According to the manufacturer, Easy Balance has the following effects:
- With regular use, only 2 water changes per year are required.
- pH value and carbonate hardness are reliably stabilized.
- An acid fall is prevented.
- The nitrate value is kept below 120 mg nitrate per liter of water.
- Phosphate is reduced and kept below 0.2 mg per liter of water.
Under which conditions Easy Balance should work.
The manufacturer places a number of requirements on an aquarium so that Easy Balance shows the promised effects:
- The keeping conditions must be good.
- The aquarium must be sufficiently to densely planted.
- The filter must be efficient.
- The filter must be cleaned regularly.
- The fish stock must be moderate.
- The aquarium must be constantly slightly aerated.
- A nitrate remover is required for nitrate levels above 120 mg nitrate per liter of water.
What Easy Balance is made of
Since the ingredients are not printed, only assumptions can be made about the content. The yellowish color indicates that it contains iron. It is probably iron citrate. Iron citrate is soluble in water and initially remains dissolved in the aquarium water. Over time, bacteria process the citrate so that the iron precipitates as a chelator and binds the phosphate. With the disappearance of the citrate, the carbonate hardness is slightly increased. A second major ingredient is believed to be baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). It may contain sodium citrate, which would increase the effect of iron citrate. Other substances, such as enzymes and trace elements, are apparently only contained in traces.
The effects of Easy Balance on the aquarium water are very small compared to the effects of other care measures. Due to evaporation and refilling of water, the total hardness of the water can increase by 10 to 20 degrees of hardness when the water is changed every six months. In contrast, when using Easy Balance, the carbonate hardness only increases by around 2.7 degrees of hardness in half a year. On the other hand, this small amount can hardly prevent a drop in acidity if the carbonate hardness is low.
However, the reduction in carbonate hardness due to nitrification and the increase in carbonate hardness due to feeding over the course of six months still have to be taken into account.
According to the manufacturer, the carbonate hardness of the water is ultimately increased. However, this is often not desirable. Many aquarists reduce the carbonate hardness with a lot of effort, e.g. B. with osmosis systems.
Overall, however, it can be assumed that the changes in the water caused by Easy Balance are very small compared to the increasing water values (nitrate, sulfates, etc.) if the water is not changed for six months.
Concerns about Easy Balance
The danger of Easy Balance is that under the impression of the bold statement «with regular use only 2 water changes per year required», the requirements for an aquarium operated in this way are overlooked. Experienced aquarists operate their aquarium in this way and comply with the manufacturer’s requirements of Easy Balance. This is exactly why these aquarists do not need products like Easy Balance.
The likely target audience for Easy Balance are beginners. Especially beginner’s aquariums usually do not meet the manufacturer’s requirements. These aquariums are often sparsely planted and too densely stocked. Adequate water changes would be urgently recommended for these aquariums in particular.
Limiting the nitrate value to a maximum of approx. 120 mg per liter is not very helpful. Nitrate values over 100 mg per liter indicate a lack of care. Algae plagues are common at such levels, especially when there is still some phosphate in the water.
Conclusion
If the manufacturer’s requirements for an aquarium are met, the aquarium will also function without the use of Easy Balance and similar products. Important are e.g. B. Fast-growing plant species, when harvesting many substances are removed from the aquarium. Aquariums with a lot of sludge and sludge are very stable over the long term in terms of acid capacity, pH value, phosphate and nitrate. The conductance increases with time.
With the right boundary conditions, you can get by with 50% water changes every six months without additives. If you operate your aquarium as the manufacturer expects, you don’t need an Easy Balance. Anyone who does not create the appropriate conditions in their aquarium will not be successful with Easy Balance either. At the latest, a price/performance comparison shows that changing the water is the much better and also more economical way of running an aquarium successfully.
Other exchangers and absorbers
For some time there have been so-called poly fleeces, which are also intended to remove nitrate, phosphate, etc. from the aquarium water for a few months. These fleeces are also recommended for short-term use at most. Like practically all exchangers and absorbers, they remove important trace elements from the water. After two to three weeks, growth disorders occur in plants. At the same time, there is increased growth of algae, e.g. B. of brush algae.
If it is really necessary, filtering over activated carbon for 2 to 3 days makes more sense and is probably just as effective.
Alternate water changes
The presumed target group of beginners usually runs small aquariums with 60 or 112 liters of water. Especially with such pools, a weekly water change of one to two buckets can be carried out quickly. This is best done on a set day so you don’t forget to change the water.