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Re: Tetra Easy Balance
Like Edward, I can't say for sure what is IN this product, but after looking
at the web link I don't think that I'd call it "snake oil" (and I'm a pretty
sceptical person). The claim regarding water changes is basically a quote
from one of their staff (if they were paying your mortgage, would YOU say
anything bad about their products????).
The major claims, that it - 1. stabilizes both pH and alkalinity in the face
of the nitrogen cycle; 2. reduces phosphates; 3. adds vitamins, minerals and
trace elements, are all reasonable and possible.
I just don't know how useful it is to add vitamins to the water column - I
always thought that for vitamins to be of any use to fish they had to be
injested as part of their food. But I may be wrong on this.
Remember the type of customer and aquarium Tetra is usually aiming their
products at. The "typical" tank is probably 10-15 gallons in size, and has
way too many fish, plastic plants, an over worked filter and an owner who
things along the lines of "If a pinch is good, two pinches are better, and a
handfull is pure heaven!". And this type of customer hates to do water
changes because in their case this usually means emptying out the tank,
scrubbing everything, and starting over again from scratch.
It should be possible to design a product that can stabilize the pH and
alkalinity of a tank, absorb phosphate (from all that excess fish food) and
add some minerals and trace elements. This stuff might allow a casual
hobbyist to maintain a tank under quasi-stable conditions for a longer
period of time than their skill/interest level would normally allow.
Just my take on the stuff. YMMV
James Purchase
Toronto