mizimmer90
Active Member
I have recently seen a large number of posts discussing the merits of sealab no. 28 and, having never heard of this product before, decided to investigate what it is all about. To my horror, the product claims that by dropping a block into water, it will naturally regulate the amount of trace elements released into your tank, only releasing an ion if it is depleted in the water; I call shenanigans as this isn't possible lol.
From the amazon product page: “Sea lab no. 28 replenisher block always works, and cannot be overdosed. This is not a slow-dissolve or time-release product. It dissolves only to replace depleted elements.” Again, there's no way they can accomplish this! I'm willing to wager that *at best*, this is a slow-dissolve time release block. However, given the manufacturers impossible claim, I worry that other things are also wrong in this product…
I don't want to support this product but I have decided to design an experiment to test the claim that, “This is not a slow-dissolve or time-release product. It dissolves only to replace depleted elements." My hope is that others can be aware of the deception.
Here's the setup:
I will place 1 cube in 1L of freshly prepared IO saltwater. To ensure that the water has concentrations of trace elements greater than NSW, I will also add 10g of AFR powder; this will add approximately 2,690 mg Ca, 120 mg Mg, 50 mg Sr, and 2 mg I. To put it lightly, this is significantly higher than NSW
If the sealab claims hold true, the cube should NEVER dissolve. Even if it takes a few weeks/months to dissolve (as might be the case) the sealab claims will be definitively false. For clarity, I am not commenting on the utility of time-release formulations, but am hoping to shed light on these false claims of autoregulation to help other reefers not make a poor decision by using these as a method that “cannot be overdosed”.
Ideally, I would have a heater and circulation pump for the water (which would almost certainly speed things up) but I'm light on space, outlets, and the extra equipment haha. In lieu of this, I will also dissolve a block in 1L RODI water as a reference to compare speed of dissolution. This has the added benefit that I can measure some params afterwards.
Here's my prediction: both cubes will dissolve lol
I've impulse purchased some formula 28 on Amazon and it's set to arrive next week. Since I've already given money for this product, I'm motivated to actually see this experiment to completion.
I'm open to feedback if anyone has comments on the experimental setup! Ideally, I wanted to use seawater since the product claims it's buffered to seawater, but I live about as far from the ocean in any direction as you can get lol. I figure the elevated elements would suffice but want to make sure others can't argue that precipitation is causing the dissolution.
So place your bets! Will the cube dissolve or not?
From the amazon product page: “Sea lab no. 28 replenisher block always works, and cannot be overdosed. This is not a slow-dissolve or time-release product. It dissolves only to replace depleted elements.” Again, there's no way they can accomplish this! I'm willing to wager that *at best*, this is a slow-dissolve time release block. However, given the manufacturers impossible claim, I worry that other things are also wrong in this product…
I don't want to support this product but I have decided to design an experiment to test the claim that, “This is not a slow-dissolve or time-release product. It dissolves only to replace depleted elements." My hope is that others can be aware of the deception.
Here's the setup:
I will place 1 cube in 1L of freshly prepared IO saltwater. To ensure that the water has concentrations of trace elements greater than NSW, I will also add 10g of AFR powder; this will add approximately 2,690 mg Ca, 120 mg Mg, 50 mg Sr, and 2 mg I. To put it lightly, this is significantly higher than NSW
If the sealab claims hold true, the cube should NEVER dissolve. Even if it takes a few weeks/months to dissolve (as might be the case) the sealab claims will be definitively false. For clarity, I am not commenting on the utility of time-release formulations, but am hoping to shed light on these false claims of autoregulation to help other reefers not make a poor decision by using these as a method that “cannot be overdosed”.
Ideally, I would have a heater and circulation pump for the water (which would almost certainly speed things up) but I'm light on space, outlets, and the extra equipment haha. In lieu of this, I will also dissolve a block in 1L RODI water as a reference to compare speed of dissolution. This has the added benefit that I can measure some params afterwards.
Here's my prediction: both cubes will dissolve lol
I've impulse purchased some formula 28 on Amazon and it's set to arrive next week. Since I've already given money for this product, I'm motivated to actually see this experiment to completion.
I'm open to feedback if anyone has comments on the experimental setup! Ideally, I wanted to use seawater since the product claims it's buffered to seawater, but I live about as far from the ocean in any direction as you can get lol. I figure the elevated elements would suffice but want to make sure others can't argue that precipitation is causing the dissolution.
So place your bets! Will the cube dissolve or not?
