Aquarium Cleaning Machine

Aquarium Forums Hall of Shame #3

Aquarium Cleaning Machine:

For my latest installment of Aquarium Forums Hall of Shame I will return to the more original format of Aquatic forums (rather than the last post which dealt with a SEO forum that had little integrity when it came to my trying to counter all the anecdotal or even harmful aquatic articles that have flooded the internet).

In this case I was performing my usual Google checks (always Google, not as much Yahoo or MSN, that brings this stuff up, which is why my last post), when I found a forum that was talking about the Aquarium Cleaning Machine. A moderator here had purchased one from Dr. F & S based on her view that they were a safer/better place to purchase form (which I will get to that shortly). She later had trouble with suction with her Aquarium Cleaning Machine and then basically decided that they were not good.

Let me give a little background before I go on; When I first heard about the Aquarium Cleaning Machine during one of my business trips to LA, I was skeptical, however after talking to a few Aquarium Maintenance Professional Colleagues that I knew that were very impressed, I decided to try one. After finding out how versatile and easy to use they were (as well as excellent for tanks with high bio loads/DOC), I decided to now sell them.
I also decided to try running this machine by putting it together different ways and trying different configurations so as to see what can and would go wrong so as to best explain this to prospective customers. I found that if not cleaned properly, or not put together properly (which is hard not to do since the few parts are color coded), or finally if the valves are not properly positioned (this is the easier mistake IMO), Suction or other non function issues would arise.
This said I have YET to have a single problem with the machines I have used) nor those used by persons I know. The only problems encountered were by my own intentions to force issues with the machine.
What is sad is that Dr. F & S only decided to sell this machine after others such as myself found a market for it and did the hard work. I know this from the distributor of this product whom has poor view of their company (along with many other “old timers” in the aquatics industry based on what many have been sold/told by them. I believe since they have little working knowledge of this product, it stands to reason that their customer service in helping buyers with the machine would be poor.

Back to this forum, as I noted this forum moderator reason to purchase from Dr. F & S was based on false assumptions by Dr. F & S. If she had purchased the machine from American Aquarium Products or others that have vastly more information/help she may have been able to avoid the problem, however she did not.
Now this is where the hall of shame part comes in, when I noticed the trashing of this product (similar to the anecdotal reviews of so many products, methods I have observed on the internet), I decided to join this forum (Koiphen.com) so as to explain what may have gone wrong and my experiences with this product. I later found out (via a phone call from a customer) that my post was removed. This is a despicable yet all too common display of shutting down good information so as to allow their own misinformation to prevail. I found this all too often in many Google forums where many would make statements or slander me so as to make their own unsubstantiated view prevail.

Let me summarize by stating that I am not trying to make a hard sell for this machine, as it is not for everyone, however I am tired of all the anecdotal bs that floats around on the internet that is totally unsubstantiated by science or practical application in a controlled environment.
For an honest, knowledgeable forum, I would recommend visiting “Everything Aquatic”