is it just me or......

[Damseluver]

Or does all the equipment associated with this hobby suck? I have quite the box full. Skimmers that don't, name brand light fixtures where the ballast last little over a year, return pumps that leak voltage, power heads that spit micro bubbles and I am sure if I thought about it I could come up with some more but every time I look at my junk box of aquarium equipment I get sick to my stomach.

I have been plagued by equipment issues since setting up the 120 gal and am about to wave the white flag. It seems that if the warranty on an item is a year it breaks down and needs to be replaced exactly 366 days later.

At this point I am so stand offish about purchasing equipment that every piece involves days of contemplation and reading reviews on the net. Even then the vast majority after purchase involves some form of end user modification to make it work properly or install properly which also involves hours of surfing the net to find who has found the best diy solution to a supposedly professionally built piece of equipment. The feeling of throwing good money after bad accompanys every purchase and is sucking the joy out of this hobby for me.

Here are the options I am considering at this point.

Break it all down and pursue other hobby interest.

Sell off the corals and move to fish only. I will still be dealing with many of the same equipment issues but with water quality and lighting less of an issue it should make things more acceptable. Can also have a few fish species that were never and option for a reef tank.

Brake it down and set back up as a cichlid tank. I have not kept cichlids in a few decades but have begun lurking there forums and things have changed, namely availability of some rather stunning species.

AT any rate I will be doing something in the near future. I no longer have any desire to support the manufacturers of SW equipment when it is apparent they put little effort into there products.

 

[fatman]

Reef aquariums are like diamonds. Very much, and only a luxury, and the manufacturers and retailers no that.

 

[yote]

This is one hobby that can sure make you pull your hair out.And I understand where your coming from.
But part of the fun (for me any way)is trying to make things work,or at least work better.I can just sit and watch the tank,I have to tinker with something.
What ever you decide to do,I wish you luck with it.

 

[Altohombre]

make sure you do a lot of research on the equipment you buy beforehand. Ask around here and check other reviews on other sites. You can also post a thread on one of the big sites asking how a certain type of equipment has worked for them.

 

[Damseluver]

Reef aquariums are like diamonds. Very much, and only a luxury, and the manufacturers and retailers no that.

seems to me this would be a motivating factor in trying to keep the customers they do have.

With the economy the way it is I believe corporate america in general are going to be looking at some consumer enforced corrections to the way they do business vary soon and its going to make the mortgage mess look like a picnic in comparison.

Certainly putting out a crap product in a sector of the economy that relies solely on peoples expendable income is going to guarantee a trip to the bankruptcy lawyer.

 

[McCrary]

I bought a lot of junk equipment when I was starting out in this hobby, most of it got thrown away, broke or didn't do a good enough job. After learning quite a bit on RC I decided that if I was going to succeed in this hobby and enjoy it for a long time to come I would need to spend money on good equipment. The equipment I have now is all very good and was a considerable investment, but I have not had any of the issues I used to have with cheaper equipment. You don't have to go out and buy the latest greatest stuff, but slowly acquiring good pieces of equipment will ensure that this hobby remains fun and rewarding. For instance, if you need to replace your powerheads, skimmer and lights, simply pick one and replace it with a quality piece of equipment from a reliable manufacturer. My lights are run by IceCap 250 watt electronic ballasts, not too long ago one of them wouldn't start and I contacted the company. They told me to send it to them, which I did, they tested it and said it worked fine, but still sent me a new ballast. I tried it on my system and it didn't work, so they told me to send it back and they replaced AGAIN with the latest edition that was almost two years newer than the one I had. This one worked and I doubt that the two previously were bad, I rewired my system on the third one and thats why I think it worked. But they were such a good company they sent me two new ballasts just to make me happy. Another company that didn't have the quality and support they had would probably not have done that. H&S (the company I bought my skimmer from) will take back a skimmer or pump that isn't working and test it and replace anything, while still under warranty and they will take it back and test it and try to get it to work while it isn't under warranty and if there is something wrong they will try to get you the stuff for cheap to get it to work. I have seen H&S take skimmers that were purchased used and try to get them working and make the person happy, even though they didn't purchase the skimmer from them. So, to me thats worth the extra money I pay, the equipment I have can be expensive, but its the little things. My Eheim return pump has been running for 2 years nonstop without being cleaned and I expect it to for years to come, if it doesn't I totally expect the company to do something for me and I bet they will. The trick is to buy a good piece of equipment once and enjoy it for years to come, rebuying cheap equipment over and over again is like throwing money away and just like you are experiencing it will suck the fun right out of this hobby.

 

[kyle]

you got 2 free ballast. WOW thats costomer service!

 

[McCrary]

Well I didn't get to keep the ballasts they sent me, I had to send them one to get one, but I did get the latest one from them even though mine was an older model.

 

[kyle]

still man u got a brand new ballests they usally cast wat like 250 300 bucks maybe.

 

[McCrary]

The new IC's run around $150 and they have a couple improvements over the old IC's, mainly built in heat sinks so they stay cooler. Good companies make this hobby fun and enjoyable because you can depend on them for support. I just PM'd H&S on RC and told them I lost a piece for my skimmer (the piece that regulates the air flow in and out of the skimmer). They are shipping it out tomorrow free of charge, so it makes things nice when I can contact a company and get a fast response and get my problem solved.

 

[fatman]

I consider RC a site of last resort. Other than this site I mainly utilize Wet Web Media or Advance Aquarists or I just google the specific authors opinion I wish. The other sites I go to for information, not participation. RC is the last forum site I would ever consider participating in. There is some good information there but mainly just a lot of huge Egos. I may be an egomaniac myself, but at least I also have an inferiority complex to help balance it out.

 

[Damseluver]

I consider RC a site of last resort. Other than this site I mainly utilize Wet Web Media or Advance Aquarists or I just google the specific authors opinion I wish. The other sites I go to for information, not participation. RC is the last forum site I would ever consider participating in. There is some good information there but mainly just a lot of huge Egos. I may be an egomaniac myself, but at least I also have an inferiority complex to help balance it out.

This is definitely true. There are more than a few forums that are inhabited and even moderated by hobbyist who's experience could be considered limited. Having a marine biology degree does not equate to expert when it comes to reef aquariums.

More often than not the "rules and methods" of reef keeping are set in stone for these people and any one who dare stray from those rules are often shouted down and accused of being unethical or better yet not a conscientious reef keeper. I got nothing against Calfo but for the love of god do I wish he had titled his book something else.

IMO this attitude is going to stifle the advancement of the hobby. I have often tried to explain to these people that many of the fish species and corals that even new reef keepers now easily house where once considered nearly impossible and given todays climate would not have been attempted for fear of castigation from fellow and more conscientious minded hobbyist.

Oddly enough these same conscientious minded reef keepers are probably the same types that gather at the NY Times cocktail party and commend each other on there free thinking and tolerant attitudes.:D

 

[fatman]

I must admit I still have a hard time dealing emotionally with the typical LFS selling very hard to keep species to beginning aquarists. Just as I have a hard time dealing with some of the myths about cycling tanks, curing rock, deep sand beds, silicate sand, tank circulation and not feeding stoney corals. I am a supporter and promoter of advancements in methodologies of keeping marine and marine reef tanks and would like to see many more species of fish being aqua cultured or maricultured or both, but I do not see selling every species of fish and coral or anemone obtainable to any body willing to buy it as a method of accomplishing this. Most of these fish, corals, and anemones die without there being advancements made in the ability to house these creatures. I also have a hard time with people who will spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on fish and corals but buy and use only the cheap equipment as part of their systems. I understand some frugalness, but not cheapness. There are to many people taking efforts to provide sound , healthy systems that are thought of as crazy because they do not buy the cheapest equipment or install the cheapest DIY equipment. If that makes me intolerant and not free thinking I am obviously a miss as to how being different would be better for the fish, coral or the reef keeping hobby/business. I actually consider myself mid-road between tolerant and in-tolerant. I can see reason behind a $200 skimmer, versus a $800 skimmer when the $200 skimmer is adequate to the job, just not custom made or made of the best possible materials. I, however, can not understand some one who instead would purchase a $40 skimmer for that same sized tank, then go out and spend a thousand dollars or more in a month or so on fish and corals, watch half of them die then go out and buy more without a thought to buying a skimmer that is worth using. That goes on with all types of equipment, pumps, sumps, refugiums, lights, RO filters, RODI filters, circulation systems, overflows. Do I think Calfo is worth listening to, Yes. Do I think Randy Holmes-Farley is worth listening to, Yes. Same for Bob Fenner, Frank Hoff, Martin Moe, Dana Riddle, Joshi and a lot of others. Do I accept every thing they say as correct, NO! I have read myths, errors, mistakes, skewed scientific data, and pure speculation from them, as well as reading it in college text books, and in recognized reference manuals. I have heard experts such as them go from one belief to the exact opposite in a matter of a few months or a few years. I however can not say that the major advancements in being able to provide safe and easy reef tanks in a home has come about through the experimentation of home aquarists. Most home aquarists seem very stubborn about change and hang on to a lot of myths about keeping reef tank and marine tanks with tooth and nail. The marine reef retailers and manufacturers seem to like to perpetuate this myth based keeping of aquariums though as it allows them to make huge sums of money on substandard, bad, unnecessary, ineffective, and unsafe products. The only change they promote must be a profit making one or the will work to prevent the changes in methodologies to increase or maintain there profits.
As for Calfo's book title. He did not provide a lot that would be expected with a book titled as it is. It seems like propagation was pretty much a small aspect of his book. Still, it brings out a lot that was seldom openly discussed in other books and forums sites. I however, I have not seen any really good books or text on coral (aquaculture, propagation, growing) or on systems for such. The only thing that seems to be universal is the solution to pollution is dilution. More and more commercial and successful home keepers or coral and marine fish are starting to return to large regular water changes and or continuous water renewal/replacement systems.