Tetra Product Horror Story

To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com (Aquatic-Plants)
Subject: Tetra Product Horror Story
From: williaro at ftmcphsn-emh1_army.mil (Williams, Rochelle - DCSPIM)
Date: Wed, 10 Apr 1996 21:56:02 -0400


Larry West asked what was so bad about Tetra products.  IMO, it depends on 
your water system.  When converting from plastic to live plants, I found 
substrate nutrients were missing.  Plus the plants that like warm, soft 
waters also like rich, clay substrate.  So I looked around for something I 
could add to an established tank.  Tetra Helena was added.  My pH began to 
climb and I was adding more and more Discus Buffer until it was a daily 
fight.  Since an algae bloom was going strong from all the excess phosphate, 
I switched to Seachem's Acid Buffer.  Straight acid buffer didn't budge the 
pH reading at all - and I'm talking 10 times normal dosage!  The Seachem was 
great in helping figure out what caused the problem.  After performing all 
the tests they recommended, it was defiantly the Tetra Helena.  So for my 
local water conditions and Discus community tank, Tetra fertilizers are 
actually bad for the system.
Rochelle Williams
williaro at ftmcphsn-emh1_army.mil