Say Anything - Detox me!

[HH Morant]

A wise man once said that there are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and statistics. Maybe that's a bad rap for statisticians, but in the aquarium hobby it might be more appropriate to say that there are three kinds of lies:

Lies, damn lies, and manufacturer claims.

Below are some detoxification claims from manufacturer websites, labels, and videos. Although some parts of the listed statements may be true, each claim contains a component which I believe to be false. All these manufacturers purport to have a secret proprietary formula or ingredient, all accomplishing much the same thing.

But be careful. Once you decide that a manufacturer is not telling the truth about everything, it could lead to critical thinking and that is something that could burden you for the rest of your life!

Nobody is policing these people. They can - and they do - say anything.

Detox Me

AquaLife Complete Water Conditioner – "Removes Chlorine, Ammonia, and Chloramines."

AquaLife Complete Water Conditioner – "Detoxifies Nitrite and Heavy Metals."

Aqueon Ammonia Neutralizer: "Neutralizes ammonia and nitrites that can build up in the aquarium water"

API Ammo Lock: “API Ammo Lock ammonia detoxifier is proven to convert poisonous ammonia into a non-toxic form. Ammo Lock ammonia detoxifier works instantly in both fresh and salt water aquariums, removing ammonia, chlorine, and chloramines. Note that if your aquarium tests positive for ammonia, it is necessary to perform a partial water change first, and then neutralize the ammonia."

Brightwell Aquatics Erase CL – "Removes chloramines, chlorine, ammonia and nitrites from tap water as well as aquarium water."

Brightwell Aquatics Shrimp Prep – "Safely removes chlorine, chloramines, and ammonia and detoxifies heavy metals…."

Brightwell Aquatics Shrimp Prep – "Removes chloramines, chlorine, ammonia, and nitrites present in tap water and/or aquarium water."

Fritz Complete: "Detoxifies Ammonia, Nitrite, Helps to Reduce Nitrate."

Fritz Complete: "Use when setting up new aquariums, performing water changes or to quickly alleviate high ammonia, nitrite and nitrate."

Fritz Complete: FAQ - "If I remove all ammonia, will it harm the bacteria colony? Fritz Complete binds with ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate making them harmless to the inhabitants while still bioavailable to the beneficial bacteria."

Fritz Complete: "Does the ammonia or nitrite get released back after a certain amount of time? No, the water conditioner does not only temporarily bind the toxic ammonia or nitrite, and won't be released back into the water column after any period of time. The detoxified ammonia and nitrite are removed by nitrification or water changes."

Fritz A.C.C.R. – A.C.C.R. Stands for "Ammonia, Chlorine and Chloramine Remover."

Fritz A.C.C.R.: "Using this dosage, 1.0 mg/L ammonia will be instantly eliminated … .”

Fritz A.C.C.R.: "… Avoid water changes by adding ACCR to detoxify one ppm ammonia per dose.”

Fritz A.C.C.R.: “… binds with ammonia making them [sic] harmless to the inhabitants while still bioavailable to the beneficial bacteria."

Fritz A.C.C.R.: FAQ "Does the ammonia or nitrite get released back after a certain amount of time? No, the water conditioner does not only temporarily bind the toxic ammonia or nitrite, and won't be released back into the water column after any period of time. [sic] the detoxified ammonia and nitrite are removed by nitrification or water changes."

Kordon Amquel Ammonia Remover (some labels say "Detoxifier" rather than "Remover," which is the label shown on Amazon) – "Removes Ammonia, Chlorine & Chloramines."

Kordon Amquel – “A True One-step Liquid Chlorine, Chloramine, And Ammonia Remover."

Kordon Amquel – Kordon Amquel, developed over 20 years ago, is the original product that established the state-of-the-art in water conditioning technology regarding ammonia removal."

Kordon Amquel – Amquel is the first to be a true one-step liquid ammonia and chloramine remover that is simple to use."

Kordon Amquel Plus - "Amquel Plus does all that Amquel does and a significant number of additional tasks as well."

Kordon Amquel  Plus –“Amquel Plus is a remarkable new discovery that is … safely detoxifying natural nitrogen compounds in the water, including nitrites and nitrates. Thereby, the use of Amquel Plus greatly reduces the need for continual water changes…."

Kordon Amquel Plus – Amquel Plus should be used for setting up aquariums or ponds, for water changes, overcrowded aquariums and ponds, the control of toxic nitrogen compounds commonly found in water while the nitrogen cycle is established… As well as afterwards as nitrogen compounds accumulate in the aquarium and pond water."

Microbe-Lift XTA16 Xtreme Water Conditioner – "Removes toxic ammonia."

MicrobeAct Ammonia Remover - Every ounce removes 1.25 bpm of toxic ammonia per 150 gallons of pond water by forming an irreversible complex to reduce free ammonia to safe levels; treats ammonia burn in pond fish.

 Seachem Safe: “Removes Chlorine, Chloramine, and Ammonia.”

Seachem Safe: “Detoxifies Nitrite and Nitrate.”

Seachem Safe: "It contains a binder which renders ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate non-toxic, allowing the biofilter to more efficiently remove them."

Seachem AmGuard: "Detoxifies ammonia for up to 72 hours."

Seachem AmGuard: "Removes ammonia in Marine and Freshwater."

Seachem AmGuard: “Detoxified ammonia will not harm fish, but is still readable by "Total Ammonia" test kits. Do not be alarmed if your Total Ammonia test kit continues to register ammonia after dosing AmGuard. For most accurate dosing, it is recommended to use the "Ammonia Alert" to detect toxic ammonia."

Seachem AmGuard: FAQ -"If AmGuard is removing ammonia from the system, won’t that starve the beneficial bacteria? A: AmGuard does not remove ammonia from the system. It simply binds ammonia making it harmless to the inhabitants and still bio-available to the beneficial bacteria."

Seachem AmGuard: "AmGuard safely, rapidly, and if efficiently removes toxic free ammonia.”

Seachem AmGuard: "AmGuard works within minutes to detoxify free ammonia, and unlike competing products, converts it into a safe non-toxic form that is readily removed by the tank’s biofilter."

TankFirst Water Conditioner – "instantly removes chlorine, chloramines, ammonia, and nitrites from water." (On label, seen on Amazon)

Tetra AmmoniaSafe tablets - "How to reduce ammonia in your aquarium and one-step! AmmoniaSafe is a one-step water conditioner that provides superior relief to fish suffering from high ammonia conditions."

Tetra AmmoniaSafe tablets – "Tetra AmmoniaSafe works to rid your tank of dangerous ammonia. This proprietary formula was developed by Tetra to provide superior relief to fish suffering from high ammonia conditions. AmmoniaSafe converts toxic ammonia to a non-toxic form by long-lasting pH reduction…."

Tetra AmmoniaSafe tablets – "Detoxifies dangerous ammonia."

Ultimate Water Conditioner – "Destroys Chloramines, Removes Ammonia, Removes Chlorine, Detoxifies Nitrite…." [It also does a bunch of other things].

Ultimate Water Conditioner – "To fully condition water for (1) new aquariums or ponds (2) after or during water additions, or (3) before adding new fishes, amphibians, invertebrates or plants…."

Ultimate Water Conditioner – "Because We Care: Ultimate has been developed to offer a completely safe environment for aquatic life and for ease of use by the user. Look for the Cloram-X logo and the U.S. patent number to assure yourself you are getting the original ammonia removing product!"

 

[lefty o]

fact, most manufacturers are not telling you the entire truth about what they are trying to sell you. most things are over hyped, oversold, and not entirely what they would like you to believe. this applies to every facet of life, not just aquariums.

[Widgets]

Then you have the diffences between what the product team designed, what the marketing team sells it as, and what the production team actually delivers.

[Cory]

I don't feel this is in line with the CARE forum guidelines. Now before you say, you're just on the manufacturers side, you sell some of those products. You are biased.

This was presented in a way that doesn't really help. The claim is that manufacturers making things seem better than they are. I would argue that you are making them seem worse than they are.

I believe a proper way to discuss such a thing would be, how does product X accomplish Y. Then we can crowd source papers or heck, we could even ask the manufacturers.

I'm locking this topic and a new one can be started with a more narrow scope in mind to actually accomplish the desired effect if that was the original goal.