Dont water change for 6 months

[corbypete]

Hardness is down, nitrates are zero, nitrites are zero also.

ph is about 6.5-7

and yeah, the fish are growing well, especially jack, the crabs have shed one shell already, they're all eating well too.

the only addition of water was from evaporation.

Waters clean and polished


As for cigarette smoke, cooking oil, fumes that paint and carpet gives off, fumes from cleaning supplies, etc. none of those apply as its in the conservatory, i dont smoke, no food smells go through to it, the carpets are not new, i dont use cleaning supplies other than a hoover, and the rooms not painted. If anything its the freshest room, as the conservatory is opened most of the weekend through the daytime.

 

[Discomafia]

Super-fuels natural microorganisms that digest fish waste.

Interesting...

 

[Crab Paste]

Anyone seen the product that prolongues water life? I bought it because it kills off the phosphate that was giving me bad algae problems however it also states that because it injects trace elements etc. it will reduce stress to the fish by allowing the same water to be used for upto 6 months, all you need to do is add the salty solution to the tank every week and have an air stone

waters looked the best ive ever seen it, anyone else tried it?

i'm beginning to think my tap water is worse than having my biologically filtered water in the tank, afterall im now not adding phosphates and chlorine weekly into my tank, that was destoyed days ago, the product nutralises nitrates, nitrites and any other baddies that may build up in a time where i'd normally have done 24 water changes.

also if the fish eat the green jelly substance, its not harmful or toxic to them, which is good cos the cichlid took a big gulp when it hit the water!!!

heres a pic of the bottle and the description below:

Eliminates frequent water changes. Keeps aquarium water biologically balanced for 6 months. Stabilizes pH and alkalinity. (KH) levels for fish and plants. Reduces phosphate levels for improved water quality - reduces aglae growth. Also adds vitamins and trace elements. Use 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons weekly. Freshwater use only.

Removes phosphate from tap water and prevents its accumulation as a byproduct of digestion and energy metabolism
Adds Vitamins, Minerals and Trace Elements
Super-fuels natural microorganisms that digest fish waste. Enhances biological filtration
With EasyBalance, necessary water changes go from biweekly or over 25 times per year to twice per year.

Well, its in my tank, the fish seem happy for now, my nitrate and nitrite levels are between 0-5, barely show on my stick. the ph has dropped to about 6.8, and the hardness has dropped by about a 15% i dont have a phosphate measurement but i usually have some algae by now, i so far have none, but the plants look good, it seriously looks like ive just done a water change today, my missus came in and said "wow that waters so clear" i had to proceed to show her the bottle, and that i had cheated a little!

i'll keep an eye on the results, keep cleaning my filters as normal and see how we go, as it needs lots of aeration im guessing it breaks it down then the agitated surface must release some toxins, aswell as the neutralising salts that go in like jelly suspension weekly

I can understand why people would find it hard to get out of the water changing habit, but with water companies these days adding, removing, leaving in, all manner of chemicals and hormones ( dont forget ours are in it too!) you dont know if you're doing harm or any good

remember the filterless planted tanks, they worked, but its not to everyones taste...

anyone else trying this product?

here you go guys, a website about all its properties and what the sceptics say:
http/www.tetra-fish.co.uk/tetraeasybalance/

have a good read.

they do stress that if you leave food in the tank or overstock to 1.5cm per gallon or over you will have problems and the products effectiveness will be degraded - naturally. but as for the waste, the crystals that go in with the solution take care of weekly deposits, though i could see it struggling with 10 adult piranhas poop... or maybe not if you put the proper dosage in, ratios the same

im going by the rule of 'if i can see it, it must be removed', be it poo, food etc. that way im not pushing the limits, however the water change will not happen, for a while at least, or if my readings get out of hand.

also, cost wise, it may seem a little expensive at first, but if you think of the amount of time you can spend doing a water change, especially if your tank isnt just slung in your garage, but in a posh lving room, together with the cost of the gallons of water you tip on your garden weekly, plus dechlorinators, plant fertilisers, algae removers, and so on, total that up and you'd happily pay someone £1 per 10 gallons a month to avoid the mess and stress to you and your fishes.

Someone else give it a try, i doubt hardly anyone here has not had to deal with a recent pain in the ass problem with their tank

Are you on commission?

 

[BOD]

im really lazy lol but i would never stop doing my water changes i dont think it would be rite..in the wild the fish would always be getting a constant supply of new water....so why deprive them of that by adding a tonne of chemicals...its a gimmick to get people to buy the stuff..even though it mite kill off all ya fish in the end!

 

[Synirr]

Sounds too good to be true... and as they say, anything that sounds too goo to be true probably is.
Even if it does work, I'd be reluctant to use it. I'm always paranoid about my tanks being dirty even when they're not, and I actually enjoy water changes.

 

[henry2703]

Hi All,

just to share about the above mentioned product.

I'm from Singapore, and i had tried that product extensively before...

1) My test tank's guppies when w/o water change for more than 1 year.
2) My 2nd test tank Water was changed every month.
3) My control tank was maintained as per normal.

All plants in my tanks are fake. Fishes are fed solely flakes and nothing else. Gravel substract with normal foam filter.

my findings after slightly over 1 year.

1) Algae, indeed cleared.
2) Water clear, but over extended period of time, i find a slightly smell (maybe psychological) and colour of water not as clear as control tank.
3) Control tank guppies spawned many times.
4) Test tank no.2 spawned twice. but the fries did not live over the day
5) Test tank no.1 never spawn at all, and growth rate for guppies slowest in the 3
6) no snails were found in either of the 3 tanks.
7) all fishes eats heartly

hope this helps....

 

[Fishist]

I'd quite like to set up a tank to test all these products. Use Cycle, fill it with inexpensive fish such as neons, use different chems. But I don't have room.

Me too. It would be great to do comparison tests on similar tanks side by side. I wonder whether any of the marine biologist guys on TFF have done anything like this?

 

[Synirr]

Thanks for sharing that Henry. Very interesting results indeed

I think the simplest solution to a problem is usually the best, and obviously, the simplest solution to dirty tank water is a good ol' water change.

 

[Bignose]

henry's anecdote is very good stuff. Since we all pretty much know how um, shall we say amorous guppies usually are (they're called millions fish for a good reason), the chemical additives clearly had an adverse effect. What we really need is more data ... corbypete says his fish are normal, henry says his clearly were not. I cannot find (probably missing it somewhere) but the question I have is whether corbypete has live plants in his tank? In retrospect, it would be great for comparisons if corby had a control tank set up to directly compare, not just remember how the fish were before using the chemical additives.

 

[henry2703]

henry's anecdote is very good stuff. Since we all pretty much know how um, shall we say amorous guppies usually are (they're called millions fish for a good reason), the chemical additives clearly had an adverse effect. What we really need is more data ... corbypete says his fish are normal, henry says his clearly were not. I cannot find (probably missing it somewhere) but the question I have is whether corbypete has live plants in his tank? In retrospect, it would be great for comparisons if corby had a control tank set up to directly compare, not just remember how the fish were before using the chemical additives.

Hi Bignose,

WEll, I guess i wasn't saying that the fishes are unhealthy.... they actually looks normal, and act normally.... just don't spawn.... well... we can take it as a sign on unhealthness....

Just my 2 cents worth to help out...

 

[corbypete]

OK, had to do a full waterchange at the weekend.

Reason for this was there was too much debris for my measly Ehiem powerball filter to cope with.

The readings however were rock solid at zero, ph <7.0, so the water itself was sound.

So, target to beat is 6 weeks without a water change. I've put on order a phat ehiem external cannister filter in addition to the internal filter, so this time it should be able to go longer, also I ran out of the product and missed a treatment - i think this was the main tiring factor as it all went wrong after this point.

I've moved to a better food, the flakes were making a mess of the tank, and i've got 3 big snails on the way to clear up the remaining debris.

Add it weekly (dont miss a treatment), have a good filter (or two) and theres little stopping you hitting the 6 month mark.

I dont have ANY algae, none at all, my sand actually looks really nice now. All fish happy as can be, no spawning in my tank but thats because theres only two fish alike.

More updates in 6 weeks time!

p.s.
got a second P added to the tank, she's only small, but will no doubt put more strain on the system, we'll wait and see.

 

[ncjharris]

Yeah, used this stuff - went on holiday for a month with out able to do water changes (obviously feeding was sorted) and put a load in our 20 gallon after doing a 50% water change the day before we went.

Fish survied, and readings were all ok after we came back, although nitrAtes certainly weren't zero (around 20-40ppm if memory serves).

Would defo use it again, but not too sure what happens to the nitrAtes - as I understand it they are 'locked up' into a safe form - whether this is dissapated, or is something we can't measure for and therefore see I don't know.

 

[Iron Man]

Yeah, used this stuff - went on holiday for a month with out able to do water changes (obviously feeding was sorted) and put a load in our 20 gallon after doing a 50% water change the day before we went.

Fish survied, and readings were all ok after we came back, although nitrAtes certainly weren't zero (around 20-40ppm if memory serves).

Would defo use it again, but not too sure what happens to the nitrAtes - as I understand it they are 'locked up' into a safe form - whether this is dissapated, or is something we can't measure for and therefore see I don't know.

That is exactly what this stuff is good for. People who travel a lot and someone going on a long holiday, etc. I think its great stuff and wouldn't mind adding a bit to mine, even though I do water changes. I have heard nothing but very positive about it.

But might I add that even tank bred fish were not bred for this type of closed in environment without water changes. I know what people might say about how good the fish seem to be doing and the water parameters looking great and everything and that's great but there is just something very unnatural about closing a bunch of living, breathing, active creatures up in a small, cramped, boxed up system and not giving them any relief from their own wastes accept some salt, something you are just adding more and more of.

They may claim this stuff "dissolves" over time but I just don't buy it. You mentioned it was "salty". Salt does not dissolve or evaporate...it stays in that tank until you change the water. What is happening when you add this to your tank week after week, month after month...and then do a measley little say 20% water change? I could be wrong but I say this is eventually going to kill your fish.

I also bet that Tetra only promotes this as a method to use if you HAVE to.

Nature does an even better job than man of cleaning up water and pollution (if man wouldn't pollute it to start with), but nature also has a lot of room. You can't expect anything in that closed up an environment to take care of what is going on organically.

Just my .02.

 

[corbypete]

yeah, I think the water would be totally exhausted after 6 months and a 100% water change would be required.

but seriously, if it just prolongs it for 6 weeks, that good enough for me, i dont mind doing a full water change every 1-2 months, its once or twice a week that does my head in, when theres not viable water supply nearby, meaning lots of mess and water ont he lounge carpets!

definately one product that does what it says on the tin though

 

[troutfly]

I have used this stuff too, the result, dead fish.

I used the recomended amount of the product for the size of the tank, I didn't introduce it directly in I deluted it in water before adding it (Not real keen on putting chemicals directly in wy water).This was done on a tank that I had for over a year with no apparent problems prior to the chemical being added. Within three days, my fish developed large blisters in its slime coat, did a water change, hoped and prayed, introduced "stress coat" to help replenish slime coat on fish as per recomedation by LFS (by that I don't mean WALMART/PETSMART/PETCO/etc., I mean a strickly fish store) had plenty of air added to tank, but found it unside down in the tank the next day...Have vowed never to use the product again. My solution to going on vacation, do water change the day beofe you go and then the day you get back, I feel this is a safer way to treat fish then using a chemical product.