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In 25 years of reefkeeping, this is one of the worst purchases I have made. Dont make the same mistake I did, shop elsewhere!
I purchased a new shadow overflow on May 30, 2018 for my new build. I have run diy boxes with bean plumbing for many years and wanted a better product.
A few weeks ago I installed the synergy reef shadow and filled the tank. I had the following issues:
1. Very cheap, flimsy material. I cant believe how thin and weak this product is.
2. While assembling the product, both u tubes cracked. One broke completely in half, the other split at the seams, about halfway across. I used proper size, fully chamfered pipes inserted less than 1/4 inch into the tubes. I had to glue the tubes together to continue the install.
3. The molded bulkheads were very inconsistent sizes. Two were so tight I could barely fit the chamfered, glued pipes in and I feared they would split. The third was so loose, I feared it would leak. I tried different pipe on each and it was definitely the tolerances on the box.
4. Once running, this overflow was extremely loud. The tank is in my basement and it was clearly audible from my upstairs bedroom, with the door shut. Noise came from both the weir and water traveling through the bulkheads. I'm running less than 1500 gph and it was unbearable. I adjusted the water levels many times , very little improvement.
5. Customer service was completely unacceptable. I contacted synergy and while they responded very quickly they offered no solution, no apologies, no indication they intended to help.
What they did offer was a rude and confrontational response, a list of reasons this was my fault and a ton hoops to jump through, while at the same time making it clear they were not willing or able to help.
I chose not to pursue this any further with them as I have no desire to continue a relationship with a company who treats its customers with such little respect and as much contemp as synergy reef does. I have no desire to spend my time arguing with them, so I went ahead and replaced the shadow with a competitors product which is running flawlessly and silently, straight out of the box.
Buyer beware!
Clark Emery
I purchased a new shadow overflow on May 30, 2018 for my new build. I have run diy boxes with bean plumbing for many years and wanted a better product.
A few weeks ago I installed the synergy reef shadow and filled the tank. I had the following issues:
1. Very cheap, flimsy material. I cant believe how thin and weak this product is.
2. While assembling the product, both u tubes cracked. One broke completely in half, the other split at the seams, about halfway across. I used proper size, fully chamfered pipes inserted less than 1/4 inch into the tubes. I had to glue the tubes together to continue the install.
3. The molded bulkheads were very inconsistent sizes. Two were so tight I could barely fit the chamfered, glued pipes in and I feared they would split. The third was so loose, I feared it would leak. I tried different pipe on each and it was definitely the tolerances on the box.
4. Once running, this overflow was extremely loud. The tank is in my basement and it was clearly audible from my upstairs bedroom, with the door shut. Noise came from both the weir and water traveling through the bulkheads. I'm running less than 1500 gph and it was unbearable. I adjusted the water levels many times , very little improvement.
5. Customer service was completely unacceptable. I contacted synergy and while they responded very quickly they offered no solution, no apologies, no indication they intended to help.
What they did offer was a rude and confrontational response, a list of reasons this was my fault and a ton hoops to jump through, while at the same time making it clear they were not willing or able to help.
I chose not to pursue this any further with them as I have no desire to continue a relationship with a company who treats its customers with such little respect and as much contemp as synergy reef does. I have no desire to spend my time arguing with them, so I went ahead and replaced the shadow with a competitors product which is running flawlessly and silently, straight out of the box.
Buyer beware!
Clark Emery
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