Equipment life span

[tnias]

I had a 75 gallon tank from 2010 to 2014 without any pieces of equipment failing. This was before I started dosing. I now have a 150 gallon tank and dose cal and alk. I bought all new equipment for the larger tank and in 2 years I have seen my main pump fail, skimmer pump fail, skimmer needle snap, and MP40 power heads need wetside replacement.

Is this normal and expected once you start dosing cal and alk? Or could their be other issues causing premature failure.

Cal ~ 500
Alk ~ 11

Thanks

 

[JUNBUG361]

All equipment fail, especially when constantly being used to cycle the water. Calcium help algae growth. Some companies intend to use cheaper parts to build there equipments

 

[billdogg]

I found that when I kept my Alk that high that precipitation was a huge problem that required me to take down all pumps about monthly for complete cleaning that included soaking all the plastic parts in Muriatic acid at about 50% strength to get the buildup off. Impellers are a particular problem because it turns out that the magnets really don't like the strong acid (I ruined several - now I know better)

When I reduced the Alk to 8ish, the problem went away.

And yes, all equipment can fail, especially the lower end of the price range. I have a eheim 1262 that is now going on 40 or so years of use. I've replaced the impeller once. Try that with Jebao

 

[jda]

It depend what kind of equipment it is. I have ampmaster pumps, ehiem heaters and pumps, laguna/askol pumps, tunze flow pumps, metal halide stuff, medusa and ranco controllers all over ten years old and working as good as new. Calcium precipitation don't affect any of these items, but they are not low quality.

Most of the newer Chinese stuff does not last too long. I don't know that anybody would say that EcoTech was a long-lasting brand, either.

 

[tkeracer619]

My Ecotech stuff has lasted a long time. As long as they have been around.

If you're getting precipitation it will cause issues, particularly where there is excess heat.

 

[cody6766]

I bought used MP40s that I've been running for 3 years with occasional cleaning. My Ocean Runner return has been running since 2007 with no troubles as well. I had to replace Koralia power heads every year or 3 when I used them. Maxijet-type pumps also only last a few years in an ATO function. I've had heaters run for several years without issue. I notice that when they break, it's after I take them out of storage for a new project...not sure why. I run them on a controller when they're in the tanks.

Decent to higher end gear lasts quite a while, in my experience. I have a lot of stuff I bought used that is still kicking just fine, even after several years in my tanks. You do get what you pay for, in most cases. If you can't/won't pay the high prices for Ecotech, shop for good used deals. It probably comes out as a wash in the end.

 

[Ou8me2]

It's kind of like a car and not doing maintenance. Yes, it will run fine for a while but if you don't do maintenance to it will shorten the life for sure. I clean all my pumps monthly for me and it really isn't that time-consuming.