I watched every video I could find on YouTube and read every forum post and like you mentioned the end result was inconclusive. Some said they could see a drop in nitrates where most said it had no negligible effect. As a media it's perfectly adequate but I was hoping to see what Seachem claims.I'm adding a good number of fish to the tank in the next 6 weeks and so with that change, I probably will not be able to say with much certainty whether or not the matrix had made a difference. I guess it can't hurt though, and may possibly help.