Organic Aqua

Organic Aqua has cropped up a few times now on discussions here, so I was wondering, how many people use it, and is it any good. It's called the "Hassle Free Fishkeeping" method on their blurb.
If you use it, would you recomment it, or is it total rubbish? Or would you even think of using it?
Personaly, I have always cycled my tanks, so know nothing about this product.

I think it's a great product. Does what it claims and though I usually cycle my tanks normally, I find it invaluable for whenever I need to start up a tank quickly. I'd use it ask the time if it wasn't for the cost

Have used it and found it great with the minimum amount of hassle and reduction of stress for the fish and the keeper. I only had a max of a 2 foot tank so the cost not huge compared to getting water treatments, running filters etc. all you needed was an airpump. my usual was about 11 euro per month for the box

There is the option of buying big bulk containers of the product so that might reduce the cost.

would defo recommend it to be given to all those who go into a shop and buy the fish and tank in the same purchase or at least expect to and looked miffed when told they should not (but then should they keep fish at all)
It is a good quick start also if one needs to set up a tank quickly and you could always run the filter in parallel and let it cycle and grow the bacteria in the time between setup and the time for the maintenance. Just my thoughts !!

Might also be the only option available or affordable once the water charges take off

i only use the health treatment as i prefer to cycle my tanks naturally, i dont trust these quick fix methods, but the health treatment is absolutely excellent

Thanks Lads, so its 3 Nil at the moment.

Great stuff I have to say. Does what it says it does on the box - Ronseal for fishkeepers! I used it recently enough after doubling up the volume of my tank and fish were stress free....great product...

Looking better 5 Nil
and I suppose I better go to specsavers.... thanks for the links John

What is so unfortunate about Organic Aqua (and I told this to the person who is the agent here in Ireland), is that the "owners" of the product in SA are an embarrassment to their agents with their absolutely rubbish marketing schemes and insults to the intellect of fish keepers.

The days of Exchange and Mart advertising methods have long gone....but we still buy Brine Shrimp eggs for our fish and not because they are "Water Monkeys to do our bidding" (that would need some older folk to get that bit).

If I took a bottle of people's favourite water conditioner and instant-cycle......placed it in a rustic packet, placed a label on it saying "Wonder Cycle Soup" "No Chemicals" "Look what Joanne in London Says...."

......would you buy it off me and use it for keeping your expensive fish?
That is almost like the sort of image Organic Aqua "owners" have given their product.

I understand that certain magazines will not give it a review because of the "magical" claims made by the product owners.

That is a real shame.

ian

ps.....I'm not knocking Organic Aqua as a product by the way ^

igmillichip wrote:

What is so unfortunate about Organic Aqua (and I told this to the person who is the agent here in Ireland), is that the "owners" of the product in SA are an embarrassment to their agents with their absolutely rubbish marketing schemes and insults to the intellect of fish keepers.

The days of Exchange and Mart advertising methods have long gone....but we still buy Brine Shrimp eggs for our fish and not because they are "Water Monkeys to do our bidding" (that would need some older folk to get that bit).

If I took a bottle of people's favourite water conditioner and instant-cycle......placed it in a rustic packet, placed a label on it saying "Wonder Cycle Soup" "No Chemicals" "Look what Joanne in London Says...."

......would you buy it off me and use it for keeping your expensive fish?
That is almost like the sort of image Organic Aqua "owners" have given their product.

I understand that certain magazines will not give it a review because of the "magical" claims made by the product owners.

That is a real shame.

ian

I've heard the same thing said about EasyLife's Fluid Filter Media, mostly on American fora. There's a perception that if you're making all the claims it does and then when people enquire how you say the equivalent of "ooooh, it's a mystery!", then you MUST be some kind of snake oil salesman

HI crusty, ive just seen this thread. so my experience with OA, the start of last march i started my big tank 1000l with 300l sump, i needed it going very fast as i had a 400l tank over flowing with big fish. i decided to chance OA as an instant start up and only having to do water changes once a month. it took 2 days to get the water up to temp and i added the OA and with in 2 hours added the fish, kept my fingers crossed that all will be ok. ive never looked back, the fish once settled in and got over the move feed normally. now once a month i change about 300l of water and use the OA maintenance kit. for me its working very well the fish are all showing great color and always hungry. i did have one outbreak of white spot but that can happen to any tank. the only down side to OA is not being able to test for nitrates as OA water gives totally false readings. so its a thumbs up from me for OA.

I put 20+ similis into a 54 Litre, brand new, no filtration and the OA , a heater and a powerhead with a spray bar, plonked the Fish in and over a Week later, the Fish are in their shells doing the usual and eating like a starved Cat. Just to add, I use Easylife Fluid Media and their Algex and I cannot praise the stuff enough.

H.

Homer wrote:

I put 20+ similis into a 54 Litre, brand new, no filtration and the OA , a heater and a powerhead with a spray bar, plonked the Fish in and over a Week later, the Fish are in their shells doing the usual and eating like a starved Cat. Just to add, I use Easylife Fluid Media and their Algex and I cannot praise the stuff enough.

H.

Thanks Homer, I use EasyLife FFM, and AlgExit myself, great stuff.

P.S. Both are also available at Home Aquariums!

paulv wrote:

HI crusty, ive just seen this thread. so my experience with OA, the start of last march i started my big tank 1000l with 300l sump, i needed it going very fast as i had a 400l tank over flowing with big fish. i decided to chance OA as an instant start up and only having to do water changes once a month. it took 2 days to get the water up to temp and i added the OA and with in 2 hours added the fish, kept my fingers crossed that all will be ok. ive never looked back, the fish once settled in and got over the move feed normally. now once a month i change about 300l of water and use the OA maintenance kit. for me its working very well the fish are all showing great color and always hungry. i did have one outbreak of white spot but that can happen to any tank. the only down side to OA is not being able to test for nitrates as OA water gives totally false readings. so its a thumbs up from me for OA.

Thanks Paulv for that

well crusty are you convinced now . one thing about OA is you have to do exactly what it says on the tin, keep an open top tank or at least max exposure to the air and use lots of air stones. the bacteria used in OA releases nitrogen gas and needs surface disturbance to allow the gas to escape. ive and open 5ft sump that covers that part and i use a large pond air pump putting out 3600lph air.

Yep Convinced. Thanks for all the input guys