Is inD Aquatics still operating? Something up?

[static416]

I ordered an inD Aquatics auto-feeder, with a bunch of accessories, back on Sept 12, for shipping a couple days after that.

The shipping day came and went with no tracking number.

7 days ago I sent them an email asking about it. No response.

And I sent another email on Friday asking about it, still no response.

I'm not sure if it makes a difference but I ordered through the international site for shipping to Canada.

Anyone have similar experiences? Not sure what I should do here beyond maybe trying to get a chargeback on the credit card.

 

[JGT]

#indaquatics

 

[BriDroid]

I hope not!

 

[static416]

Still have not heard back regarding any of my emails.

Looks like the product is now listed as out of stock on their website, which likely means that it'll be awhile before it's stocked again based on prior history? Not sure, because I haven't heard anything.

It's not the end of the world, but it's frustrating they cannot just send me an email saying "Sorry, out of stock, shipping on date X, or can refund". That would take seconds, and would resolve this issue one way or the other.

 

[static416]

I finally got a response after a third email!

I cc'd [email protected], I'm not sure if that got it visibility, or this post, or just the stronger subject line in the email.

But they apologized for the silence, gave me the option to cancel, and an approximate time when it would ship.

I'm happy to wait a short time more, I just didn't know what was going on, or if I'd see the product at all.

Regardless, problem solved and looking forward to testing the unit. Thanks to them for fixing the communication issue.

 

[areefer01]

I finally got a response after a third email!

I cc'd [email protected], I'm not sure if that got it visibility, or this post, or just the stronger subject line in the email.

But they apologized for the silence, gave me the option to cancel, and an approximate time when it would ship.

I'm happy to wait a short time more, I just didn't know what was going on, or if I'd see the product at all.

Regardless, problem solved and looking forward to testing the unit. Thanks to them for fixing the communication issue.

Thank you for following up. It is welcomed for both hobbyist and vendor. It doesn't happen all the time. Kudos.

Hope your day is well.

 

[static416]

Final follow-up here, I got my AF4, and I liked it so much I bought a second one!

----

As a quick review, it seems very well designed, and built with care.

The packaging and the components are high quality, which is notable in my opinion because there are so many products in this hobby that are clearly built as cheaply as possible.

This is incredibly minor, but as an example of caring about quality, the power supply itself is inD Aquatics branded, and has gently rounded corners. This is a small detail, but the Ecotech Vectra pumps cost a fortune and have such poor power supplies that I've had to replace 5 of them so far.

The AF4 units themselves seem to work well so far, and integrate nicely with Hydros via 0-10v.

Excellent for keeping my Oreni Tilefish fed 4 times a day.

As I said at the beginning, I bought a second AF4.

I have a somewhat unusal setup with two displays sharing a sump.

To feed both tanks, the original plan was to use a single AF4, but have a 3-way pinch valve solenoid to route food to one return pump or the other.

After researching it further, getting a properly-sized 3-way motorized pinch valve was going to be pricey to buy and brittle to set up.

Ended up being simpler to just buy a second AF4.

Been running the first for a week or so, but the second was just setup today.

Only caveats to note:
- Can be quite loud when feeding. This doesn't bother me, but if you are sensitive to noise, you'll definitely notice when it's feeding.
- IMO this is not very useful without something to schedule it via 0-10v. Once a day feeding is the only option otherwise.
- They default to off after a power-cycle. This is an issue in my opinion. I want to know I can go on vacation and have these keep operating. Even a power flicker will disable them.
- The reservior is a bit small if you have a large system.

Despite those caveats, still very happy with it, and would recommend them to anyone.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I've never had one of these for my tank, but I met with the owner and talked with him for a good bit at RAP this year. It's something I would love to eventually get for my tank, and all the improvements he is continually trying to make to it are impressive.

 

[BriDroid]

Final follow-up here, I got my AF4, and I liked it so much I bought a second one!

----

As a quick review, it seems very well designed, and built with care.

The packaging and the components are high quality, which is notable in my opinion because there are so many products in this hobby that are clearly built as cheaply as possible.

This is incredibly minor, but as an example of caring about quality, the power supply itself is inD Aquatics branded, and has gently rounded corners. This is a small detail, but the Ecotech Vectra pumps cost a fortune and have such poor power supplies that I've had to replace 5 of them so far.

The AF4 units themselves seem to work well so far, and integrate nicely with Hydros via 0-10v.

Excellent for keeping my Oreni Tilefish fed 4 times a day.

As I said at the beginning, I bought a second AF4.

I have a somewhat unusal setup with two displays sharing a sump.

To feed both tanks, the original plan was to use a single AF4, but have a 3-way pinch valve solenoid to route food to one return pump or the other.

After researching it further, getting a properly-sized 3-way motorized pinch valve was going to be pricey to buy and brittle to set up.

Ended up being simpler to just buy a second AF4.

Been running the first for a week or so, but the second was just setup today.

Only caveats to note:
- Can be quite loud when feeding. This doesn't bother me, but if you are sensitive to noise, you'll definitely notice when it's feeding.
- IMO this is not very useful without something to schedule it via 0-10v. Once a day feeding is the only option otherwise.
- They default to off after a power-cycle. This is an issue in my opinion. I want to know I can go on vacation and have these keep operating. Even a power flicker will disable them.
- The reservior is a bit small if you have a large system.

Despite those caveats, still very happy with it, and would recommend them to anyone.

I love mine. I've had it and been using it on my Hydros for the last 5 or 6 months. I mix coral food in with my frozen food. I was using Reef Nutrition stuff, but recently switched to Nyos Amyno and Lyq-Red mixed with frozen food. It's a lot cleaner than the Oyster and Phyto feast. The hoses are staying much cleaner between weekly refills.

 

[Dr. Reef Verified Sponsor]

I have multiple units. and nothing but headache.
Its been documented here at r2r of all the problems I have faced. Now the latest one.
One of the unit started back feeding for some reason. I did all kinds of stuff to make sure there was no issues with tubing and or solenoid etc and never could figure it out. It would back feed every now and then and then it would go back to working fine.
One day I was luckily there doing some work on my tank and feeding time came on and the unit actually back flowed and shorted the board and caught on fire.
I unplugged it and blew in the unit to rid the flame. If I wasnt there it would have burnt the unit and maybe part of wall or house who knows.

I emailed customer support on Oct 11th and never heard from them at all. I sent them pics videos and everything showing how the unit behaved and then caught on fire. NO RESPONSE till today

 

[BeanAnimal]

Those look like burned MOSFETS setup in a H Bridge configuration.


I would assume they are the drive for the peltier chiller.

I don't see fuses or thermal switches and would only be guessing how max current is controlled or what type of feedback from the peltier is used.

 

[Dr. Reef Verified Sponsor]

I am not sure. But after this situation and opening the unit up, there is 0 protection in case of back flow or over flow. water/slushy will go right under the control board and may cause short/fire like in my case.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I am not sure. But after this situation and opening the unit up, there is 0 protection in case of back flow or over flow. water/slushy will go right under the control board and may cause short/fire like in my case.

Correct, onboard protection may not have mattered in the case that the board gets wet with water or even salt creep.

 

[areefer01]

Correct, onboard protection may not have mattered in the case that the board gets wet with water or even salt creep.

I do not know how the unit is built or distance it can feed but is this a installation issue?

This is not meant as disrespect to those who experienced a issue but rather ask if the environment it is used in contributed. Heat, humidity, potential salt spray, etc. It does not take away the fact that the design should have, or could have, factored this in.

 

[BeanAnimal]

I can't answer that other than to say that the device is used hanging off the the side of an aquarium, so I would expect some level of water ingress prevention.