What not to buy?

[ohthelies]

I've been reading a lot of the discussions on this board and on other boards in regards to which products people recommend. And as expected, not everybody agreed with one another. However, I haven't read a discussion that focused on products that are just simply a waste of money. I'm sure there are a few products out there that a majority of aquarists could agree on being worthless.

I guess I'm just curious to know what products aren't favored, and why.


Thanks,
Nicholas.

 

[Len]

Nicholas,

Interesting discussion topic I'll chime in with the first product I consider a bad buy:

Skilter: It's a horrible skimmer, not to mention it spits out a lot of bubbles back into the tank and is annoyingly noisy.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh goody, I hope I beat everyone to this one!

Seaclone (suckclone) skimmers!

 

[Clownkeeper]

someone will prolly flame me on this but I would have to add Rio pumps. For there lack of relyablity

 

[Len]

Woo hoo. I beat GD

Anyhow, I cross-posted this in the General Reef Discussion forum for ya!

 

[fungia]

i do not like coralife metal halides.

 

[Quigonsean]

Red Sea - Prizm Skimmer

 

[Len]

I'm not a fan of CoralVital

 

[ohthelies]

Wow, talk about quick response. Thanks, Len, for the warm welcome.

How about certain foods, and additives?

 

[cdeakle]

Len,

Why don't you like coral-vital? I know its not good to add anything to your tank without knowing whats in it but I used coral-vital when I was a major newbie( I'm now an advanced newb lol) and it greatly accelerated my coraline growth....

 

[taikonaut]

Any food with fancy names like "MSDose 6.22" or "CoralEnergy" are probably not what you need for you coral. (Names are provided for illustation purpose only, and do not reflect actual product on the market).

 

[hsosa]

the cheapie heaters at petworld . these break very easily its a total waste of money. I think they are made in CHina. come in a bubble package cardboard. total waste. let s see skilter is a good one.

 

[Len]

420,

It's really more based in principle then anything else. The advertisements for Coral Vital literally disgusts me. And the other factor you mentioned: i'm not adding anything to my tank if the manufacturer absolutely refuses to disclose its ingredients.

 

[cdeakle]

Agreed,

Why wont they disclose whats in it? Do they think were gonna actually steal there recipe and do something with it? :lol:

 

[taikonaut]

The reason can be the ingredient is too brilliant to be disclose (legit patent), or too mundune that it going to hurt the sale.

 

[PeeJ]

Logic would lead me to believe it was more on the mundane side....

 

[DaGoldenChild]

i would have to say crushed coral

 

[investigator1]

Do not buy a flower pot or elegance coral.

 

[Anonymous]

An aquarium...a total waste of money and they never really work out well in the end. :wink:


Really though, a hydrometer: You spend $15 on a swing arm box style one...then you find out they suck and you decide you should spend another $15 on a floating glass style one...but then you realize how much they are affected by the temp of your 78 degree reef tank, being calibrated at 10 degreed below zero and losing 18 points of accuracy per degree off of calibration. :wink:

The cheapest $50 refractometer is ten times better than the most expensive hydrometer. A good investment IMO.

 

[Sidewinder]

Can't believe that I got this in first!!!
Power Sweep power heads; they're junk and will stop sweeping unless they're cleaned weekly and sometimes more often.