organic aqua

Read a few old post on this ,is it any good . Was wondering about using it on the new 470litr coldwater tank just to get things going . Bit concerned that if using this water test are not accurate . The instruction for use are very limited . Can you use it as a starter only without continuing with the product on a ongoing basis . Am very doutful of something in a bottle thats supposed to replace a cycle which takes a few weeks . Dont want to loose expensive koi

I've used it many times without mishap. It can be used just to get the tank going and then you never need use it again. But you're right about your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate readings... they'll be affected as long as you use it.

I have used it twice with no loses used it to start off a tank then just stopped when the tank is up to temp add the Bactria and a quarter of the bottle you get in the pack.should be good to go I never used an air stone but all was ok.


Regards
Craig

It requires alot of oxygenation...And you have to be very careful weaning a tank off of it....If you wean a tank off it too quickly it will just crash...Dont even bother testing your water parameters.cos the tests will give complete garbage results...For these reasons I wouldnt use it....But thats just me!

If it was me I would just take some already cycled media from an established tanks filter and stick it in the new tanks filter along with a dose of Tetra Safe Start (good Bacteria in a bottle)...Hey presto! Instant cycle...This has never failed me...

Organic Aqua is supposed to eliminate water changes which as far as Im concerned is a complete no no for long term fish health....Even if it does keep fish waste under control your fish are not getting the regular mineral replenishment that ONLY weekly fresh water changes can supply...

My opinion is that it works but its only meant for the lazy aquarist who couldnt be bothered about long term fish and tank health....Great for newbies who want a tank full of fish in an instant. and who are just downright imaptient...But for a serious aquarist there are much better options..

Well I wouldn't class people who use organic Aqua as lazy aquarists.

Every aquarist has different ways and means to do things.


Lazy people who use it to Eliminate water changes and like the idea of not having to do water changes other people use it as a quick start for a tank witch in my opinion isn't lazy at all people have situations were they need a tank ready quickly for fry or need to get a fish out of a community tank or have been given fish they don't have the room for ect ect the list could go on.

The way you added to start a tank quickly is fine but also to use organic Aqua as a quick start is just as good and in my opinion not lazy at all.

Although i have brought some of this ,i dont think i am going to use it in the new tank, i like to test daily in a new set up because i like to know whats going on , and then i feel more in control , my biohome media is already maturing in the pond filter , will have been their four weeks by the time the tank arrives so will go the long way with a full cycle which i reckon will only take a couple of weeks with the preperation work i have done. As we say in the motor trade something in a bottle wont fix a broken engine

robert wrote:

Although i have brought some of this ,i dont think i am going to use it in the new tank, i like to test daily in a new set up because i like to know whats going on , and then i feel more in control , my biohome media is already maturing in the pond filter , will have been their four weeks by the time the tank arrives so will go the long way with a full cycle which i reckon will only take a couple of weeks with the preperation work i have done. As we say in the motor trade something in a bottle wont fix a broken engine

Well at least now you know what route to go down.

Best of luck with it.

Regards
Craig

It's wonderful stuff, I have nothing more to say!!

Kev.

Hi Kev, i dont dout that it works but would find it a bit scary with a new set up full of expensive small koi and not being able to get accuraate water tests , i woder would it have any bad effect on the natural cycle process?. At least with testing one can do something if things begin to go wrong . The other thing i dont get is 4 weekly water changes couldnt see that with koi being fed 4 times a day , i expect to be doing 50% water changes twice weekly. Finnally the instruction are very limited and there doesnt appear to be much on the net about it . Probally a product that would be good for setting up an emergency tank quickly . The pack i purchased i will keep for just that reason

I'm running a 1300l tank on it for over 4 years now with out any issues. One of the reasons I opted to start was only having to do monthly not weekly wc. I do however a weekly gravel vac.

What type of tank salt or freshwater , and surely by doing aweekly gravel clean you are also doing a part water change , do you not find it costly using it onan on going basis

The AO discussion.

Most of the problem with the product is awful marketing............if the owners of it from SA stopped spotting rubbish and just marketed it as a water conditioning product then things would be much easier for them.


On the gravel cleaning, my gravel cleaner is an external filter that simply cleans the gravel and pumps filtered water back into the tank.............. it is so much more advanced than the old air-powered sock gravel filter I originally used !!

ian

I too have used OrganicAqua for 5 years plus on my tropical tanks and found it great for the simple reason of doing monthly 25% water changes in my 180 litre tank was a lot simpler. I do get evaporation where my tank is and with the airstone running all the time I still have to top up water by maybe 6 litres a week.

I've used it as a startup on my small 20 litre and then continued with the weekly water changes on the small tank.

It has got more expensive as you have to buy the individual maintenance kits I used to get the bulk kits with bacteria, health (powder) and general (liquid) treatments. Crafty lads in OA have stopped shipping those so works out more expensive as a result.

igmillichip wrote:

The AO discussion.

Most of the problem with the product is awful marketing............if the owners of it from SA stopped spotting rubbish and just marketed it as a water conditioning product then things would be much easier for them.


On the gravel cleaning, my gravel cleaner is an external filter that simply cleans the gravel and pumps filtered water back into the tank.............. it is so much more advanced than the old air-powered sock gravel filter I originally used !!

ian

You really have to explain your filter gravel cleaning in more detail. I'm vacuuming 27 square-foot of tank, so any clever better way and I'm interested.

I do the gravel vac, cause I have some big ass fish that drop big ass crap, I probably remove about 20 l a week, add to that another 15l evaporation. It's not much water change from a big tank. Another option is to start with OA but use biological filtration for a few months then gradually stop the OA.

paulv wrote:

igmillichip wrote:

The AO discussion.

Most of the problem with the product is awful marketing............if the owners of it from SA stopped spotting rubbish and just marketed it as a water conditioning product then things would be much easier for them.


On the gravel cleaning, my gravel cleaner is an external filter that simply cleans the gravel and pumps filtered water back into the tank.............. it is so much more advanced than the old air-powered sock gravel filter I originally used !!

ian

You really have to explain your filter gravel cleaning in more detail. I'm vacuuming 27 square-foot of tank, so any clever better way and I'm interested.

The external filter is simply connected to a flexi hose with a usual gravel cleaning wide tube (a few inches wide): gravel is sucked partially up the tube and falls back under gravity whilst crap is pulled into the external filter and filtered out before returning water to the tank.

As for my large fish such a lungfish that "throw out" what looks like washed human faeces, I use a protein skimmer as well.

ian

Clever system Ian, beats using man lungs to start a strong vacuum and hauling the water out the back door.

Well despite my earlier post i have just added the organic aqua i purchsed a while back to the new koi tank , having a problem getting nitrites down ,even though ammonia level is zero. This is most likely due to the fact that 20 fish were put in at the one time from the Bangor trip . But can i really get away with 4weekly water changes , what do the forum members think

U will do more damage than good not sticking to what it says on the instructions, i used organic aqua a few years ago its ok but i personaly would not use it longterm thats just my opinion

Hi Alan , yes i have used as per instruction, but to go 4 weeks without a water change seems a bit long , and as you know water test using this just arnt acurate , i was hoping to just use it short term say 4 weeks to get things settled and filters up to par .

I'm running 2 tanks on oa, one of them going almost 4 years now, with no issues, only doing once monthly wc.

I think also it depends on what type of fish u are keeping if u want to grow fish fast then its not the way to go, u could do 10% water change each week until.ur swapping back to normal, when u switch back get a sponge out of one of ur established filters and clean it in the koi tank it might look dirty for a day or 2 but will do the tank the world of good

hi Alan , I agree what you say ,my original plan was to feed the koi a 62% protein food 4 times daily with two 50% water changes to get a good growth rate . this is on hold until water perameters settle down , so couldn't see that this would work with only 4 weekly water changes . so reckon the plan will be feed once daily ,gravel clean weekly removing 10% of the water , do this for a month and see what happens but unfortionatly water test cant be relied on while using OA . what do you reckon on this plan of action ?

My only concern about your tank is the nitrite is already high. OA is supposed to be used on a new fresh water tank. I'd keep a very very close eye on you fish for any sign of stress related to nitrite poisoning. Difficulty in breading. I'd keep a large bottle of prime handy just in case, I'd also be adding bacteria in a bottle, your neither going down the OA route or the traditional cycling route, koi are far from cheap fish. Good luck with them, put up some pictures when you can, it's my dream to have a koi pond.