Legitimate Product? Or Snake Oil?

[WheatToast]

This advertisement just popped up in my facebook feed. It claims "electrical charge" to simulate "Magnetic field found in nature" to cause debris to clump and either get swept up by filtration or fall to the floor (so functions similar to a flocculant?). Just wondering if anyone can chime in here with how viable this is...

Needless to say, I am dubious of the claims... But don't know enough about electrical currents and organic materials to outright dismiss it...

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Unscripted Aquarium is about focusing on the root cause of polluted water and providing a simple solution for cloudy and smelly water

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Kind of off topic, but CaribSea's BioMagnet Clarifier also claims to clarify water using electricity. I used this on a freshwater system once and the tank cleared up as normal (however, I was not present to observe how quickly the water cleared).

 

[tbrown]

Not to derail my own thread, but did either of you ever see the tube that you were to run through your catalytic convertor to aerosolize the gas in order to create better combustion which improved HP and MPG simultaneously?

Hey, I made an HHO injector for my Grand Am and actually gained about 2 MPG with it. No clue how much damage I did to the motor, but...

 

[Screwgunner]

I just rubbed a bunch of balloons on my head and floated them in my tank…..we’ll see how clear my water is tomorrow! Hahaha

You are supposed to leave the balloons on your head to do it right!

 

[gbroadbridge]

I understand where you're coming from with this... But, if the device works as advertised and as the reef builders article suggests... This is a bit like saying "UV is useless" or "Sumps are useless". Note: that IF is red, italicized and bolded, so it's a big big big if... But we cannot discount all products based solely on the past, that's how you stifle innovation... If I didn't need to dose coral snow because this gadget helps with that, or I could save money on buying a UV because this device helps with that, then I see no harm in the innovation and invention itself...

There is no *if*. It's nonsense.

Look at the website for goodness sake, it's like a family photo album deisgned to pull the gullible in. I'm surprised they dont have an american flag and a biblical cross in one of the pictures to cover all the odds.

 

[hart24601]

There is no *if*. It's nonsense.

Look at the website for goodness sake, it's like a family photo album deisgned to pull the gullible in. I'm surprised they dont have an american flag and a biblical cross in one of the pictures to cover all the odds.

Ooooohhh those were just the letter t on the site and not a biblical cross. Well now I think the reefbuilders fw review were lies too.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Even if it does work it just seems so unnatural to me I don't think I'd be interested personally...I know there are plenty of others that would feel differently but it just seems completely unnecessary and who knows whether or not it would have negative long term effects on aquarium inhabitants (I say this given the legitimate concerns over humans' health now that we're so surrounded by electrical currents)

 

[JNalley]

There is no *if*. It's nonsense.

Look at the website for goodness sake, it's like a family photo album deisgned to pull the gullible in. I'm surprised they dont have an american flag and a biblical cross in one of the pictures to cover all the odds.

So let me get this straight... Every single person who invents something needs to also be awesome at webdesign? Or should be able to afford someone to build them an immaculate website that costs $10,000+ when their business first starts up?

My reply to that other person wasn't about THIS product in particular, I simply used it as a reference which is why there was an "if" statement... It was about the tone of the original message, which basically read as "There's no room for new things." I got that from this line here "There have been plenty of amazing tanks full of fish and corals over the years that did just fine without that device." Well, there were plenty of amazing tanks full of fish and corals before UV, Sumps, LED lighting, Filter Socks, Filter Rollers, etc etc etc. Yet, those innovations have made life easier, they have revised the way some of us practice in this hobby. Should we have relegated those innovations to the wayside simply because other, older things worked? While this product we're discussing in this thread might be snake oil, that doesn't mean that all new products are snakeoil just because every nice tank in the world right now runs without the new product... There is ALWAYS room for improvement and innovation, even if this product isn't a shining example of that, or necessarily even in the running...

 

[JNalley]

Even if it does work it just seems so unnatural to me I don't think I'd be interested personally...I know there are plenty of others that would feel differently but it just seems completely unnecessary and who knows whether or not it would have negative long term effects on aquarium inhabitants (I say this given the legitimate concerns over humans' health now that we're so surrounded by electrical currents)

This is kind of where I might end up with it too honestly... I created the post because I was curious to see if there was any merit to electrical charges causing a flocculant-like effect. But even if it did work, I'd still be hesitant to use it unless I were to find out that there's some actual natural or geological equivalent to it.

 

[Dan_P]

$120 seems a bit pricey for a blue night light in your aquarium

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

$120 seems a bit pricey for a blue night light in your aquarium

I'm sure plenty of people will buy it though...

 

[Dan_P]

I'm sure plenty of people will buy it though...

I believe you are correct. It might someday rank as a product that deserves further investigation, e.g., does it really remove paint from water as the advertisement claims.

 

[OfficeReefer]

from the reefbuilders article posted by hart, it sounds as if it's more of a static electricity thing... but, they did see a noticeable benefit within hours of installing it, so... what a crazy innovation... hopefully we can see more repeatable results from other aquarium news outlets in the coming months...

This looks interesting. I might ask Jake about this directly at Aquashella.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

I believe you are correct. It might someday rank as a product that deserves further investigation, e.g., does it really remove paint from water as the advertisement claims.

At least it sounds like interesting new (or new to the hobby at least) technology which isnt something that you see all that often...tbh I have a feeling a lot of companies don't list ingredients on "new" supplements a lot of times because there's not really anything actually new about them compared to what's already on the market

 

[damsels are not mean]

Eco aqualizer walked so this could run

 

[gbroadbridge]

At least it sounds like interesting new (or new to the hobby at least) technology which isnt something that you see all that often...tbh I have a feeling a lot of companies don't list ingredients on "new" supplements a lot of times because there's not really anything actually new about them compared to what's already on the market

It's not technology - it's black magik. lol

 

[Matrig]

So let me get this straight... Every single person who invents something needs to also be awesome at webdesign? Or should be able to afford someone to build them an immaculate website that costs $10,000+ when their business first starts up?

My reply to that other person wasn't about THIS product in particular, I simply used it as a reference which is why there was an "if" statement... It was about the tone of the original message, which basically read as "There's no room for new things." I got that from this line here "There have been plenty of amazing tanks full of fish and corals over the years that did just fine without that device." Well, there were plenty of amazing tanks full of fish and corals before UV, Sumps, LED lighting, Filter Socks, Filter Rollers, etc etc etc. Yet, those innovations have made life easier, they have revised the way some of us practice in this hobby. Should we have relegated those innovations to the wayside simply because other, older things worked? While this product we're discussing in this thread might be snake oil, that doesn't mean that all new products are snakeoil just because every nice tank in the world right now runs without the new product... There is ALWAYS room for improvement and innovation, even if this product isn't a shining example of that, or necessarily even in the running...

Spot on. If you always do what you’ve always done you’ll always get what you’ve alway got. Innovation and improvement for the win!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Even if it does work it just seems so unnatural to me I don't think I'd be interested personally...I know there are plenty of others that would feel differently but it just seems completely unnecessary and who knows whether or not it would have negative long term effects on aquarium inhabitants (I say this given the legitimate concerns over humans' health now that we're so surrounded by electrical currents)

Unnatural? It says natural right on the web site. Must be true lol

"This process results in crystal clear, clean and odor free water in a safe and all-natural way. "

I do not expect this product to do anything particularly useful for a typical reef tank. DC electric fields can drive coagulation of charged particles in water, but salt in the water is going to interfere with that process.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0892687519300172

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

So let me get this straight... Every single person who invents something needs to also be awesome at webdesign? Or should be able to afford someone to build them an immaculate website that costs $10,000+ when their business first starts up?

No, they just need to not mislead customers. The web site is a clear an over the top intent to sell rather than explain. Some of the claims are ridiculous. I'm happy to run through them if you like.

I would even ask someone claiming a new invention to actually show data. How hard is that? To make it and believe it works, they must have tested it, right? Hopefully? So show the actual data....

Seriously, I'm proud to show data for my inventions, as I expect most legit scientists are.

 

[Dburr1014]

LOL
I don't even know what to say. Why am I responding to this thread?
Never mind.

 

[livinlifeinBKK]

Unnatural? It says natural right on the web site. Must be true lol

"This process results in crystal clear, clean and odor free water in a safe and all-natural way. "

I do not expect this product to do anything particularly useful for a reef tank. DC electric fields can drive coagulation of charged particles in water, but salt in the water is going to interfere with that process.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0892687519300172

I bet a lot of interesting things "naturally" happen when you run electrical charges through your tank haha ...so do you think it actually does anything at all?