New Toy for skimmers

[waynotcars]

I don't know about others but half the fun of being in this hobby is spending a 1/2 hour a day doing routine maintainance to my reef. Why not pay somebody to come in, set up your tank and maintain it for you if you don't want to spend any time with it? The drug store down the street from me has a tank set up that they do exactly that with. If all I wanted to do was watch fish and corals I'd go down there and sit in their waiting room and stare at it. By having to clean my skimmer cup, check my parameters, add top off, scrape algae, etc. I feel as if I have a hand in keeping my fish and corals healthy. I might be because I'm 52 years old and old school. I know my kids want everything in their lives automated. I just think the hobby has moved to the point where people in it get more excited adding a piece of automated equipment to their tank because it's high tech then they do adding a new coral or fish. Call me old, I am. I'd rather spend a 1/2 hour a day with my set up and monkey around with it. I have made DIY many projects myself but I make the ones I feel are important to livestock. I don't bother with unnecessary ones. I know this will bring on the rath.

 

[DA fisherman]

I don't know about others but half the fun of being in this hobby is spending a 1/2 hour a day doing routine maintainance to my reef. Why not pay somebody to come in, set up your tank and maintain it for you if you don't want to spend any time with it? The drug store down the street from me has a tank set up that they do exactly that with. If all I wanted to do was watch fish and corals I'd go down there and sit in their waiting room and stare at it. By having to clean my skimmer cup, check my parameters, add top off, scrape algae, etc. I feel as if I have a hand in keeping my fish and corals healthy. I might be because I'm 52 years old and old school. I know my kids want everything in their lives automated. I just think the hobby has moved to the point where people in it get more excited adding a piece of automated equipment to their tank because it's high tech then they do adding a new coral or fish. Call me old, I am. I'd rather spend a 1/2 hour a day with my set up and monkey around with it. I have made DIY many projects myself but I make the ones I feel are important to livestock. I don't bother with unnecessary ones. I know this will bring on the rath.

+1 you darn skippy


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

 

[ReefNut]

I can't believe they make such a thing!I am so getting one.
I've done alot of DIY and one is not worth the time.
And believe me not all DIY is cheap.I my case,I wind up with a custom fit application thats not usually available retail.

 

[cali_reef]

Ordered two of these and have one running for a few weeks now.

Its craftsmanship ain't no Bubble King or H&S, but definitely worth the $150+ for one, I like it!! This is not anyone's DIY project, they used some fancy tooling in making these.

However, it can use some improvements. The set screw used to hold the swabbie rod to the motor shaft is too short, the rod will be falling off after taking it off a few times for cleaning. It also need a better sealing mechanism as the moist air and the occasional overflowing skimmer will cause the motor shaft and the motor body to rust in time, I am guessing 9-12 months. Another product "upgrade" I would pay for is having the wiper spring loaded so it will self-adjust, centering the motor and tensioning the wiper is a PIA.