7 replies to this topic

[OrangeBemba]

Hi was thinking the other day, why are pond products treatment so much cheaper than aquarium products. I mean dechlorinator is dechlorinator, no water if it's for a pond or an aquarium.

Pond products are more concentrated so you what is the different if you have a large tank and you can work out the correct quantity.

Simply an example:

480ml - $15.60
5ml for every 40 liters

Pond Melafix 473ml - $19.30
5ml per 200 liters

Is it packaging ?

I really don't know. Maybe someone can shed some light on this subject.

Before anyone comments, I know you can make your own Melafix. It's simply an example. ok :-)

[Warp]

Lol, how do you make your own melafix? ... As for the price and concentrate diff all I can think of is more people own aquariums? make more money if its less concentrated more expensive... I may be wrong but seems thats they par for the course with aquariums.. pnd stuff is always cheaper.

Regards

Mike.

[anchar]

Pond dechlorinators can be used...make sure your maths is good :wink:

Mike, there's an article here on how to make Melafix (Alternafix)

[hlokk]

I was using some dechlorinator that had one capful to every 10 l or so. I chewed through that with the water changed. Since then I have switched to wardley tristart, which only requires 2 drops per 5 liters. I think it cost me $10-15 or so and has lasted ages (even though i double-dose for safety and filled my pond using it). The 125ml bottle treats 6250L. Makes it very cheap in the long run, even if it had costed $25 or so.

Though, aquariums are a hobby and as such many things like equiptment is overpriced. I guess it would be due to shops not stocking a lot, as well as the manufacturers reaming people for cash they dont need to spend . Cannister filters are just basically a plastic cannister and an inbuilt filter, no way that costs anywhere near $300 to make. Also, as you up sizes, the manufacturing cost barely increases, but the price does.

An odd thing to notice. When i got my eheim pump, i bought it from a computer place, it was significantly cheaper than the shops i checked. (though places like vebas seem a lot cheaper to the smaller places, so maybe vebas would have been cheaper for the pump)

And lastly. In Perth, AFAIK, we only have chlorine, not cloramine, so you can leave the water in a bucket for 24 hrs with a powerhead or airstone and the chlorine will have evaporated. If you stick a small heater in too your water changes will be a lot quicker

[anchar]

we only have chlorine

What about heavy metals?

Andrea

[hlokk]

we only have chlorine

What about heavy metals?

Andrea

Hmm, i hope theres not too much of those in our water 8O (guess theres always trace amounts). My current dechlorinator neutralises heavy metals, but should I be worried about just dechlorinating the water if i changed brands or left the water to aerate?

[Tucunare]

Yeah pond Melafix is 5 times the strengh of aquarium stuff at a fraction of the cost

[OrangeBemba]

Well it looks like that most pond products are ok for aquarium tanks.

What I'm guessing from the comments I've had it's a combination of stuff.

Shipping
Packaging
Dilution of the product.
Marketing

The other thing is that a company can't expect to charge the same prices for a chemical as ponds are going to be much large in most cases. and pond products in aquariums requires correct calculation and measurement, 1m to little or to much could mean a huge amount.