What Needs The Most Improvement In The Hobby?

[Mandelstam]

I think there is a reason for this .... with SPS at least. The same species can look and grow quite differently under variable conditions of light, flow and nutrition. Citing the species name would throw a big 'ol wet blanket over a vendor's ability to sell super ultra high end rare corals for absurd prices. So, even if they knew, they wouldn't do it.

Feels like you can compare it somewhat to horticultural clones of bred and selected flowers and plants. That horticultural variety can look very different from the wild variety but is still the same species. To set it apart from the wild one you give it another name, a "Cultivar" and put that after the species name and within single quotes - Acropora tenuis 'Homewrecker' or Acropora tenuis 'Walt Disney' for example.

 

[Tony Thompson]

I've been in and out of this hobby for a while and I would echo what many have said: More up to date books. Things change from time to time and over the past 12 years, that I have been out, somethings that were every popular are now now not. Things like Bio balls and DSBs are not the trend anymore. I have two books: The New Marine Aquarium & The Nano Reef Handbook. These books are somewhat useful but also have outdated material in them are even some of the supplies that we use are absent.

I will say that the videos that are available on sites such as BRS are EXTREMELY helpful. But call me old, there are sometimes I just want to have a book for reference rather than a video.

Ha ha, I think you hit the nail on the head. CASTAWAY. People just don`t seem to need books any more. There is a wealth of information from very reliable sources on the internet including some excellent video channels, like the one you mentioned. These types of media are far easier to update and keep up with trends. However once a book is printed it takes a lot more effort. time and money to do a revision. By the time you reprint, its back out of date again. That said I love my collection of books, no matter how outdated they may seem in certain aspects.

 

[Fritzhamer]

Did not know this, would you mind sharing where it says that in the CFR?

any way what this hobby needs is people to realize it's a hobby. Only Latin name for fishes and wanting irrelevant parameters of where coral were collected. Those things don't mean anything in a tank. Also people need to stop talking about skimmer efficiency of they don't have access to a protein analysis machine and a quad triple icp-ms.

Then again it's only a hobby so I shall take my own advice and quit winning.

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/bus...tcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking

 

[Paul B]

Common Sense. I wish more people would use more common sense. This hobby has been in the US for 46 years and most people still use the same methods and information that we used in the beginning. Diseases now I feel are more prevalent now than they were then and the success rate of curing things is dismal. Fish should not get sick and old timers know how to make that happen, but Noobs fail to listen. (because of the internet with unimaginable amounts of wrong information)
There are proven ways to do things that actually work because Geezers have been doing this with every fish ever sold for decades. But the main advice people give for almost anything is to change the water or use Prizapro.
So many people leave the hobby in two or three years because of this bad information. Almost no one stays in this for 10, 20, or 30 years even though they spend thousands of dollars on it. Why not! We read about tank crashes every day, but IMO it's all preventable and usually the remedy is easier than the inside the box thinking that this hobby abounds with. To me it is common sense that adding something like a sea hair to eliminate algae is ridiculous as the sea hare is going to poop those algae growing nutrients right back in the tank. It can't work, but someone will add a sea hare, urchin, manatee, algae bleeny or hydrogen peroxide, the algae disappears and that becomes the thing to do. The algae would have disappeared weather you added those things or not. But someone who started last Tuesday did it and it worked.
I can't get into quarantining and not quarantining or I would blow my head off.
Good Luck

 

[Fritzhamer]

Really? You see Youtubers do that all the time. Getting some gear from some "sponsor" and then doing a review and a big shout out to the sponsor.

Sponsor is different. Sponsor means that money or goods have changed hands.

 

[Mandelstam]

Sponsor is different. Sponsor means that money or goods have changed hands.

"You can't receive something of value in exchange for a review or favorable mention", that sounds like sponsoring to me though.

 

[Fritzhamer]

"You can't receive something of value in exchange for a review or favorable mention", that sounds like sponsoring to me though.

You can't receive something of value in exchange for a favorable mention...without disclosing that you received something of value.

Our business used to have a blog on our website. Manufacturers would constantly send us stuff to review and if we legitimately liked it we would say so and why. If we didn't like it, we just wouldn't say anything (publicly.) We would just give feedback to the manufacturer.

The FTC started cracking down, even if you gave the item away or had a raffle for it, it was still viewed as something of value. The reason being that this item was a gift for you to raffle, bringing customers to your site, blog, YouTube page etc. It had value because people would come to win the free thing.

There was also talk of taxing the thing you got for free. We just got out of the public review biz altogether.

 

[NY_Caveman]

You can't receive something of value in exchange for a favorable mention...without disclosing that you received something of value.

Our business used to have a blog on our website. Manufacturers would constantly send us stuff to review and if we legitimately liked it we would say so and why. If we didn't like it, we just wouldn't say anything (publicly.) We would just give feedback to the manufacturer.

The FTC started cracking down, even if you gave the item away or had a raffle for it, it was still viewed as something of value. The reason being that this item was a gift for you to raffle, bringing customers to your site, blog, YouTube page etc. It had value because people would come to win the free thing.

There was also talk of taxing the thing you got for free. We just got out of the public review biz altogether.

Well, that is a shame. You tried to offer something useful and had to stop due to the liability. I find it hard to fathom someone dishonestly pushing a product for money or goods on social media, forums, YouTube, etc., but perhaps it happens. It is a shady and shameful thing to do for the person and the company. This is a hobby after all. Problem is it is a big money hobby.

I would offer that anyone who is ever approached to do such a thing should post the company name right here on this site. That would not be a company I would ever want to do business with.

 

[Mandelstam]

You can't receive something of value in exchange for a favorable mention...without disclosing that you received something of value.

Our business used to have a blog on our website. Manufacturers would constantly send us stuff to review and if we legitimately liked it we would say so and why. If we didn't like it, we just wouldn't say anything (publicly.) We would just give feedback to the manufacturer.

The FTC started cracking down, even if you gave the item away or had a raffle for it, it was still viewed as something of value. The reason being that this item was a gift for you to raffle, bringing customers to your site, blog, YouTube page etc. It had value because people would come to win the free thing.

There was also talk of taxing the thing you got for free. We just got out of the public review biz altogether.

Ah, ok, I get it now, sorry for being slow lol.

As a consumer I can find that approach a bit problematic though. Because if all you see is the good reviews on "free stuff" and never the bad ones, you start to question the honesty of the reviews. I'm not pointing fingers at you here, it's the same everywhere. It all starts to look like paid advertisements even if the intent is the opposite.

 

[Steve Fast]

Someone who can write prescriptions for Chloraquine Phosphate for members of this site.

In the 80s I got that all the time without a prescription. When I asked the pharmacists about it, they said they are allowed to dispense drugs without prescriptions in certain cases. Have not idea whether that has changed or not.

 

[Steve Fast]

Another good point. The devices that are already wifi, specifically lighting, is a major headache. Makes you wonder why they don't have an app developer making these things instead of trying to do it themselves.

Up until recently, every time I rebooted my modem or router it would negate my entire AI light connection. Like the light couldn't find the network after a simple power cycle of the network. And God forbid if you have a secured network. You may as well not even bother lol. Then getting it to work with an Android device was a whole other issue because Android is such a fragmented ecosystem.

Agree most of the apps I've experienced controlling the various devices are not very well engineered or tested.

 

[bobman]

Really? You see Youtubers do that all the time. Getting some gear from some "sponsor" and then doing a review and a big shout out to the sponsor.

It is legal when they state it up front. When they say X company provided this piece of equipment for review that is completely legal. But you know it is biased ahead of time. What I dont think should be legal is a company giving negative reviews on another product they dont carry. BRS has done it a few times and I dont think that is fair or a correct way to do business. With that said I am now downing BRS as I buy from them and they do have great products

 

[bobman]

I would like to see the consistency and accuracy of test kits and equipment improve.

I would also like to see the price of equipment come back to earth. Pumps and powerheads as well as skimmers have not really changed over the years. Not enough to justify the rising costs. There are some companies I will not even buy their products anymore due to this fact alone. An adjustable flow powerhead thats already over priced with 5 speed settings that is been around a while instead of lowering the price they add to more speed setting so now you can get more control and now the price is double what the original one was. Oh and they have discontinued the old one to you have to pay. Or they just fix some known failure points and that justifies such a massive price increase. Its still the same product. I am sorry but I dont support companies like that.

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

Lots of good content in this thread. I feel like I agree with a lot of it. Here are a couple of things that really tick me off:

• Heater technology - sure, they're inexpensive but it's basically a ticking time bomb waiting to nuke your tank unless you replace it every 6-12 months.
• Internet connectivity - Or just controlling in general. Why is EVERYTHING in this hobby an extra $100-200 if I want to use it and or connect it to my PC?

 

[Michael Hicks]

The biggest improvement I could ask for is every item sold in this hobby should have a big red warning sticker.....

"Don't purchase this unless you want to go crazy and broke!!" This worked in our lab, grew crazy corals, never breaks down and is actually the next best thing you gotta have!!

 

[dvbrien]

1 word... Generosity!

 

[Karl M]

Double post

 

[Karl M]

Lots of good content in this thread. I feel like I agree with a lot of it. Here are a couple of things that really tick me off:

• Heater technology - sure, they're inexpensive but it's basically a ticking time bomb waiting to nuke your tank unless you replace it every 6-12 months.
• Internet connectivity - Or just controlling in general. Why is EVERYTHING in this hobby an extra $100-200 if I want to use it and or connect it to my PC?

I was seriously today considering ordering the Orphek Atlantik V4 or two of the compacts even Though I feel the price is extremely high. But $130 for the gateway to control the light (or up to 400) ,Please stop this madness,no onboard control, but their is an antenna on the fixture ! I bought into this with EchoTechs Reeflink.

I am not playing this game any more..I’m Done, No more, over it and you have to get out of my sandbox until you can play fair.

Off my soapbox
Karl

 

[ReefBeta]

Seems not much mentioned, but IMO the most lacking perspective in Reef, equipment wise, is software, most specifically, user experience (UX) of the softwares.

I gave up on Maxspect Ethereal purely because of its terrible and unreliable phone app.

I would have love my Maxspect Gyre a lot more if the controller is easier to program, more specifically, to add a point in the middle of the schedule.

I just got a pair of Radion mostly because its software looks decent from reviews. However, while the web app is great, the phone app looks like crap as well. And the web app doesn't properly scale when accessing from my phone ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I tried to read my Coral magazine on iPad the other day and couldn't get my subscription, again. And just realized the app has not been updated in pass 2 years...

I might be more biased because I'm a software engineer with passion towards UX. But most of the time when I interact with a equipment with high degree of controllability, the software others me to some extent. It especially bothers me when companies release new aquarium controller with software looks from last century, I mean, the software is all a controller is about. Just throw in some perspective, a Radion XR30 Pro is as expensive as an iPhone 8 Plus, but the the software is not even near refined as iPhone one. We all talk about controllable equipment, smart gear, automation, etc. But the software is what make control and automation happen, what make things smart. There is a looooong way to go to have software in this hobby to catch up with the smart things out there nowadays.

 

[JonPhillips]

Just starting a topic for discussion so hopefully the folks that can make a difference will see it.

It can be anything that affects the home hobbyists.

I would say, off the top of my head, warranties, heaters and magnets.

Heaters have, and still are, the weak link in our tanks. It's almost a necessity that you have something controlling them.

Magnets can randomly rust underneath the coating without you even noticing, especially since most things have moved away from suction cups.

Warranties kinda speaks for itself. Tunze, as far as I know, is the only reputable company that stands behind their products with a great warranty. They get that expensive items aren't supposed to be disposable. You truly get what you pay for with a good warranty on your hard earned money.

So what are areas that you think need improvement in the hobby?

Automation. Controllers and matching components is clearly a logistical and monetary nightmare. We need a company to think software, not just hardware. I.e. actual ongoing performance updates, bug fixes, etc, not a “send me in and we’ll see” type scenario. They’re building ecosystems around flashy components and not the brains beneath the parts to do the muscle work down the road, which is what smart companies do (think Apple, when Steve Jobs was still with us). Build a solid brain unit that a customer can be confident will still be relevant in 5 years. I would plunk down a grand for that. Just don’t see it. I shouldn’t have to send my water to Germany and wait a month or longer. Every tick should be viewable on our device at all times. All parameters, around the clock. It’s 2018. My wife wears a watch that tells her how many times to the minute she woke up last night. Thanks Walmart. Coral companies should invest. They’d spend less in replacement corals. More customers would re-buy based off survival rate, and more people would get into and stay longer in the hobby. Less overall frustration. Everybody wins. All companies should come together to build one super company that literally does it all seamlessly so we can get to enjoying our tanks the most we can. But alas, in the name of diversity, companies will continue to build products that are only “incrementally” better than the last version in fear of poaching or cannabilzing their entire product line. What our hobby needs most is innovation. Bye for now.