Reef Regrets: Have you bought equipment that you later regretted?

[Peace River]

Reef Regrets: Have you bought equipment that you later regretted?

It may have been a perfectly good piece of equipment, but it just didn’t work for your tank, it didn’t work the way you expected, it didn’t fit, it took too much tinkering to get it to work, or it didn’t last nearly as long as you expected. There are many reasons why you might have regretted the purchase, but most of us have been through the experience of buying the lesser priced item or buying too small and then soon realizing that we should have made a different purchase decision. Please tell us about your buying decisions – have you bought equipment that you later regretted?

Photo by @HilmSean


This QOTD is sponsored by Nutramar: https://www.qualitymarine.com/nutramar/

“Nutramar’s 100% natural food products are used by public aquaria and breeders around the world. They offer superior nutrition to your most finicky and delicate fish and invertebrates.

 

[Stevorino]

LOTS of purchases I regret over my decade in the hobby....

#1 regret is definitely buying used, scratched glass for my first display.

#2 regret was buying a bunch of Jebao devices back in the day, all of which failed me over time.

#3 regret was buying a huge livestock water trough as a sump to get more water volume. I got more water volume, but I didn't realize the extent of the downsides until after moving to an actual Sump built for reefing.

 

[SPS2020]

Oh my...where to start?!?! How about with my tank? Could have saved a TON of money! LOL

 

[Traderj]

Shoot I bought in on the Zeovit craze. What a nightmare. Had no idea what I was doing since I had just started back in the hobby and saw it on BRStv 52 weeks. Ultimately sold the reactor and moved to AF 123 and a fuge.

Bought a used Hydra 26. Thought it would perform well with a frag tank. Didn't have anywhere near the par that I was expecting. Sold it only to find out from the buyer that royal blues were out. Sigh. Lost about $200 on that deal.

Have 2x XR15 G5 Pros over my 40b. Bought brand new and mulled over that purchase for months. Researched everywhere. Read Echotech's own research and came to the conclusion that 2 would be enough. Par is so much lower than I expected unless whites are turned way up. Turns out I guess I should have got blues if I wanted just 2 and also run AB+.

Bought a Skimz skimmer right before they went out of business. It's failed four times and I'm now out of spare parts. Have a new BM one ready to go for the new tank.

Bought what I thought was a cool 3d printed media reactor for a 10g AIO. Took ages to get from the guy. When I got it, it was oily and didn't go together like I had expected. Poor craftsmanship. The guy ghosted me after I questioned the quality.

 

[VintageReefer]

Mag Drive AC pumps. Sorry Danner! I bought these for 150-180$ when starting my reef and they never lasted more then 2-3 years. Granted dc pumps were not readily available nor cheap, but I remember thinking these mag drives needed frequent cleanings and even still would end up seizing up and becoming a brick. And they were pricy and sometimes noisy

After my second mag 7 died, I bought a Jebao dc return pump, with 3-400 more gph, adjustable speed and feed mode, and spent $80. That pump worked better, and was quieter, and lasted 3 years and 11 months without a single cleaning. I felt I got my money worth - half the price and roughly double the life

I then got a uniclife generic dc return pump from Amazon, for 73$, and it’s been running 24/7 from June 2017 to present day. It’s actually a great pump and runs my 75g reef and I’ve never had any issues.

Dc pumps also have significant less power draw which helps my battery backup system last longer during power outages. If there’s a power outage I set to to use 20 watts of power, and my backup battery can run this way for 23 hours providing my feed with circulation, filtration, and oxygen.

I’ll never spend big bucks on a return pump again. I’ll never buy an ac return pump again

 

[ThaBeast]

I've always regretted any chinese knock off brand I've ever purchased. Regretted moving to dc return pumps once too, sticking with Iwakis and using sound deadener now. Buy once, cry once.

 

[reef tank 2.0]

for me, it isn't so much a regret, as it has all worked out in the end.

but, when i bought my current tank, it turned out that the sump wouldn't slide in and out of the stand from the front. ended up having to move the sump to the basement.

It ended up working out in the end, but certainly something I wasn't planning on doing at the beginning.

 

[ileolai]

Jebao wavemaker. i have even cheaper, no-brand wavemakers that work better than the jebao that died after a week.

 

[Eyllis]

Not buying a bigger tank and purchasing an Apex instead of a Hydros. My Apex got fried when the electricity at my house flickered. I had it less than two years and it was plugged into a surge protector.

 

[Blackstar]

Plenty of bad buys over 24 years, cheap flow pumps that started to run in reverse, Cheap nasty equipment that broke or wore out quickly, Leaking tanks, skimmers that were no good. My current tank/cabinet/sump I bought brand new along with a quality skimmer, heater & pumps I bought the best I could afford. Hydra 52 light that I did a deal on so it cost me nothing. I've just upgraded the flow pumps to give more flow. It's been running almost 4 years & never had a problem with equipment apart from a reactor pump that used to stick after the power had gone off but a good clean sorted it

 

[ukgeoff]

Unfortunately, the experience with my Mastertronic hasn't been as positive as I'd hoped, owing to its unreliability and high maintenance. Additionally, I've encountered some challenges with the Reef Factory smart tester I purchased recently. From the beginning, it's been problematic and, sadly, hasn't worked at all since I received it. I'm in the process of seeking a refund and arranging its return.

I also own an Apex which has been replaced twice under warranty, and I swapped over a faulty solenoid myself when the warranty expired. Despite these challenges, I still find the Apex incredibly useful and wouldn't consider it part of this list.

 

[CKW]

What a question lol. I have bought many mistakes over the years. My first tank was a teng in 1947 or 8. Error was it was too small. HOB filters were also errors. Two or three skimmers that didn’t work as I expected.
A Lion fish that cleaned out the tank. Etc, etc , etc. having said that I wouldn’t trade the mistakes they were all learning tools.

 

[BeanAnimal]

In 25 or so years… Reefbot Lab and several Hanna checkers. Not much to elaborate on.

 

[Tripod1404]

My old Red Sea tank that had a separating bottom seal after 2 years. It was replaced under warranty and the replacement also failed after 2.5 years.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Yes my Hanna Checkers they were such a pain in the butt to me/made a mess and took too long! So I sold them all lol.

 

[Roatan Reef]

I initially regretted the Red Sea Reef Wave 25....soooo unimpressed, especially at the price point...did barely nothing on my 40GB, even cranked up to 90%, had to supplement with one of my 2 programmable ZKSJ Slim Pros, happier now, but for $320....I would have passed. My 2 aqua zksj slimpros plus 2 Sicce Nano Voyagers were perfect, and combined cost $190.

Oh well.

 

[bubbgee]

Reef Regrets: Have you bought equipment that you later regretted?

It may have been a perfectly good piece of equipment, but it just didn’t work for your tank, it didn’t work the way you expected, it didn’t fit, it took too much tinkering to get it to work, or it didn’t last nearly as long as you expected. There are many reasons why you might have regretted the purchase, but most of us have been through the experience of buying the lesser priced item or buying too small and then soon realizing that we should have made a different purchase decision. Please tell us about your buying decisions – have you bought equipment that you later regretted?

Photo by @HilmSean


This QOTD is sponsored by Nutramar: https://www.qualitymarine.com/nutramar/

“Nutramar’s 100% natural food products are used by public aquaria and breeders around the world. They offer superior nutrition to your most finicky and delicate fish and invertebrates.

I bought this and never got to use it. It's huge for my sump and the plumbing just didn't work for me.

 

[CKW]

Most protein skimmers. Wayyyy too much trouble.

 

[doubleshot00]

Sicce Syncra pumps. LOUD and rattle.

 

[PotatoPig]

Mine are limited:

1. AC pump along with hardware for an adjustable return. Fairly soon swapped it for a DC pump with simple flex tube. Repurposed the original pump for large water changes, but could really have done without buying.

2. Various gear related to copepod culturing early on. Once I realized the tank was making its own just fine I managed to repurpose most into either gear for the QT tank or cookie jars.

3. Copper test that you read yourself. This was hot garbage and almost immediately brought a Hanna one after the results were so useless.