Another Gimmick: No Water Changes

[jgoal55]

Ok.....so obviously I am skeptical. I saw this in Skymall which is clearly a bad sign.

However, since anytime someone swears to me that no water changes will be necessary, my eyes open wide and I drool like a little baby, I decided to check this out.

Here are the good signs:

1) they have a couple of good articles written about them
2) the technology they use makes sense in that they address the right things.
3) They ADMIT that it isn't designed for heavily stocked reef tanks (best for fresh or fish only) - I say this is good cuz they admit it.

Now, after reading through it, it sounds like it accomplishes exactly what a sump does. With a sump I still have to change my water. So why they claim that you need no more water changes is questionable at best. Still, my thought was this: if you have a FW tank, or a lightly stocked FO, this thing actually may be functional in the sense that its like having a sump without actually having one.

I don't know many ppl that place sumps on FO's or FW tanks but I know plenty of ppl who hardly change their water and those tanks do ok. My dads 35 cichlid tank hasn't had a water change in 1.5 yrs (since set up) and it's just fine save the occasional algae that needs to be scrubbed. I wonder if this thing eliminates enough nitrates to remove the algae blooms?

If someone gives it a shot let me know.....Im not brave enough to try it but I hope one of you is.

 

[jgoal55]

yeah...the lighting is a big factor......i think the tech here with the undergravel is that it's a reverse flow and then through the towers (which would be equivalent to cheato??????).

I would never get rid of the skimmer in favor of this thing. But I can imagine a small FO (lightly stocked and since you also dont need the lights) running with a skimmer and this thing and then maybe, you could get away with no water changes?

(note: in case you haven't noticed I am trying to convince myself so that when I set up a FO in my new (future) apt I dont have to do WC's. I am hoping all you wise ones steer me in the right direction...haha)

 

[jgoal55]

dawgdude;205845 wrote: I dont think there is any way you can remove the waste in water without taking the water out.

wow...ur so not helping....lol.

oh yeah. one other thing....you cant use sand.....has to be crushed coral.....or gravel for FW

 

[jgoal55]

yeah....i definitely wanted input....even though i knew the answer i still feel let down....you always hope that one of these days one of these things is going to work....but yeah you're right this is just reconfigured old technology it seems.

 

[bobz]

I agree with dawgdude. This setup looks EXACTLY like what I used in the 80's on my FO tanks. I used a combination of a reverse flow filter hooked up to an Ehiem canister filiter, with carbon, ceramic, sponges and poly. It was state of the art 30 years ago! The only update I see is the additional MAGIC chemicals you add to remove the nitrates, etc... Of course back then, Nitrates were considered good! Well maybe not good but ok!
and we definitely did water changes too.
Bob

 

[jgoal55]

oh yeah...that was anothe very bad sign....anything that uses the word "magic" to advertise their product cant be good!!!!

 

[george]

ares;205895 wrote: its the phosphates that you cant get rid of. and youd be dosing supplements out the wazoo.

The "Bio Magic" filter bags have carbon, zeolite, and limestone in them. Essentially, they combine into a mini-canister filter media pack and the limestone would dissolve calcium carbonate into the water which will bind up phosphate (one of the benefits of dosing kalkwasser).

Well, I'm sure that's their theory. If you never put any real bioload in a tank, you'll never have to change the water either.

 

[jonathan]

The Sea Visions Dialyseas box is a cool concept. It needs to be updated to include controller functions and other newer innovations.