Problem Equipment

[robbiej]

Anytime one starts a new a hobby, like myself. There is a tendency to make the mistake of purchasing inferior equipment without knowing it. Is there some equipment I should avoid? I am specifically speaking about skimmers, pumps, lighting, powerheads, etc.

Thanks

 

[bradreef]

there is sooooo much to avoid. It would be better if you asked for opinions on what to buy. If you have a thirty gallon then you need to decide if you are going to have a sump or not. If you dont then it will limit your choices to a couple of hangon skimmers.

 

[gobie]

it also depends what it is that you plan on keeping. fish only, corals, reef, inverts, sps ,lps,zoos,fresh, saltwater,brackish, the list gos on and on. i will start by saying no to skilter's and no to power sweeps! and that lil bubble blowing diver guy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and pretty much anything you find at walmart.

 

[big t]

No wet dry w/ bio balls, no Seaclone skimmer, no rio's. That is just a start. Please ask b4 you buy anything, there is a lot of crap out there.

 

[wrightme43]

Wal-mart is the devil. One other thing that I like to do is get more than one opinion on each piece of equiptment. Its best if the person actullly owns or has owned it. LOL Hope that helps Steve

 

[NaH2O]

I'm with bigT on the Rio pumps. I have one that I use in my water mix barrel. I have to bang on it everytime to get it to start. I would hate to see what would happen if the power fails and that is running on my tank.....when the power comes back on, it wouldn't.

 

[Ed Hahn]

Avoid the Eco-Aqualizer .

 

[gobie]

hey ed do you want mine it was free and i would be more than willing to pass it on. its too small for a potatoe gun so i can't use it.

 

[Ed Hahn]

:shock: , I heard Mojo likes them for removing wrinkles, he may have something there?

 

[gobie]

I was really bummed I wanted to meet you at the last psas meeting. I wont be going to the next one only because i use to volenteer and work for the seattle aquarium.

 

[robbiej]

No wet dry w/ bio balls, no Seaclone skimmer, no rio's. That is just a start. Please ask b4 you buy anything, there is a lot of crap out there.

Thanks for the advice on the Seaclone, I was going to start with a sump but I am going to wait for now. I was thinking of going with a BakPak II. When I upgrade I am going to use the 30 for the sump.

 

[gobie]

I have owned both seaclone and bakpak skimmers. and i rate them the same there are better hot skimmers out there. that you might not have to upgrade.

 

[Ed Hahn]

Anytime one starts a new a hobby, like myself. There is a tendency to make the mistake of purchasing inferior equipment without knowing it. Is there some equipment I should avoid? I am specifically speaking about skimmers, pumps, lighting, powerheads, etc.

Thanks

Robbie,
If you want to do SPS corals in the future. You may want to get the lighting for SPS corals and Clams now. What I am saying is that Softies do not usually require the amount of light that SPS, and Clams do. If you got good lighting for everything including clams now it would be one less step in the future. I feel its very important to compare different tanks and see lighting used and growth of different corals with different lighting. I hope this helps.
Ed

Dave,
I pmed ya. Thanks for compliment.
Ed

 

[bradreef]

I have purchased bad skimmers, had to upgrade my lighting and now I am getting rid of my powerheads and I bought a tunze stream that will replace the powerheads and wavemaker. If you run a sump then there are a lot of good skimmers out there. There are good (beckett skimmer, Asm, Euroreef and other major brands), bad skimmers (no name cheap brands, seaclone, skilter) and O.K skimmers (Nautilus, red sea berlin, Bak paks). Many more are out there. lighting which is easier to get a little more then have to buy a whole new setup. And one of the most overlooked things, Water movement which totally depends on each individual tank(what size, shape, and what is in it).

 

[plack]

I think ebo-jager makes a good heater and hold off on sustrate until youve read the difference between bare bottom and deep sand beds and know the pro's and con's also there is the question of what will you do like will you buy a reverse osmosis de-ionize water filter and get a total disolved solids meter or buy filtered water that choice depends on your finances and what makes sence to you whats logical with your size of tank etc I belive canister filters should NOT be run full time as they are just to much of a nitrate trap but good for 2-3 days a month a sump is probably best but it can be confusing to select the size pump gph amount drilling the tank or getting an overflow box etc (if you go this route a c.p.r. overflow box with an aqua lifter pump and a not attached sump skimmer is best and i've seen the improvement's but it was not fun for me setting up a sump before you start aquiring things think about this)
the important things are skimmer light waterflow and on this site read and ask lots of questions or go to a meeting : Puget Sound Aquarium Society the link is on this site hope this helps

 

[Oscapus]

Stay away from Clearwater Tech equipment. It is very high end and expensive, but a year later replacement UV bulbs were twice the price of competitors, and two years later not available at all. Anybody want a $400 paperweight?

 

[pyro31x]

dont buy a millenium filter. i have had it for 6 months and the airation thing broke

 

[pyro31x]

have you heard of a viaaqua multiskimmer? Im about to buy one to replace the millenium but im not sure how good it is

 

[gobie]

via aqua multi is an ok skimmer there are better out there for around the same price check out the thread o2many fishes thread on skimmer compairson.

 

[Bahivdiba]

Have any of you used a Remora hang on? whats a good RODI? i've seen lower cost 4 stage units , but I want to get one that I'm not gonna have to upgrade in the future ,(when I actually might think I know what I'm doing!)