Tetra has some new stuff, called Easy Balance, that you’re supposed to pour into your tropical fish tank, so as to enable you to go 6 months between water changes. I think it’s snake oil, myself, but I’m trying to track down exactly what’s in it.
Their 800 number people won’t tell you anything except “it’s proprietary ingredients”, which means like KFC’s “Eleven secret herbs and spices”. So I got a copy of the MSDS, which lists the only “dangerous” component as formaldehyde. Everything else that’s in it is just listed as “non-hazardous components”. It’s also 89.4% water, BTW.
Now, on the back of the bottle, the only two things Tetra actually promises that this stuff will do is “stabilize pH” and “reduce phosphates”.
As tank water ages, it gets more acid, so I can see where something that raised the pH would be helpful. So, does formaldehyde really stabilize and/or raise the pH? And does it react with phosphates, say, to take them out of solution as a precipitate or something?
[sub]and that’s the sum total of everything I remember from high school chemistry–“precipitate out of solution”. Aren’t you proud of me?
And as long as you’re here, would you care to speculate on what exactly could be in it, if it isn’t formaldehyde, that would “stabilize pH” and “reduce phosphates” in aquarium water? It can’t be anything hazardous, because otherwise it would have to be mentioned on the MSDS.
My guess was going to be “baking soda”. Does bicarbonate of soda react with phosphates?
And why formaldehyde, anyway? All I know about formaldehyde is that it’s what they use to pickle frogs for dissection class.
Don’t use the stuff; no chemical addition will do what that one claims in a healthy manner. I’m not quite up to snuff on the exact chemical reactions that would take place with the ingredients you mentioned; although formaldehyde is sometimes used (at low concentrations) as an anti-fungal agent and to clear off bacteria from fish on a FLOW-THROUGH or relativly high-water exchange system. The form in this stuff is probly binded up with something else. You should never have to make any commercial chemical additions to aquarium water unless you have a bad disease problem. There are hundreds of magic chemicals on the shelves that will do a little, but tend to make people rely on chemical reactions they sometimes don’t understand to do a job they don’t need to do. It’s far better to do regular water changes than dump a mystery brew into the tank and cross your fingers. You can think of it like so: filling up your bathtub and using that water for all your needs (drinking, washing, cooking, bathing, etc…) and putting it back in. Would you rather empty the tub and refill it with clean water or add a gallon of bleach and keep on using it for the next six months?
Thanks, Mike, but you’re preachin’ to the choir here. I wouldn’t dream of putting snake oil like this in my tanks, but I’m over at a tropical fish MB trying to debunk this. There are several people who swear by it, and I’m trying to tell them that it wouldn’t make any difference whether they used this stuff or not.
Tetra says on the label that they’re only promising that you’ll only have to change your water every 6 months IF your tank is “properly” stocked and “properly” maintained. The thing is, you could have a 10 gallon tank “properly” stocked with 10 zebra danios, and if you had decent biofiltration, and didn’t overfeed, you could let it go for 6 months between water changes anyway. You wouldn’t have to pour a “magic potion” in there to make it work.
Squink, dear, thank you SO much for the link. Hmm, “ionic strength”, that must have something to do with Greek architecture, right? Columns? Doric, Ionic, Corinthian?
Sorry about that; but you DID ask.
A buffer is chemical compound, usually a weak acid or base, that will resist changes in pH when an acid or base is added to a solution. The pH value at which a buffer is most effective at resisting pH changes is called the pK of the buffer. Any of the buffers with pK’s around 7 (neutral) would work to keep your fish happy; at least until the buildup of ammonia and other crap kills them.
Ionic strength is just a fancy way of counting the total amount of charged stuff in a solution. A 50 mM solution of Salt (NaCl) would have an ionic strength of 100; 50 from Na+ and 50 from Cl. The Ionic strength of a solution has all sorts of interesting effects on things like noodle cooking time, egg protein denaturation, how fast your fingers get shrivelly if you soak them etc. etc. It gets pretty complicated pretty fast, so it’s probably best just not to allow too many miniature grecian ruins to build up on the bottom of your pond.
-Yup, If mud were clear we’d all be using it for windowpanes.
-Sorry
Pepper Mill just wants to point out that formaldehyde is a carcinogen, and using it in a fish tank might not be the best idea for the fish or for you. (Biological supply companies use other stuff to preserve specimens these days). She also notes that formaldehyde does react with phosphates, but can’t recall how, or what the result is. It’s been too long since I took chemistry, myself, to make any suggestions.
