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View Full Version : Most disappointing equipment purchase


Lance
08-14-2009, 02:52 AM
Ok, let's hear them. We've all done it:

Veng68
08-14-2009, 03:04 AM
early 90's........... new to the hobby............... one word............. Skilter [hangs head in shame]

Cheers,
Vic

Myka
08-14-2009, 03:10 AM
Bahahaha I bought a Skilter too, and was severely disappointed!! Here I thought I was soooo cool because I had a protein skimmer now! LOL

However, I think my biggest disappointment was buying a Remora. Boo on them.

Lance
08-14-2009, 03:31 AM
Mine was a Quiet One 4000 HH. I bought it for a return pump and the thing was a piece of crap! Noisy and would never start up again after being turned off. I finally took it off line and now use it to drain my fish pond for cleaning. About all it's good for.

PoonTang
08-14-2009, 04:23 AM
Mine was a Quiet One 4000 HH. I bought it for a return pump and the thing was a piece of crap! Noisy and would never start up again after being turned off. I finally took it off line and now use it to drain my fish pond for cleaning. About all it's good for.

Wow thats odd, mine has been great. My worst one is a very noisy prism pro on my qt tank.

Bryan
08-14-2009, 05:26 AM
Quite One 3000. Same thing, will not restart after a turn off.

Snappy
08-14-2009, 05:47 AM
Mine was an Aqua Medic heater. The control unit went on the original and then again on the replacement and almost cooked all my corals on two seperate occasions so I finally just threw it in the trash where it belonged.

I would say the same about several Aqua Medic products I've bought over the years and have since asked a friend to give me a good swift kick if he ever catches me buying any more of that brand's equipment.:twised:

fkshiu
08-14-2009, 05:54 AM
Sea Clown = worst . . . purchase . . . ever.

TrailFish
08-14-2009, 02:15 PM
sea clown = worst . . . Purchase . . . Ever.

+1

Treebeard
08-14-2009, 02:34 PM
I have two of them working great. I have each of them on separate valves which I close before I switch them off. When I restart them I open each valve slowly and let them build up pressure to counteract the back pressure from the line going to the tank.

Mine was a Quiet One 4000 HH. I bought it for a return pump and the thing was a piece of crap! Noisy and would never start up again after being turned off. I finally took it off line and now use it to drain my fish pond for cleaning. About all it's good for.

Treebeard
08-14-2009, 02:40 PM
Same here. I cannot believe retailers sell those POS!
I also bought a Remora Pro from Canreefer who was quitting the hobby and assured me it worked great. That's 90 bucks I'll never see again.


Sea Clown = worst . . . purchase . . . ever.

Tom R
08-14-2009, 03:38 PM
I have thought about this for a while now and the list is numerous fortunately the majority of these items are from my early days in the hobby.

Not sure if it is the worst (because I did buy a Sea Cone Skimmer that Eric of King Ed's swore it would do a 135G) but one of the first return pumps I purchased was a Mag-Drive 18 and it not only was the loudest grinding noisiest pump it also produced major heat problems in my tank.

Tom R

fragNplug
08-14-2009, 04:35 PM
Brine shrimp hatchery
http://wardsci.com/images/150/217816AWebM.JPG

Lance
08-14-2009, 05:13 PM
Mine was an Aqua Medic heater. The control unit went on the original and then again on the replacement and almost cooked all my corals on two seperate occasions so I finally just threw it in the trash where it belonged.

I would say the same about several Aqua Medic products I've bought over the years and have since asked a friend to give me a good swift kick if he ever catches me buying any more of that brand's equipment.:twised:


This would be my second worst purchase. Same thing happened to mine. Lasted about 2 months and the controller went.

whatcaneyedo
08-14-2009, 05:58 PM
This would be my second worst purchase. Same thing happened to mine. Lasted about 2 months and the controller went.

AquaMedic replaced two of those heaters and one of those controllers for me before my current ones actually worked. However I've never owned a heater that was reliable... Ebo Jager and Hagen are no better in my experience.

I'd have to say that my worst purchase would be the three Coralife 65W PC fixtures I've bought. On two of them the ballasts just blew after less than a year of use for no reason. I've owned a lot of different light fixtures, pendants and retro fits and no other one has ever done that.

mseepman
08-14-2009, 11:25 PM
Worst had to be a Prizm skimmer at LFS pricing. This thing never skimmed, though I re-tried it at least 10 times.

lastlight
08-15-2009, 12:06 AM
My depressing story was my last tank. 400 gallons built on site. It was also cut apart and sold for cheap (lost about $3000 on that deal) after I finished sledge-hammering the marble tile wall i had it in. Only ever saw fw a few times to leak-test.

Good news was we were moving to a new house and I took that opportunity to build my current tank on the main floor.

Snappy
08-15-2009, 03:19 AM
AquaMedic replaced two of those heaters and one of those controllers for me before my current ones actually worked. However I've never owned a heater that was reliable... Ebo Jager and Hagen are no better in my experience.

I'd have to say that my worst purchase would be the three Coralife 65W PC fixtures I've bought. On two of them the ballasts just blew after less than a year of use for no reason. I've owned a lot of different light fixtures, pendants and retro fits and no other one has ever done that.
I actually kept the titanium heater part but trashed the controller and now I just use it on a timer to come on for a few hours at night if it's cold.

banditpowdercoat
08-15-2009, 03:29 AM
I actually kept the titanium heater part but trashed the controller and now I just use it on a timer to come on for a few hours at night if it's cold.

I put a regular heater on the controller. Darn thing goes nutz with power bumps. Once it set itself for 294C Yes, 294C I caugfht it at a tank tamp of 92. Lost all LPS and my shrimp.

So ya, worst purchase Aquamedic temp controller.

Ian
08-15-2009, 03:33 AM
Yup same here quiet one 4000....POS

fencer
08-15-2009, 04:53 PM
Any PC light fixture.....

I'd kill for a Brine shrimp hatchery ;)