Tetra Easy Balance

[Miss Wiggle]

sure some of you have seen this, it's been reviewed by some readers in pfk this month as well, just to be nosey i was wondering what you lot thought of it.

it's a product that is supposed to absorb nitrate and phosphate so you only need to do water changes every 6 months.

personally i don't like adding any chemicals to my tanks if they're not strictly speaking nescessary so I'd rather do water changes. however i have quite bad back problems, i can see that in another 30yrs or so I could be in a wheelchair and obviously tank maintenance could then become very difficult for me, so maybe a product like this would be helpful to be then. There is the possibility it will breed and attract laziness to the hobby, do we really need more people who just want to take the easy option and do as little as possible for they're fish ??

anyway, have any of you used it? what do you reckon?

 

[Ami]

Ooh, we covered this off in several threads earlier in the year, but nice to see it being discussed again.

I like the idea of a product that means I can have a perfectly balanced tank and not do any work, just the nice fishy stuff, but I am against adding uneccessary chemicals to a tank. Especially if it's just to make my life easier for me.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Ooh, we covered this off in several threads earlier in the year, but nice to see it being discussed again.

I like the idea of a product that means I can have a perfectly balanced tank and not do any work, just the nice fishy stuff, but I am against adding uneccessary chemicals to a tank. Especially if it's just to make my life easier for me.

sorry, i never saw those! i'd seen it about on shelves and advertised and not paid much attention but the pfk review caught my eye over my toast this morning. got me thinking a bit.

see part of me say's why should we be making our lives easier, we should make our fishies life the best possible, at the expense of our commitment as we are the one's who've chosen to look after them, not them choosing to be in our tank. does this product really provide the same good quality water as regular water changes and maintenance? i've known fish spawn when you do a water change, the stimulation can be great for them, i doubt if adding a dose of this would have the same effect?

 

[The-Wolf]

personally I think this is another gimicky product that should be avoided,
even if it does do what it claims, there is no substitute for regular water changes.
when you change water it is not just nitrates and phosphates that are diluted, you are also putting back trace elements and minerals that have dissipated over time, vital for many fish.

 

[Callum]

just remember ' The solution to polution is dilution' some guy told me at the fish festival. I have tried this product a while ago and didnt think it actually did anything to be honest. I will stick to my waterchanges.

 

[CFC]

Some one here actually conducted an experiment using identical tanks stocked with identical numbers of guppies with identical sex ratios. At the end of the 6 months the guppies in the tank treated with easy balance had stopped breeding, had duller colours and were generally lethargic. The guppies in the tank which had regular water changes were still producing fry and were healthy and vibrant.

 

[jayjay]

I have some of this stuff laying around, never used it and probably won't, think it came with a tank. Don't think it would work though and for me water changes aren't that hard.

 

[blue acara]

i have never used it and probably never will, but the good reviews in pfk made me consider it. seems like a good product but id still do water changes mabie every 2 weeks? while using it. but it is just another expence...

Some one here actually conducted an experiment using identical tanks stocked with identical numbers of guppies with identical sex ratios. At the end of the 6 months the guppies in the tank treated with easy balance had stopped breeding, had duller colours and were generally lethargic. The guppies in the tank which had regular water changes were still producing fry and were healthy and vibrant.

very interesting, CFC mabie you should email pfk with this

 

[demonmagus]

i have never used it and probably never will, but the good reviews in pfk made me consider it. seems like a good product but id still do water changes mabie every 2 weeks? while using it. but it is just another expence...

Some one here actually conducted an experiment using identical tanks stocked with identical numbers of guppies with identical sex ratios. At the end of the 6 months the guppies in the tank treated with easy balance had stopped breeding, had duller colours and were generally lethargic. The guppies in the tank which had regular water changes were still producing fry and were healthy and vibrant.

very interesting, CFC mabie you should email pfk with this

I assume he did a thread about it so do you have the links?

 

[Griz]

If it sounds too good to be true...

The-Wolf makes a very good point. It's not just what you are removing during water changes, there's also the issue of what you are replacing.

Without water changes the amount of fish waste would accumulate. Not only is this going to look terrible, I can't see how this product is going to absorb every element that is produced. Another issue is that once several months of waste has accumulated on or under your substrate I would think that you would reach a critical mass where the product either won't be able to keep up or will somehow fail. If that happens, I would expect a very sudden and catastrophic result.

I wouldn't touch the stuff personally.

 

[blue acara]

i have never used it and probably never will, but the good reviews in pfk made me consider it. seems like a good product but id still do water changes mabie every 2 weeks? while using it. but it is just another expence...

Some one here actually conducted an experiment using identical tanks stocked with identical numbers of guppies with identical sex ratios. At the end of the 6 months the guppies in the tank treated with easy balance had stopped breeding, had duller colours and were generally lethargic. The guppies in the tank which had regular water changes were still producing fry and were healthy and vibrant.

very interesting, CFC mabie you should email pfk with this

I assume he did a thread about it so do you have the links?

no sos i dont have the link-i would also like to read the thread, cfc is you can find the thread put a linky here plz

 

[CFC]

After some searching i found it http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=84327&hl=

 

[Teelie]

So the stuff does work, but at a cost. As the saynig goes, if it's too good to be true, it probably is.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

hmmm yeah i guess it'd be alright for short term usage, like if you broke a leg and couldn't do water changes for a month or two, or we're going on a long vacation it'd be easier to get someone to add that each week than do a proper water change. but not a lot of cop for long term. pretty much what i thought.

 

[Araxen]

I couldn't see going 6 months without water changes, but if you do your water changes as normal and use the stuff. I think it would be ok. The 6 months without water changes is obviously false advertising.