When cheap things actually work!

[brewmaster15]

I'm sure we have all bought some cheapo gear for our hobby thinking it was a great deal only to find out you wasted your money on garbage. I know I have.

But everyonce in awhile I take a chance on something and it actually pans out. An example is airpumps. I have a really awesome linear pump from jehmco running a room. Its expensive but has lasted over 20 years. My fishroom scene has evolved into a scattering of tanks in multiple rooms now so I needed small airpumps. I tried whisper pumps and they are pretty decent cheap pumps but they didnt last for me very long and I had trouble finding them when I needed them at a good price. Took a chance on a brand called Pawfly on amazon and ebay..
Screenshot_20240312_072232.jpg

This 4 gang pump is awesome! Powerful and quiet. Comes with the manifold and a thicker airline tube and at $39 it was just the ticket. I have a couple running now and really am impressed.


How about? Any surprisingly good cheap gear to share?

[jwcarlson]

I've been happy with this air pump, but I am running my whole fish room with it. I don't have a huge number of air drops, but it's running my fry rack tank (4-5 drops) and about 10 additional drops in tanks. Mine is the 32W version, but I bought a 40W to have just as a backup. It eliminated about 7-8 smaller pumps and dropped the air pump sound almost to zero. It's surprisingly quiet.

Screenshot 2024-03-12 071009.jpg

I've also had really good luck with these heaters (though the 500 watt heaters are not 500 watts, they're more like 300). Hooked up to an InkBird they're running in more than half my tanks and I've always got one or two in a box as backups to the other heaters that I have in service. I have no experience running them without a controller, but I would guess that their thermostat knob is as terrible as every other one I've ever used.

Screenshot 2024-03-12 071515.jpg

[brewmaster15]

Jacob,
I have a few of the Orlushy heaters in 100 watt and 300 watt. They have been pretty decent for me on my smaller tanks. I like how solid they feel. They dont feel cheap and flimsy and I really like the 6 foot power cord length . Some of the cheap heaters come with ridiculously short cords. Cord length is something I always check on the heaters.

Haven't used the vivosun yet but I looked at it. The price is great and its got decent reviews. I was worried about how loud it might be

[Charlyc11]

I just got this one free with a Hygger 600w heater so it's still in the box plus I have a few backup Tetra 100 gallon pumps.

Screenshot 2024-03-12 084320.jpg

My fish room and water mixing room are piped with a Alita AL-15 and I never figured out it's limits and I had lots of drops when breeding rams.

Screenshot 2023-11-20 095521.jpg

[brewmaster15]

I've been happy with this air pump, but I am running my whole fish room with it. I don't have a huge number of air drops, but it's running my fry rack tank (4-5 drops) and about 10 additional drops in tanks. Mine is the 32W version, but I bought a 40W to have just as a backup. It eliminated about 7-8 smaller pumps and dropped the air pump sound almost to zero. It's surprisingly quiet.

Screenshot 2024-03-12 071009.jpg

I've also had really good luck with these heaters (though the 500 watt heaters are not 500 watts, they're more like 300). Hooked up to an InkBird they're running in more than half my tanks and I've always got one or two in a box as backups to the other heaters that I have in service. I have no experience running them without a controller, but I would guess that their thermostat knob is as terrible as every other one I've ever used.

Screenshot 2024-03-12 071515.jpg

Jacob, I gave this pump a try for one of my rooms. Im really impressed... the 40 watt one is running
6 - 10 gals
3 - 20 gals
1 -55 gal
1. - 75 gal

And my brine shrimp hatcheries..

Its really not noisy at all either.

Thanks for the tip.

Al

[jwcarlson]

Jacob, I gave this pump a try for one of my rooms. Im really impressed... the 40 watt one is running
6 - 10 gals
3 - 20 gals
1 -55 gal
1. - 75 gal

And my brine shrimp hatcheries..

Its really not noisy at all either.

Thanks for the tip.

Al

You're welcome, I have had it running for several months now. It has gotten a touch louder, but that might be more mounting related than anything. I should probably move it to the other side of the wall and put it on a little shelf. It's literally screwed into the wall sideways right now. So it's not sitting "level" which might contribute to some of that noise. It's still more quiet than before by far.

I've been impressed with it as well. Not sure how it will last long-term or if I should be doing any maintenance on it. The little air filter on the back side doesn't seem to have accumulated any dust or debris when I checked it last week. *shrug*
Maybe it's more of a muffler than a filter?

[Charlyc11]

I guess hit and miss I have the same type also but only 18 watts and was to noisy and got very hot so I replaced it for the Alita. Now it's in the junk box.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...TF8&th=1&psc=1

[brewmaster15]

I guess hit and miss I have the same type also but only 18 watts and was to noisy and got very hot so I replaced it for the Alita. Now it's in the junk box.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...TF8&th=1&psc=1

That Alita is a bit of an upgrade.

Im sure these cheap airpumps are probably hit or miss on the quality control too. At this point I think I got a good one... time will tell.

[Willie]

I guess hit and miss I have the same type also but only 18 watts and was to noisy and got very hot so I replaced it for the Alita. Now it's in the junk box.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...TF8&th=1&psc=1

Exactly my experience...

[brewmaster15]

Exactly my experience...

Willie which one did you try? And what did you end up getting?

[Vanman]

I thought about getting one of those pumps, but decided not to as I thought it might make too much noise. I might get one now as a spare. Two is one and one is none, as they say.

[Willie]

Willie which one did you try? And what did you end up getting?

I got the smaller model that Chuck also got. Maybe the bigger model works much better.

[brewmaster15]

I got the smaller model that Chuck also got. Maybe the bigger model works much better.

That was what I was wondering too.

[gunnerschh2]

Got a lph26 from Jehmco in 2016 & running about 600 gals of aqua. Still going strong After all this YEARS!

[Charlyc11]

That was what I was wondering too.

The good this if you try it right away you can easily return with Amazon, I waited to long and finally got fed up.