What a weird marketing choice... (seachem)

[nabokovfan87]

So I have been a customer of seachem for a while and sometimes ya just have to laugh at these choices.

I have a tidal filter and want a second, small mesh zip style media bag. I can buy "the bag" or other media bags but those require a tie and I just don't want to deal with ties. I prefer the zips. So I finally found what I thought was their tidal equivalent bags on sale and purchased 3 so I can split out the crushed coral and add some to my HoB instead of the substrate.

I get the box home, open it up and just sort of giggled.  Apparently when they say small, medium, large they mean the mesh size and not the size of the bag. My mistake.

So let's play a guessing game. What "size" media bag would you expect. Would you think it's the equivalent of a Tidal 75? Tidal 110?

Nope! It's literally not even possible or feasible to fit into any hang on back or canister filter. It's only useable in a sump and it's got to be a pretty big one at that.

See below. It can fit my entire forearm. Now I get to stuff all this crap wadded up into the HoB like it's filter floss.

And.... Apparently, if I buy the branded media replacement stuff from seachem for the tidal HoB (matrix refill) then it doesn't come with a media bag.

"Ideal for resins and small media" 😂

[modified lung]

A lot of people don't realize this but forearms make excellent filter media.

[a tired fish keeper]

But why 

why wold they do this ther is no way that that is good for sales       no one wants that

Edited May 7, 2022 by a tired fish keeper

[Tanked]

I would expect a bag that measures 32cm. x 14cm.  I'm guessing that is what you got.

The problem here is that clueless people were allowed to design and approve the packaging artwork.  The important information wasn't included because they don't know anything about the product or it's uses.

 

[Wrencher_Scott]

Don't get me started on SeaChem and their BS.

to be fair it does say the size of the bag though.

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/7/2022 at 9:00 AM, Wrencher_Scott said:

to be fair it does say the size of the bag though.

I realize that.... just kind of dumb to me that, that is the "default size" they think we need.

[Torrey]

On 5/7/2022 at 12:05 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I realize that.... just kind of dumb to me that, that is the "default size" they think we need.

Not dumb.

In a world where we are deliberately kept stressed, because it is easier to manipulate impulse buys out of stressed people, our brains take shortcuts wherever possible to maintain sanity. 

Sadly, people with degrees in psychology and sociology get paid far more to design packaging and advertising for large companies than can be made actually helping to heal society, leaving the packaging fulfilling its job of getting people to buy it.

My biggest frustration with some companies is the lack of ability to blow up images so we can read the fine print before we buy.

Don't beat yourself up, and now I wonder about the size of the mesh🤣

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/7/2022 at 1:20 PM, Torrey said:

Don't beat yourself up, and now I wonder about the size of the mesh

Definitely not doing that! 🙂 I just really have to giggle at seachem sometimes.

"help me, help you"

This is the mesh.  The colored one from the tanins is the bags that come inside of the tidal filters and what I would call a "very fine" mesh filter media bag.

 

hilarious to me.

[Torrey]

On 5/7/2022 at 2:33 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Definitely not doing that! 🙂 I just really have to giggle at seachem sometimes.

"help me, help you"

This is the mesh.  The colored one from the tanins is the bags that come inside of the tidal filters and what I would call a "very fine" mesh filter media bag.

 

hilarious to me.

Yeah, I definitely understand🤣 

Like, 13 cm x 25 cm on zip tie bags, and then 32 cm x 14 cm (or 14 cm x 32 cm) on the line with actual zippers being labeled sm/md/lg at the top (and no micron listed? just "25 mesh/16 mesh/8 mesh"???) would have left me thinking the bags them selves were different sizes, especially since the information is in different places (packaging is not uniform). I hate shopping on a certain company website, because the information is never uniform, and it's hard to make the script large enough to read all the needed information without sacrificing access to about half the screen (accessibility is a joke).

Thank you for posting this, you saved me from a similar mistake with a different company! 

On a side note, the large bags at 19' x 17' are perfect for using lava rock to help elevate substrate and can be stacked with soil in the small bags to reduce silt in the water column.

[nabokovfan87]

Update.

I bought the tidal "refill" of matrix so I could fill media in tanks and get it cheaper than wherever. They don't really have that stuff local so I just opted to see what on earth actually comes in this package. Funny enough, whomever informed/answered the question on amazon regarding how the item is packaged specifically said it includes only the media and not the bag. 

It indeed includes the actual "good" media bag they produce. So there is a way to get one of a reasonable size with fine mesh.  The Tidal 55 bags are probably universally the best size.

[RennjiDK]

Buy your media bags on Amazon. There's hundreds of manufacturers with all different dimensions and pore sizes. You can get a 10 pack of whatever your looking for, for around $8.

[AndrewTaylorx]

Oh man, that sounds like a packaging surprise! Sometimes those product sizes can be a real head-scratcher. Have you ever considered sharing this experience or similar product-related stories on a platform like searchseo.io? Sharing these experiences could be helpful for others navigating the same products or brands. It’s like shedding light on those little quirks that might catch someone off guard. Plus, it’s a good laugh to share, even if it’s a bit frustrating in the moment.

Edited December 1, 2023 by AndrewTaylorx

[Tanked]

It's kind of funny that this topic came back up.  I would have bought a recently purchased big ticket item months ago, had It not been for conflicting or missing information.  Packages differed according to seller; I could not determine what was included as standard equipment.  I finally called the manufacturer to verify what was included in every box they sold.  Having worked in inventory management for many years, this kind of thing tends to grind my gears.  

[nabokovfan87]

On 12/1/2023 at 9:53 AM, Tanked said:

Having worked in inventory management for many years, this kind of thing tends to grind my gears.  

Yeah.... you'd be amazed/dumbfounded on some of the stories that people experience with products and every batch seemingly different boxes of parts tossed together regardless of what is being sold, visually. 

I was trying to find a gift for someone about 2 years ago.  Pictured showed a set with ~100 items lets just say and the text for the item in the actual title of the image being sold on amazon said very clearly it contains "2 sets" which was only like 25 items.  Major discrepancy and the photos were clearly just stolen and repasted on a ton of items.  Who knows what would actually show up, let alone the materials and/or quality.  I asked support what is right.  Vehemently they argued with me that BOTH were clear and both were correct.  "You will get what you see in the photo." and "The description of the item is correct." 

Sure it is!  It's so frustrating with the "cheap versions" of products and things like that which result in copycats and so much weirdness from the shopping experience.  Every item changes brand or company name monthly sometimes and trying to remove all of those variables in items you purchase and getting brand names becomes harder and harder these days!