# WARNING: Seachem Neutral Regulator



## clownbard

When I first started my aquarium hobby a few months ago, I went to a nearby store that I found in the yellow pages. It was a locally owned shop, which was why I chose it, but once I got there, I found the staff to be incredibly rude. They basically shoved a bunch of water conditioners at me, saying 'you need this' and 'you need that'. Anyway, one of the things I bought from them was Seachem's 'Neutral Regulator', which was supposed to be essentially a dechlorinator as well as a water softener, since we have really hard water here.

I was using the recommended dosage when doing water changes recently, because I wasnt happy with the hardness levels of my tap water. Soon, I started to notice the dreaded algae. Persuing a solution, I read the forums here and found lots of good information (thanks folks!). I decided to get a phosphate test, and immediately discovered the problem. My phosphate levels were off the charts! I decided to test some water that I had been aging for my next water change, and it also tested through the roof. Being quite disturbed by the possibility that my tap water had unreasonable levels of phosphate, I decided to test one more time, straight from the tap, and it came up clear of phosphates.

So, what was causing it? The only thing I was putting in my water was a standard dechlorinator and some of the neutral regulator stuff. After a little searching, with no help from the Seachem website, I found out that the neutral regulator was in fact a phosphate buffer!! What was that store trying to do to me? Make me into an algae farm?! Every water change, I was basically dosing my water with an extreme amount of phosphate.

Anyway, I thought I'd share this lesson with the forum, so maybe others wont make the same mistake. I may end up using it to raise my phosphate levels if that ends up being necessary, but I'm certainly not going to use anywhere near the dosages recommended!

PS I dont see this product listed on the Seachem website anymore. Perhaps they've discontinued it, which makes me even more perturbed with that store. I guess they were trying to pawn off a poor selling item on me or something.


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## mario

Yeah, some stores try to sell you stuff that is really quite useless. Thanks for sending out this warning.

On a different note, I see in your signature that you have 3 clown loaches in your 10 gallon tank. Possibly, the clerks in the fish store told you that Clown Loaches might be happy in a 10 gallon tank. Unfortunately, these guys turn into massive fish, when fully grown. In the wild, people reported seeing these at over 20''.

Check out this link to see "Basil", a massive 11'' Clown Loach together with his smaller buddies. To properly house these loaches, I would recommend nothing less than a 55 gallon tank.


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## clownbard

mario said:


> On a different note, I see in your signature that you have 3 clown loaches in your 10 gallon tank.


Yeah, I actually did a lot of reading about my loaches before I got them. Clown loaches are like fish puppies. They live basically as long as a dog, and they certainly act like puppies. The 10 gallon is only temporary housing while they are still young. I intend to move them to a bigger tank as they get older. I figure 3 loaches and 2 ottos in a 10 gal is fine for now, and they can grow with me as I get new tanks to feed my addiction. :wink:



mario said:


> Check out this link to see "Basil", a massive 11'' Clown Loach together with his smaller buddies. To properly house these loaches, I would recommend nothing less than a 55 gallon tank.


Yeah, I've seen Basil before. He's HUGE!! :shock: In fact, I hope to have a nice tank like Basil's for my loaches some day.


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## 2la

clownbard said:


> ...After a little searching, with no help from the Seachem website, I found out that the neutral regulator was in fact a phosphate buffer!!


I'm sorry to hear of your tribulations, but let's be fair, though. This information exists:



Seachem website said:


> Neutral Regulator™ Support
> 
> Q: What is the difference between Neutral Regulator™, Discus Buffer™, Alkaline Buffer™, and Acid Buffer™?
> A: Neutral Regulator™and Discus Buffer™are phosphate based buffers providing a very strong and stable buffering system. Alkaline Buffer™and Acid Buffer™are non-phosphate buffers, which although less stable than a phosphate buffer, are ideal for the planted aquarium where high phosphate levels would lead to an algae problem.


From http://www.seachem.com/support/FAQs/NeutralRegulator_faq.html


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## clownbard

Well, perhaps I didnt look hard enough, but I went to the search website, went to products and then conditioners...

http://seachem.com/products/conditioners.html

... and found no listing of it there. Upon closer inspection, I see someone touting it on the testimonials there, but no link to the product. Am I missing a link to their support section or something?

Oh, wait... I found it..


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## clownbard

actually though... to really be fair, it says nothing about phosphates on the container itself. You would think it would be there, and I wouldnt have to go wandering around their website. What if I lived under a rock with no internet connection?!


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## 2la

You said "no help from the Seachem _website_," not the bottle. Truth is there are very few aquarium additives that reveal their full content; this industry is all about buyer beware.

And if you lived under a rock without access to the internet, my guess is that you won't find any Seachem products nearby, either.


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## newkidvoodoo

i just went through an entire container of seachem neutral regulator, and i never noticed any increase in algae growth in my tank. my tank is moderately to heavily planted, with high light and Co2. maybe that has something to do with it? in other words, my plants are out competing the algae for the phosphates?


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## WhiteDevil

Newkid, Yes some plants are better at it then others.


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## rich815

My phosphate levels have been "through the roof" for almost a year yet I have no algae issues...


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## Gatekeeper

Whitedevil, you realize you just answered a question that was posted 5 years ago right? LOL.


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## jamey

GREAT. I have been feeding my tank phosphates then. I just started a thread asking about why my phosphates are off the chart. Wow.


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## FlyingHellFish

Gatekeeper said:


> Whitedevil, you realize you just answered a question that was posted 5 years ago right? LOL.


jamey, you realize you just answered a question that was posted 4 years ago right? LOL.


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## CHOMPPPPP

FlyingHellFish said:


> jamey, you realize you just answered a question that was posted 4 years ago right? LOL.


What are the odds?


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