Equipment pricing

[vetteguy53081]

I really have no issue with LFS margins. As you say, they have costs/overheads to deal with in a relatively low volume situation. Not to mention the time/effort they spend helping/educating people new to the hobby. As far as thier pricing, easy to compare to on-line to see what premium you are paying for that service/help.

However venture capital bought out manufactures and high volume on-line distributor/retailers...that is a different story. I believe many of those are trying to expand their margins. For example, seems recently more jacked up retail pricing combined with heavier promotional strategy. That just means we are being ripped off and probably a little bit foolish if we buy anything at regular price.

Its entities such as Venture Capital acquisitions where prices climbed and felt the pain of price increases. Same happened with central lawn,garden and pets but the increases were not as significant

 

[jefff99]

We have controllers, lights, skimmers, scrubbers, tank ensembles available to us.
What is the one component you wish prices would come down on making it more affordable and meet your wish list?
For me- good test equipment such as Hanna master and even seneye

lights

 

[Sump Crab]

I wish DC pumps and lights were less expensive!

 

[Sidsreef]

We have controllers, lights, skimmers, scrubbers, tank ensembles available to us.
What is the one component you wish prices would come down on making it more affordable and meet your wish list?
For me- good test equipment such as Hanna master and even seneye

Gonna be lighting for me. It’s ridiculously high for lights. I know a guy that builds lighting equipment and puts them together and he looked at a XR30 and a AI 32 light. Told me from parts and what not cost about 80$ to make lol maybe a lil more.

 

[X-37B]

Honestly we have everything we need if you have the money, imo. Some better automation, if thats what your into, would be nice though.
Yea, a simple controller thats cost effective would be cool if you could easily adapt it into everything.

All in all if you are trying to keep up with technology then you will pay the price. Does not matter the hobby.

 

[OrchidMiss]

I hear everyone saying lighting costs -- and I agree to a point -- but if you buy something good it should last for a decade or more. I have a couple ATI fixtures at least that old and some older AI Hydra 26s. My LFS runs Gen 1 Radions!

My Neptune APEX equipment on the other hand is expensive and (IME) prone to giving out. I keep a spare brain, a spare DOS, spare probes and spare Energy bars especially.

Agreed.
I'm running a Maxspect Razor 300watt on my 110, and that's the one that fried after only almost 2 years.
Replacing the light that I paid $750 for then is close to $1200 now. I'm going to do my best to replace the fried circuit board, if the right piece comes in from over seas. Very frustrating.

 

[X-37B]

Gonna be lighting for me. It’s ridiculously high for lights. I know a guy that builds lighting equipment and puts them together and he looked at a XR30 and a AI 32 light. Told me from parts and what not cost about 80$ to make lol maybe a lil more.

Yea lights are expensive. When I wanted Radions I purchased 4 xr15 blue used ones at an average of $325 a piece with mounts. Did the same with my 16hds.
You are looking at $550 easily a piece for new with mounts so?

Being, an old halide guy I am very satisfied with my no full price purchase. One 15 stopped working and was under warranty and was replaced with a new.

 

[Royce White]

Just the essentials will run over $200 for 4 kits, The master is $329
I’ve seen used ones recently on marketplace at $30 each. Those are good deals

Wish I had checked the prices on hanna calsium reagents before I purchase the kit. Just had to buy a skimmer, they have gone up a gone up alot since my last purchase.

 

[Ilovemywife]

We have controllers, lights, skimmers, scrubbers, tank ensembles available to us.
What is the one component you wish prices would come down on making it more affordable and meet your wish list?
For me- good test equipment such as Hanna master and even seneye

power heads

 

[vetteguy53081]

power heads

Yeah, theyre getting crazy too. I remember the days of $25-$40 units and now they have increased considerably.

 

[Jasongtr]

Lights are stupidly priced from what i can tell, im new to this hobby but from what ive been reading it seems everything in the saltwater hobby has become hugely more expensive for no other reason than they know the product will still sell

 

[vetteguy53081]

Lights are stupidly priced from what i can tell, im new to this hobby but from what ive been reading it seems everything in the saltwater hobby has become hugely more expensive for no other reason than they know the product will still sell

This is the big item. I had to open one of my $800 Orpheks to hit the reset button and I think my toaster oven had more circuits inside of unit. I estimate material and build cost to be about $200 and less at their wholesale level

 

[james670]

Out of the items I have actually looked at purchasing, the ones that seemed the most over-inflated were ATO reservoirs. Sure, reef lights are pricier, but at least they can sort of justify it with all the fancy electronics, wi-fi or bluetooth capabilities, ultra-bright LEDs, or what have you. What do ATO reservoirs have? Piecies of pretty acrylic or glass made into a pretty box? Okay, they look rather slick, I agree, but $160-200 CAD for a 5 gallon reservoir? Really?

I got a 5+gallon food-grade water container for $20 CAD instead, and it works perfectly fine. Although it's noticeable because it's bright blue with a bright red cap, it's already prettier than the basic white 5 gallon bucket. If a pretty box that's made of clear plastic is 8-10x the price, I'll stick with my slightly uglier blue container, thank you very much.

 

[Fishy Jacket]

Equipment pricing is only an issue when there is a lack of options, at least of quality. Lights aren’t that expensive, but one can certainly make it expensive.

Certainly agree. Consolidation is the biggest risk (manufacturing or distribution) to the consumer. Hopefully new entries (options) continue to offset the consolidation. It would also help competition if more of the companies would move toward compatability/easy integration to others like it appears Sicce is doing...and one reason I bought their pumps. In contrast, I just spent significant money on lights and powerheads with a company because I thought they best fit my needs, basically overlooking their compatability issues. What happens when I decide they are not "better" in those areas??

 

[Reef Altitude]

Out of the items I have actually looked at purchasing, the ones that seemed the most over-inflated were ATO reservoirs. Sure, reef lights are pricier, but at least they can sort of justify it with all the fancy electronics, wi-fi or bluetooth capabilities, ultra-bright LEDs, or what have you. What do ATO reservoirs have? Piecies of pretty acrylic or glass made into a pretty box? Okay, they look rather slick, I agree, but $160-200 CAD for a 5 gallon reservoir? Really?

I got a 5+gallon food-grade water container for $20 CAD instead, and it works perfectly fine. Although it's noticeable because it's bright blue with a bright red cap, it's already prettier than the basic white 5 gallon bucket. If a pretty box that's made of clear plastic is 8-10x the price, I'll stick with my slightly uglier blue container, thank you very much.

I used an aqueon standard tank for my ato resivor. 20 gallon tank was 21 dollars during a a dollar per gallon sale. Highly recommend the 5-20 gallon ones as atos.

 

[doubleshot00]

Would love to see an affordable automated tester for Alk, Phosphate and Nitrate. Trident 2.0 anybody?

Heck yeah. IMO i dont care as much about Cal and Mag as much as those. My cal and mag hasn't moved in months. But the other three are always fluctuating.

 

[doubleshot00]

I wish DC pumps and lights were less expensive!

DC pumps are the biggest rip off to this community. Jebao shows us that.

 

[Sump Crab]

DC pumps are the biggest rip off to this community. Jebao shows us that.

I use jebao dc return pump so I get it but I just cannot break the vortech habit

 

[fodsod]

I've got nothing new to add to the lists everyone has already stated.

Par meters are ridiculous even to rent. Granted, it's a very specific piece of kit and accuracy is 100% required. Either way, it's a money grab.

Lighting is insane in price. I know they'll tell you it's not just the unit itself, its the R&D that went into the development to ensure an optimal product. In the end, the mark up is justified if we all are willing to pay for it.

Testing equipment is an upfront cost but the reagents is where they really make the money. I LOVE my Hanna checkers. I cannot stand trying to color match on that style of kit.

In the end, the hobby doesn't have to be ultra expensive but if you want to top tiered stuff or you want everything to be color matched and cool looking it's going to cost you a lot. Some costs you really can't get around though if you want to be successful and not spend every waking minute testing and adjusting to keep all your critters happy.

 

[Cell]

At least lights require some amount of technical expertise to build and program. The pricing of acrylic boxes and cylinders is just nonsense.