Who has fully embraced the Ecotech ecosystem?

[Reel North]

I looked at the lifereef, looked real nice until I see the motor block, and the price . the tunze motors last forever and are quiet. tough to beat

What motor block? You pick your pump to go with it.

You will never have to replace the skimmer, AND it's scalable with extensions if you get a bigger tank.

It's funny when I read 1. "I wish I could buy products made in The USA" with the follow up comment that 2. "it's too expensive".

Why are the jobs over seas? See point 2 above.

You cannot have good wages and good jobs without some kind of increased costs on the products.

And how much more is it really that's a comparable skimmer? $100? $50?

Any skimmer I look at it at least $300-$400. A lot cost a lot more than that!

And the first time the needle wheel skimmer pump goes, or heaven forbid - they change the pump? Big $$$$ replacement.

 

[oseymour]

I looked at the lifereef, looked real nice until I see the motor block, and the price . the tunze motors last forever and are quiet. tough to beat

I considered Lifereef skimmer too but it was out of my price range. And the guy was talking up the fact that his design works so well that it hasn't changed for 10 years (I'm not sure about the years, that's my best guess from memory).

That scared me off a little - I don't know any product that couldn't use a few tweaks and improvements in 10 years.

 

[zsuman101]

What motor block? You pick your pump to go with it.

You will never have to replace the skimmer, AND it's scalable with extensions if you get a bigger tank.

It's funny when I read 1. "I wish I could buy products made in The USA" with the follow up comment that 2. "it's too expensive".

Why are the jobs over seas? See point 2 above.

You cannot have good wages and good jobs without some kind of increased costs on the products.

And how much more is it really that's a comparable skimmer? $100? $50?

Any skimmer I look at it at least $300-$400. A lot cost a lot more than that!

And the first time the needle wheel skimmer pump goes, or heaven forbid - they change the pump? Big $$$$ replacement.

True, right on point I'll give you that. I suppose thats why i only buy American made guitars, double the price, but the quality difference is priceless

 

[Bent]

The costs have more to do with currency manipulation than wages I think.

 

[d2mini]

I considered Lifereef skimmer too but it was out of my price range. And the guy was talking up the fact that his design works so well that it hasn't changed for 10 years (I'm not sure about the years, that's my best guess from memory).

That scared me off a little - I don't know any product that couldn't use a few tweaks and improvements in 10 years.

Probably more like twice that long.
Seriously, skimmer tech hasn't changed.
The only changes have been to make them more compact and use less powerful pumps. This comes at a cost (less efficient skimming, poorer performance) so they had to come up with ways to counteract this like needle wheels, bubble plates, etc and it only helps to a point.
None of these "modern" skimmers actually skim any better than the LifeReef, and they take considerably more time to tweak and maintain. Generally.

If you have the space (height) and you are ok with it using a little more power, it's really hard to beat a LifeReef skimmer, both in performance and ease of use.

 

[Bent]

Oh, it still applies... to a point. I think there is a solid "upper middle ground" with the reef stuff.
Example 1: Powerheads. Ecotech has some great features but highest price, Jaebo are cheep chinese junk, Gyre ain't much better, but Tunze is as good as ecotech minus the motor difference and priced lower.

Example 2: Skimmers. Lots of cheap junk out there, lots of ridiculously priced euro options, and then there is LifeReef right in the middle. One of the easiest, most consistent and maintenance free skimmers you can get.

And this goes on for all other equipment. Lighting, reactors, tanks, etc.
It does apply, no doubt. Just be smart about it and don't buy into features and stuff you don't need/want.


Motor block?
LifeReef is awesome. You can buy it without a pump and use whatever pump you want. That's part of the beauty of it.

This is what I mean.

People say jebaos are junk but mine have been running without cleaning for about a year straight now.

People also have their share of issues out of both gyres and ecotecs as well. I'm not trying to open the whole powerhead debate or anything, just my opinion.

 

[d2mini]

This is what I mean.

People say jebaos are junk but mine have been running without cleaning for about a year straight now.

People also have their share of issues out of both gyres and ecotecs as well. I'm not trying to open the whole powerhead debate or anything, just my opinion.

of course, nothing is 100% one way or the other.
Your luck happens to have been good with them. That's cool.

 

[mfinn]

I'm just curious about people out there that just decided to go with everything Ecotech has to offer. Radion, Vortech, Reeflink, Battery Backup and possibly even a Vectra. How do you like it? Are you happy letting those products function via Ecosmart or do you feel the need to use a third party controller?

I'm just curious because I'm working on a 120 build and part of me thinks it would be nice to just go all-in and enjoy the ease of use and synergy of their products... It's a huge investment, but it's quite attractive.

I've been using Radions for about 4 years, maybe a little longer. Have 5 currently
I tried the MP 40's back when they first came out, but I thought they were too loud compared to Tunze.
When the MP40QD came out I decided to give them a try and love them.
I also gave Vectra's a try. I have a L1 as a closed loop pump and the M1 as my return pump.
I also just picked up a Reeflink, but haven't installed it yet.
I don't have a problem using ESL. But I don't go in and tinker with it very often. I like to set it and forget it.
When I do go into ESL, I don't have them problems I see some have.