I would trust anything that comes from algae barn.
Actually, I have a different experience. You couldn’t pay me $1000 to put any Algae Barn products in any of my tanks ever again.
Ive purchased several of their products and every one came infested with multiple pests (bubble algae, hair algae, 2 strains of cyano, aiptasia, and caluerpa... thankfully nothing I couldn’t identify, quarantine, and exterminate with lots of effort). Also, the majority of their orders arrived dead or mostly dead, whether they arrived on time or very very late. Furthermore, even with a nasty rotten mess upon opening one box, they didn’t honor their DOA policy. And their pods are a pathetic quantity for the price paid, and more than half are always dead on arrival. And I find their pods to be misleadingly named too, which makes me suspicious that they are taking advantage of and profiting off the uninformed and beginners. Not cool in my book.
If you ask and/or read the fine print, they don’t make any claims or guarantees as to the cleanliness of their products, nor the quantity that you will receive. Plus I already mentioned they don’t honor their DOA.
I asked around after the fact, and heard a couple dozen similar horror stories about them. Wish I had asked around before I placed my order. All-in-all, they are great at marketing... but probably one of the worst companies I’ve interacted with.
On a positive note, their customer service is super friendly and fast to respond! So I’m sure some of their people are great!!! It’s just the company and it’s practices to which I am opposed.
