From: shine@cbnewsh.cb.att.com (stephen.c.shine)
Subject: Re: Novaqua and phosphates
Organization: AT&T
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 15:33:18 GMT

In article youshen@fraser.sfu.ca (You-Sheng Kang) writes:
>This is regarding a thread that a netter posted a while ago in sci.aquaria.
>I was wondering is anyone could confirm this. The poster said that using

The following is from John Kuhns, inventor of Novaqua & operator of EECHO 
Systems (Kansas City).  Jim Hurley posted this on net news for John a while 
back.  

JK> >From ames!compuserve.com!76702.447 Sun Mar 15 08:28:51 1992
JK> To: <jimh@ultra.com>
JK> Subject: Novaqua phosphates
JK> 
JK>        As you suspected the information about NovAqua using a phosphate
JK> buffer is "old news".  In addition, we remain, basically, unrepentant in
JK> this regard.  That is, since phosphate is not toxic in aquariums, and since
JK> it is one of the best buffering systems and it adds to alkalinity to the
JK> treated water, we have chosen to not change the formula after all of these
JK> years.  The phosphate buffer system has been a feature of NovAqua ever 
JK> since I first invented it way back in early 1974.
JK>        You are correct about the fact that phosphate, like nitrate, is a
JK> nutrient for both vascular and non-vascular plants in aquariums.  However,
JK> the approximately 5 mg/L concentration produced by NovAqua (when used as
JK> directed) causes so few problems (anxiety about adding phosphate to one's
JK> aquarium, of course, is one of the major problems <grin>) that we have
JK> chosen to keep it as part of the formula.
JK>        The formula of NovAqua is proprietary, and if it were not for the
JK> fact that every major manufacturer (and most of the smaller ones) in the
JK> aquarium industry has attempted to copy the formula then we would willingly
JK> reveal the formula.  Since NovAqua is non-toxic (as stated on the label)
JK> there are no regulations that require us to list its ingredients; the
JK> evaluation of its non-toxicity is based upon the U.S. Gov't's requirements
JK> for determining and subsequently labeling consumer products as such.  That
JK> is, toxicological evaluations have been performed and the data and results
JK> are available upon request (from Kordon, our exclusive distributor for this
JK> product).  Kordon has a private message board in the Aquatic Data Center 
JK> (GO AQUADATA) here on CIS; I strongly encourage you to communicate with 
JK> them there.
JK>        AmQuel contains no phosphate (as I am sure you know from your own
JK> testing).  Since this product is patented its formula can be revealed; its
JK> active ingredient is hydroxymethanesulfonic acid, sodium salt, dissolved in
JK> water.
JK>        I sincerely hope that you continue to use NovAqua especially since
JK> there are no other formulas quite like it available to the aquarist.  When
JK> you contact Kordon, please ask them for their latest Product Data Sheet on
JK> both NovAqua and AmQuel (and on any othger Kordon products you use).
JK> 
JK>                                    ==John Farrell Kuhns==
JK>                                ==Inventor: Novaqua & AmQuel==
JK>                                     ==Kansas City, MO==
JK> 

I have since had the opportunity to speak with John directly about NovAqua.
He is a very knowledgeable person, and I appreciated him calling me.  However,
based upon my own personal and non-scientific experience (how's that for a
disclaimer?), I no longer use NovAqua nor do I specifically recommend NovAqua
to anyone.  If you think it's causing algae in your tank, I suggest you
perform some type of controlled experiment to satisfy your own curiosity.

I've been meaning to write a letter to John and CC it to the net, but work
has taken over again.  In summary, John and I had a good chat about several
topics that have been discussed on the net, including what constitutes
an informative ingredients labels and what "old news" means.  You can contact
John at the above CompuServe address.  He's very approachable and pretty
straightforward.

-- 
Steve Shine
AT&T Bell Labs    (908)949-8517
att!hoqub!shine   att!cbnewsh!shine
My opinions, not my employers, not my fault, blah, blah, blah.