Why Aquarium Chemicals Work Better at Jobs They're Not Sold For (And It's Not What You Think)
Last month, I was scrolling through Facebook when the algorithm served me a post from an aquascaping group. Someone was passionately tearing apart Seachem Excel on two fronts: first, why isn't it marketed as an algaecide when that's clearly what people use it for? Second, why market it as a carbon source when no one can actually prove it helps plants that way?
I almost responded right there in the comments with everything I'm about to tell you. But then I thought—why waste a perfectly good blog post? By the time the admin approved my join request weeks later, the moment had passed anyway.
So here's my answer. And I need to be clear upfront: I'm not affiliated with Seachem, APT, API, or any other aquatic or biotech companies, except DriftAqua.
The One Word That Explains Everything: Regulatory
Do you know why products like Seachem Excel excel (sorry, had to) at jobs other than what they're marketed to do? Or any other products marketed as liquid carbon (API CO2 Booster, Easy-Life Easy Carbo, Aquarium Co-op Easy Carbon, etc.)
One word: Regulatory.
This is the word that makes product development companies quiver—the unseen master puppeteer of every industry. Regulators hold the keys to releasing a product to market and can make your favorite product disappear from store shelves overnight.
What happens when a product borders the realm of regulatory scrutiny is fascinating—a visceral grasping for meaning. What can my product do that won't alarm the regulatory gods?
This isn't exclusive to the aquarium hobby. It's everything we use or consume.
The Science Behind the Marketing
I personally don't know whether Seachem really intended Excel to be a carbon source. But as a scientist, I know that aldehydes—the main component of Excel—are known in biochemistry as "fixatives." The name tells you exactly what they do.
Upon contact with cells, these chemicals "fix" them, arresting their development at a certain moment in time. How do you stop a biological clock? By killing the cell and preserving it. Formalin, the chemical embalmers use to preserve dead bodies, is an aldehyde solution. Of course, the contents of liquid carbon products are proprietary chemicals, proprietary meaning the company does not want to divulge the contents to protect the financial value of their product, and not necessarily that they invented it. On the other hand, 2Hr Aquarist APT Fix states that their product contains 3% epoxy aldehydes. I assume that the other companies use similar forms of epoxy aldehydes or gluteraldehydes for their product.
I, like thousands of aquascapers, use these "carbon sources" as algaecides. And to be completely honest? They work incredibly well.
But here's the thing: both claims could be true. Given enough time, aldehydes—being carbon polymers that reversibly hydrolyze—can break down into fundamental units that plants might use as a carbon source. It's related to (but not exactly the same as) how they use carbon dioxide for photosynthesis.
The science is plausible. But that's not why it's marketed this way.
The Regulatory Nightmare Scenario
Let me paint you a picture. Imagine a guy named Joseph wants to start a chemical company focused on algaecides. Here's what he faces:
First, Joseph needs regulatory experts. Probably regulatory lawyers too.
Second, he'd have to register his product in each country where he plans to sell as a biocide—something that kills living organisms. Each country has different regulations and requirements.
Third, he'd likely need costly assessments, potentially including field trials if supporting data isn't available or insufficient.
Fourth, he must fully disclose all risks associated with the product.
Fifth, he plays the waiting game. Will it even be approved? When?
And throughout all of this: time and fees, fees, fees.
If big companies struggle with this, imagine smaller ones trying to innovate.
Yes, these regulations keep us safe. The medications we take have undergone multi-phase trials and post-market evaluations for good reason. But there's a line where bureaucracy becomes a noose, and that's why innovation in the aquarium space is painfully slow.
The Double-Edged Sword
This creates a strange situation where most aquarium products we buy from stores don't actually work as claimed—or rather, as we think they claimed.
The nuance is key. Companies can loosely claim something even if it doesn't work, as long as it doesn't trigger regulatory scrutiny.
Example: Bottled bacteria for cycling tanks.
We all hope they work. But you know what actually works? Asking someone with an established tank for some mulm (filter debris and waste) next time they clean their filters.
Bottled bacteria products are harmless and non-triggering to regulators because:
- The use is highly contained (never used outside a tank)
- They're not biocides—no claim of killing organisms
- They're not biohazards since these bacteria are ubiquitous
So they're unlikely to trigger regulatory measures.
The sad part? Tell me a bottled bacteria product that's scientifically proven to work. I'll wait.
Chances are, your tank developed nitrifying bacteria over time naturally, not from the bottle. Bacteria are living organisms—nothing survives that long bottled and starving. Their spores might, but the science is still hazy about which specific bacteria or archaea actually do the heavy lifting in our tanks, converting ammonia and nitrite to safer nitrate.
There might be authentic products that work, but they're rare and usually not the ones driven by marketing hype.
Who Can Afford This Regulatory Gauntlet?
You know what field can afford multiple regulatory cycles without burning out? Pharmaceuticals.
Pharma developments can weather these regulations because market valuations and investments often approach hundreds of millions or billions of dollars. For a drug company, each product might be valued at roughly $100,000 per patient per year of treatment. (At least, that's how I'd calculate it if I started a biopharma company.)
Multiply that by the number of potential patients across all countries where you operate, and you've got your addressable market value.
For an algaecide sold to aquarium hobbyists? The economics just don't work the same way.
The Regulatory Tricks (Legal Ones)
As a scientist exposed to both big pharma and niche biotech, I've seen regulation as the common problem everyone faces. But here's the thing: there are tricks. Legal ones.
The trick is simple: do what's written in the guidebook.
I've helped labs navigate regulatory processes—figuring out which parts need permits and which don't. Many regulations aren't actually that hard to comply with. Some are fairly loose.
For instance, regulations on who can set up a basic biochemistry lab are straightforward. Want to do tissue culture with plants and common biological materials only, with zero genetic engineering involved? You can probably start today.
Notice all the caveats in that sentence? "Plants and common biological materials only." "Zero genetic engineering." That's regulation—a clause within a clause.
I can't just say, "I'm starting a tissue culture lab!" and then start brewing anthrax in my basement. (Okay, that's extreme, but you get the point.) We can safely operate within what we're allowed because experts convened to decide what's safe and how things should be regulated.
Want to start a simple benchtop science lab to propagate ornamental plants you intend to keep inside the lab? Go for it. But remember: regulations change country to country, and even town to town.
Regulation Isn't the Enemy
I don't want this to sound entirely negative. Regulatory frameworks exist to keep us secure. They're restrictive by nature because if we had free rein on everything, I don't want to know what Mr. Bob might be cooking in his basement lab.
But having regulations doesn't mean we can't do anything at all. In fact, regulations come with support. If a regulation exists for something, chances are there's literature to help you navigate those rules.
Here's another example from my small world of California biotechnology:
If someone wants to start a lab that works with genetic material—modifying DNA and placing it into cells (say, a cancer cell to understand how genes affect cancer)—they need to convene a biosafety committee.
Chances are, your city already has one. You present your plan, they review it and tell you what needs changing to comply with regulations. Yes, it's a process—often a long one because biosafety meetings don't happen constantly. Committee members volunteer while maintaining full-time jobs. If changes are needed, you reconvene in a month and hope you got it right this time.
What This Means for Aquarium Hobbyists
So when you're standing in the aquarium store looking at products, understand this:
The label often tells you what the company can claim, not necessarily what the product actually does best.
Liquid carbon products (aldehydes) work great as an algaecide. But calling it that would trigger regulatory requirements that might not make economic sense for the company or the market.
Bottled bacteria might help cycle your tank, but the claim is loose enough to avoid regulatory scrutiny—and unfortunately, loose enough that many products don't actually deliver.
The products that work best are often the ones we've figured out through trial, error, and community knowledge-sharing. They're the mulm from an established filter, the "wrong" use of Excel that actually solves your algae problem, the careful balance of parameters that no bottle can replicate.
Understanding the regulatory landscape doesn't make you cynical—it makes you informed. And informed aquarists build better tanks.
So the next time someone asks why a product isn't marketed as something it does better, you can smile and say: "Probably, regulatory".
Check DriftTech™ for science-backed products for use in aquaria and the laboratory.