Legitimate Product? Or Snake Oil?

[JNalley]

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...

https://unscriptedaquarium.com/

 

[tbrown]

No clue, but it sounds like stray currents are purposely being released in the aquarium?

 

[hart24601]

Reefbuilders recently did an article and it seems like might be legit.

https://reefbuilders.com/2022/06/28/unscripted-aquarium-review-more-useful-than-we-thought/

 

[JNalley]

No clue, but it sounds like stray currents are purposely being released in the aquarium?

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...

 

[tbrown]

Reefbuilders recently did an article and it seems like might be legit.

https://reefbuilders.com/2022/06/28/unscripted-aquarium-review-more-useful-than-we-thought/

I'd be curious to see what they say once they test it on a saltwater aquarium.

 

[Rmckoy]

There was a water sales man that went door to door trying to sell home contraption units .
He measured the tds of tap water , tested bottled spring water which proved to be worse than tap water .
And later added this little electrical probe into a glass of water .
it would instantly coagulate what ever was in the water making it visible and clump to the bottom of the glass .
Still to this date I have not been able to find what to probe did .

 

[tbrown]

There was a water sales man that went door to door trying to sell home contraption units .
He measured the tds of tap water , tested bottled spring water which proved to be worse than tap water .
And later added this little electrical probe into a glass of water .
it would instantly coagulate what ever was in the water making it visible and clump to the bottom of the glass .
Still to this date I have not been able to find what to probe did .

I think it's one of those tankless water softeners. Supposedly it sends an electrical charge through the water that causes calcium and magnesium (and other hardness causing minerals) to bind with each other instead of the water which makes them heavier so they settle out.

 

[tbrown]

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...

That's what has me concerned. It's causing static electricity inside the water. Is that safe for the coral and fish? I know stray currents are typically hazardous to corals so my curiosity is whether or not it's reef safe.

 

[gbroadbridge]

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...

https://unscriptedaquarium.com/

LOL. Nonsense. Claptrap. Snail Oil.

I'm sure some gullible folks will buy them though.

 

[Spare time]

I thought @Randy Holmes-Farley had said something similar was basically a scam but I am tagging him since that post was a while ago and I am not sure if it was a similar product.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

It sounds like those magnets that they sold to clamp around your cars fuel lines back in the day. Increased horsepower, increased mileage, made your paint more glossy, attracted supermodels from thousands of miles away, and just made you one cool dude.

 

[tbrown]

It sounds like those magnets that they sold to clamp around your cars fuel lines back in the day. Increased horsepower, increased mileage, made your paint more glossy, attracted supermodels from thousands of miles away, and just made you one cool dude.

Those were great! I swear I was getting 11 MPG in my Jeep Grand Cherokee.

 

[JNalley]

It sounds like those magnets that they sold to clamp around your cars fuel lines back in the day. Increased horsepower, increased mileage, made your paint more glossy, attracted supermodels from thousands of miles away, and just made you one cool dude.

it is certainly reminiscent of that, which is why I am dubious of the claims... but the article posted by hart from reefbuilders is thought-provoking nonetheless... It worked as advertised in their experience, and from the context of the article, it sounds as if they got the device on their own and did not receive it for review...

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

it is certainly reminiscent of that, which is why I am dubious of the claims... but the article posted by hart from reefbuilders is thought-provoking nonetheless... It worked as advertised in their experience, and from the context of the article, it sounds as if they got the device on their own and did not receive it for review...

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

 

[JNalley]

It sounds like those magnets that they sold to clamp around your cars fuel lines back in the day. Increased horsepower, increased mileage, made your paint more glossy, attracted supermodels from thousands of miles away, and just made you one cool dude.

Those were great! I swear I was getting 11 MPG in my Jeep Grand Cherokee.

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?

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

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?

I hadn’t heard that one. Too bad you’d have to remove the muffler bearing to install it! Hahaha

 

[Semisonyx]

There have been plenty of amazing tanks full of fish and corals over the years that did just fine without that device. If your tank isn’t doing well, this thing won’t make it any better.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

There have been plenty of amazing tanks full of fish and corals over the years that did just fine without that device. If your tank isn’t doing well, this thing won’t make it any better.

….but two, two of these would definitely make it better! Haha

 

[JNalley]

There have been plenty of amazing tanks full of fish and corals over the years that did just fine without that device. If your tank isn’t doing well, this thing won’t make it any better.

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...

 

[hart24601]

I amused am quite curious to see how well, if at all, it works on saltwater. The expectation isn’t of course for a panacea, however in my fowlr tank it would be nice to increase effectiveness of mechanical filtration for viewing. However I don’t really have a way to mount it on my current system unless I was to mount on external overflow but I don’t want to remove the cover. That is of course if it was proven to work. Anyway time will tell if it’s a potentially useful gadget, it appears to have merit in FW if nothing else, or if it’s worthless in SW.

I would see an application for increasing UV effectiveness since that is highly dependent on low particulates in the water. Again if it works in sw.

probably a nice device for monster fw keepers since they often battle particulates.