy balance, it claims to almost eliminate the need for water changes for 6 MONTHS!!.....personally I would never trust something like that, certainly not for 6 months.

I do 3 30% water changes a week on my main tank and at least one 30% a week on the rest, I dont believe the claim this product makes but just wondered if anyone had used it and found it can reduce the need for water changes a little?

....this is what the manufacturers claim.

"Refreshing aquarium water is an essential part of good fishkeeping, and is necessary in order to keep your fish healthy. Traditionally, the only way to do this was through time-consuming regular partial water changes. Now this is no longer necessary, as EasyBalance can replace the refreshing action of a water change. By using EasyBalance, you can reduce the frequency of water changes, to a minimum of once every 6 months. By reducing the number of stressful water changes, and adding essential elements to the aquarium, EasyBalance also helps to maintain improved fish condition. In addition, EasyBalance contains elements for encouraging healthy plant growth, and it actively reduces nitrate and phosphates, thus helping to control algae."

 

[-cAtFiSh-]

hmmm sounds suss to me. doing water changes is not only necessary to keep the water fresh and clean but to also get rid of fish waste and leftover food.

i wouldnt trust it either

 

[breezer40]

Glad someone asked this question as I am getting some mixed opinions. Some quite well know LFS's who normally don't reccomend products that are gimmicks have said this product is what it claims to be but common sense tell me that as -cAtFiSh- as stated "doing water changes is not only necessary to keep the water fresh and clean but to also get rid of fish waste and leftover food".

I might actually buy some of this stuff and give it a try unless anyone has already tried it and has some feedback.

 

[CFC]

No matter what essential minerals and ingreidients it has i dont see how it removes nitrates from the water, the only way of removing nitrates is by manually removing them via water changes or by utilising anerobic bacteria in specialised filtration. This product does neither.

 

[big mick]

That is exactly what I though, I might get some today aqnd try it but I was thinking....how will I know? Because I have discus I like to keep my large tank very clean.

Im happy to get it and test it for the benefit of the forum, (not leave it 6 months of course) How should I conduct my test?

I need to treat for white spot today so I will wait till that has finished to start my experiment but the woman in my local shop (who is knowledgable) said it does work and is a very good product but said herself "I couldnt sleep if I hadnt done a water change for months"

So again Ive heard mixed opinions.....I guess there is only one way to find out.

 

[CFC]

The best way to test the product would be to start a new tank, cycle it using a fishless cycle and then add an average stocking of hardy fish, say 5 platies in a 10g tank. Then after adding the tetra easy balance monitor the water parameters taking weekly readings and only doing the bare minimum of maintainance such as scraping the algea from the front glass, cleaning the filter when the flow drops noticably and topping up any water lost through evapouration and of course adding the easy balance but not doing any waterchanges.
Record your results and if at the end of 6 months the nitrates are still within 20ppm of your tapwater and the pH has remained stable then the product is a success and no one ever has to do water changes again. On the other end of the scale after that length of time i would expect the nitrates to be off the scale and the pH to have dropped to at least 6.

 

[big mick]

Great idea, actually planning to set up a 2.5ft tank my wife is getting from a friend (I dont know the other dimentions of it) but it will just be used as another hospital tank but I think I will use it fo the benefit of this experiment and will keep records of the water stats along with a diary for six months......quite frankly if after 6 months the pH has remained stable and the other stats are okay (along with the fish) I will wear my ar*e as a hat!!

 

[The-Wolf]

From what I can gather it dosn't remove nitrAtes but adds de-nitrification bacteria that converts the nitrAtes to nitrogen, thus compleating the cycle.
http/www.tetra-fish.com/catalog/product.aspx?id=74

as I uderstand it large amounts of nitrogen uses up oxygen as it
is an asphyxiant.
I personally wouldn't use it.

 

[Bloo]

Personally I've never used it - or bothered trying it due to the general view on the product here - but there have been several people asking the same questions for quite some time now it seems.

If you are interested, you are some older views on the same topic :

Tetra Easy Balance, Has anyone tried this?
Easy Balance -- Any good?
Tetra Easy Balance any good?, Supposedly reduces need for water change
Tetra Easy Balance, No more water changes?!
Tetra EASY BALANCE and new tanks..., when would you start using it?

 

[Dubby]

as I uderstand it large amounts of nitrogen uses up oxygen as it
is an asphyxiant.
I personally wouldn't use it.

That explains why they have said "EasyBalance® should not be used in aquariums with low oxygen conditions"

 

[CFC]

From what I can gather it dosn't remove nitrAtes but adds de-nitrification bacteria that converts the nitrAtes to nitrogen, thus compleating the cycle.
http/www.tetra-fish.com/catalog/product.aspx?id=74

as I uderstand it large amounts of nitrogen uses up oxygen as it
is an asphyxiant.
I personally wouldn't use it.

The trouble is that in order for de-nitrification to take place you need a low oxygen area for the anerobic bacteria which perform this action to live. In marine aquaria where this type of filtration is common a deep sand bed supplies this but in freshwater aquaria where anerobic bacteria is frowned upon it requires some specialist equipment in the form of a de-nitrifying chamber and dosing pump to supply the low oxygen enviroment that the anerobic bacteria need to survive, these are costly, difficult to run and maintain and uncommon on freshwater aquaria as it easier to remove nitrates by water changes which are free.

This product probably works brilliantly on a lab with specialised equipment being maintained by experts by i wouldnt expect much from it under normal home aquarium conditions.

Edit, having just read their ad i see that they are claiming that the gravel will supply the nessasary low oxygen area for the anerobic bacteria, this is of course assuming that the tank has a substrate that is at least 3 inches deep, does not have a under gravel filter and has no fish which will dig into the substrate causing oxygen to enter it killing off the anerobic bacteria and releasing the sulphur dioxide which is a bi product of de-nitrification into the tank.

 

[laurasmithuk]

i know in the last edition of practical fishkeeping they had a letter regarding this and there response was very positive of this product. i have not used it personally but am considering it!

 

[fish_keeper2]

i used to use it. i saw absolutely no difference when i stoped other than more money in my pocket and more room on my shelf. personaly its just a way to get people to waste money on needless chemicals. i say just stick with declhorinator and always keep varius meds on hand just incase along with pure ammonia for cycling.

i want to add that all i use is tetra aqua safe declorinator and flora pride from tetra which is a fertalizer and i always have ich and bacterial meds on hand.

 

[dead_slade]

I have seen this product, to me it sounds like its just another version of "waste control" which just takes all the organic waste and breaks it down into ammonia, as most of you have said as well, I would never trust the product and stick to weekly water changes on my tank, I will have to take a better look at it tomorrow when I'm at work.

 

[SuckerLove86]

I got a 3.38 fl oz. bottle of this stuff free one time when I bought a tank kit.... It's been collected dust on a shelf on the aquarium stand... might have to see if it does anything...