alonglongtime
New member
Quite a few months ago I wrote a note here about customer service and how much I appreciate it. There were a number of comments on that topic and I am now going to revisit it because I want to let all of you know how things are still working for me.
I know we all have our preferences on pumps, skimmers and the like and I think that is wonderful. We have choices. I have been in this hobby a little over 60 years and I have seen a lot of things come and a lot of things go. I still haven't figured out why so many people in the hobby relate expensive to good. Maybe I am too old for that one. LMAO But onto what I really wanted to state.
First off, I want to write about CoralVue. A bit over 2 years ago I wrote a note on here about the Water Blaster and Bubble Blaster pumps. I purchased them because I live in Texas and even with the air conditioner running all summer long, it was difficult to keep the tank below 81° without the chiller on most of the time. The heat being put off by my metal halides and the pumps in the sump were killing me. Our electric rate out here in the middle of nowhere runs 17 cents a kw/hour. That is expensive when I compare it to others who live 100 miles away and have the same carrier and get the same electricity for 9 cents a kw/hour. So, I had to do something. I replaced six pumps at that time with the blasters; five were water and one was bubble. The Bubble Blaster is on the skimmer. That system is 305 gallons. In the interim I have purchased two more water and one more bubble for a smaller system. I have to tell you this. One Water Blaster was damaged in shipping. It wasn't so bad that it couldn't be used and I didn't want to wait until I could get another one so I used some super glue to repair the cracked part and stuck it in the sump. About a year ago, it finally cracked again and I sent Jeremy at CoralVue an email and he asked for the pump serial #. I sent that and before I knew it I had new parts and the pump was back in service in no time. For those of you who don't know, CoralVue has a 3 year warranty on these pumps. I have had no problems with them doing their job. They do it using less than half the power consumption as my old ones and they do it with a lot less heat. So if I combine the savings and the service from CoralVue and the warranty, I would have to say that at this point, I am more than happy with these products and with the customer service I have received. If I had to grade CoralVue and Jeremy, I would give each 100%.
Next, let me mention EcoXotic. I now use their LED lighting exclusively. Yes, I have some SPS, LPS and softies under these. None of them have suffered as a result of the change. The only entity that was damaged when I changed was my electrical supplier. Yep, the LED's really put a dent in the monthly bill. You can say, I was more than happy. I currently have numerous critters thriving well under these lights and I am using one of their first big runs. If my memory serves me they are called Retrofit 2. Again no issues and I do appreciate all of the assistance I received from them when I was trying to decide what to use on my two tanks. Grade 100%.
Last, but not least, is Hanna instruments. I know they have gotten slammed around a bit because of their hand held calcium checker, but I have hung in with them. I will agree that their first attempt left a lot of hobbyists wondering Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, but that is no longer the case. If you have followed them, you will know that they took some severe steps in correcting the calcium checkers. By the way, it was never the checker, it was the reagents and hobbyists not following directions. They pulled everything off the shelf that had to do with the calcium checkers and have given it another try. I spoke with Pete at Hanna and he gave me some info that has truly been useful to me. I received my new reagents today and after a couple of mistakes (my own fault for not reading closer) I called Hanna. I spoke with Pete a second time and he put me back on the straight and narrow. I was using 1 ml of tank water when I was supposed to be using .1 ml. That can make a huge difference. Pete is one of the nicest folks I have spoken with at any supplier in quite a long time. He knows his stuff and he isn't too good to share it. I ran the tests again on both of my aquaria and the results were just slightly higher than I was getting with a titrate test kit. A good titrate test kit. The nice thing is, I don't have to try to guess what color is the right one now. So kudos, to Hanna and to Pete on the new reagents. By the way, I compared the results using lab grade DI water to testing with Ozarka distilled water. The difference? 1 point and that is all. I have my own RO/DI but I also live on a well and I don't know for sure that the quality is as good as some nice distilled or lab grade water. Just make sure you don't buy the Ozarka drinking water as it has calcium added to it.
Well, there you have it. CoralVue and Jeremy, EcoXotic (and I forget who...sorry EcoXotic), and Hanna Instruments and Pete. All have great customer service and really good products in my humble opinion. Keep those fish swimming and those corals growing. Have a great day.
Paul
I know we all have our preferences on pumps, skimmers and the like and I think that is wonderful. We have choices. I have been in this hobby a little over 60 years and I have seen a lot of things come and a lot of things go. I still haven't figured out why so many people in the hobby relate expensive to good. Maybe I am too old for that one. LMAO But onto what I really wanted to state.
First off, I want to write about CoralVue. A bit over 2 years ago I wrote a note on here about the Water Blaster and Bubble Blaster pumps. I purchased them because I live in Texas and even with the air conditioner running all summer long, it was difficult to keep the tank below 81° without the chiller on most of the time. The heat being put off by my metal halides and the pumps in the sump were killing me. Our electric rate out here in the middle of nowhere runs 17 cents a kw/hour. That is expensive when I compare it to others who live 100 miles away and have the same carrier and get the same electricity for 9 cents a kw/hour. So, I had to do something. I replaced six pumps at that time with the blasters; five were water and one was bubble. The Bubble Blaster is on the skimmer. That system is 305 gallons. In the interim I have purchased two more water and one more bubble for a smaller system. I have to tell you this. One Water Blaster was damaged in shipping. It wasn't so bad that it couldn't be used and I didn't want to wait until I could get another one so I used some super glue to repair the cracked part and stuck it in the sump. About a year ago, it finally cracked again and I sent Jeremy at CoralVue an email and he asked for the pump serial #. I sent that and before I knew it I had new parts and the pump was back in service in no time. For those of you who don't know, CoralVue has a 3 year warranty on these pumps. I have had no problems with them doing their job. They do it using less than half the power consumption as my old ones and they do it with a lot less heat. So if I combine the savings and the service from CoralVue and the warranty, I would have to say that at this point, I am more than happy with these products and with the customer service I have received. If I had to grade CoralVue and Jeremy, I would give each 100%.
Next, let me mention EcoXotic. I now use their LED lighting exclusively. Yes, I have some SPS, LPS and softies under these. None of them have suffered as a result of the change. The only entity that was damaged when I changed was my electrical supplier. Yep, the LED's really put a dent in the monthly bill. You can say, I was more than happy. I currently have numerous critters thriving well under these lights and I am using one of their first big runs. If my memory serves me they are called Retrofit 2. Again no issues and I do appreciate all of the assistance I received from them when I was trying to decide what to use on my two tanks. Grade 100%.
Last, but not least, is Hanna instruments. I know they have gotten slammed around a bit because of their hand held calcium checker, but I have hung in with them. I will agree that their first attempt left a lot of hobbyists wondering Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot, but that is no longer the case. If you have followed them, you will know that they took some severe steps in correcting the calcium checkers. By the way, it was never the checker, it was the reagents and hobbyists not following directions. They pulled everything off the shelf that had to do with the calcium checkers and have given it another try. I spoke with Pete at Hanna and he gave me some info that has truly been useful to me. I received my new reagents today and after a couple of mistakes (my own fault for not reading closer) I called Hanna. I spoke with Pete a second time and he put me back on the straight and narrow. I was using 1 ml of tank water when I was supposed to be using .1 ml. That can make a huge difference. Pete is one of the nicest folks I have spoken with at any supplier in quite a long time. He knows his stuff and he isn't too good to share it. I ran the tests again on both of my aquaria and the results were just slightly higher than I was getting with a titrate test kit. A good titrate test kit. The nice thing is, I don't have to try to guess what color is the right one now. So kudos, to Hanna and to Pete on the new reagents. By the way, I compared the results using lab grade DI water to testing with Ozarka distilled water. The difference? 1 point and that is all. I have my own RO/DI but I also live on a well and I don't know for sure that the quality is as good as some nice distilled or lab grade water. Just make sure you don't buy the Ozarka drinking water as it has calcium added to it.
Well, there you have it. CoralVue and Jeremy, EcoXotic (and I forget who...sorry EcoXotic), and Hanna Instruments and Pete. All have great customer service and really good products in my humble opinion. Keep those fish swimming and those corals growing. Have a great day.
Paul
