The Skeptical Aquarist

[jacksok]

Just posting to say how much I enjoyed this article. Interesting to see how making dubious claims for aquarium products has had a long if ignoble history. Let's hope aquarist will begin to learn. But in the meantime, I wonder if Eric would care to endorse any of these rigorously researched alternative Miracle Products (http://www.thereef.info/miracles.htm)? And can anyone recommend a US distributor? :D

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2006Q1/Miracle%20Products%20logo%202.gif

Regards

Keith

[Skipper]

:lol:

Good one!

Dunno if Eric will see this due to being out to sea/on the road.

[October]

I enjoyed Eric's article. Leaders in the profession like him should take this matter one step further; i.e products making false claims should be put in the limelight and perhaps scientifically tested to refute its claims. Oftentimes, it appears that endorsment money takes precedence over ethics. Anybody ever test the claims of the various Marc Weiss products?

[sjburkett]

Thank God someone of stature has finally said what most of us believe - that most of the crap out there is just that.

[SMOOLIES]

I really liked that article as well. I agree with the what you said October it would be great to hear about specific products and their claims. I know one thing about the Mark Weiss product coral vital is that is has a lot of calcium and some other trace elements. It says nothing about this on the bottle itself and actually says that your coral calcium consumption will increase. While he does now have lists of contents on his website this is new. I noticed on there that he changed the look of the bottles hopefully he's changed what they say on the back to include more information on what is actually in the bottle. I wish there was more information on what specific contents are good for our reef tanks and not. I saw that his content list a lot of things that you would never find out in the ocean( such as cane molasses, aloe vera and citric acid) and that's a little scarry to me.

[greg10]

I doubt that the vast array of unproven miracle products will lessen any time soon. The manufacturers and stores make huge amounts of money by carrying these products.

One potential solution is to have a certification board that reviews these products for content, safety, and effectiveness.