Category Archives: Uncategorized

saltwateraquarium.com Review

Posted on by fishservice

I think it’s time to call out harm to the aquatic industry. It may seem nice for the hobby, but it’s slowly harming it.

Saltwateraquarium.com continues to rely on marking aquarium products below MAP for lots of brands in the hobby. They rely on manufactures not keeping up or not caring to enforce MAP. There’s times you can buy from saltwateraquarium.com for less than what you can on the manufacturer’s website and if you’re a professional looking to supply a piece of equipment it may be cheaper at this saltwater site, because they rely on bottom rock prices to move products.

This site even has a page keeping track of manufacture MAP though not up to date. You can find brands on this list that enforce MAP and saltwateraquarium.com still marks some of these items below MAP.

https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/map-price-controlled-brands/

On the customer level, it doesn’t look good either with their reviews getting a low overall rating from 1.7-1.9 stars from hundreds of reviews.

How are they different than real professionals?

Professionals work in the field and can learn, teach, and promote technique then sell an item if need be. Sites like saltwater aquarium carry thousands of items and in no way they can be professionals of every item. This site and other sites start just as a hobbyist if we’re lucky, sometime the site is started from someone that has no idea of the hobby and then just sells everything. And hopes there’s a few items that really move for them. All other items get shelved, discounted, and over time… the hobby and tech gets forgotten about and no longer manufactured.

Professionals lose interest or it simply doesn’t make to stock an item try to sell it at MAP (to make the money it’s worth for the effort) and remind that if other’s are selling at lower prices they are breaking MAP. Forget trying to get the item stocked in a brick and mortar store as they’re no way to compete with the pricing. And it’s not like professionals get rich as there’s little profit margin on these goods. But MAP allows there to be enough for the time and the marketing that professionals do… Not just sales. If you’re looking for professional resource consider a local shop, maintenance business, or sites like American Aquarium Products, which carry select items and are true experts in what they promote for different applications. It’s not hard to spot the difference between hard working aquatic experts and sales.

It’s as easy as getting a good URL, going to some aquatic conventions, and take advantage of the poor sales techs that are just trying to move their products. These techs are under pressure to move the manufactures goods, so they’ll do little to know who they’re giving selling rights too.

In trying to talk with some of these manufactures, the same response comes from them. “We don’t know who is doing it” and the amount of time it takes for these companies to really enforce MAP for an item can take up to a year or two!

People think Amazon is the problem and while they’re flooding the market with cheap equipment, what quality items you do find they uphold MAP. Same as like Petco.com, but take a look around and you’ll see the leech parasite retailers selling at cost and paying to promote to get ahead of all professionals. As soon as Amazon or Petco find out they’ll also dump the items.

How do they make money? Well on these items they don’t. There’s no way with the process it takes to sell goods. But take a bunch of shit and throw it against a wall, some of it is bound to stick.

Consider which companies you support in the hobby. Entry level people will care less and that’s fine, but people who take the hobby seriously most likely don’t know this is going on and are willing to spending the extra costs to make sure great manufactures, products, and professional help is available.

Shilling Hikari Aquarium Sponge Filters for Amazon

Posted on by fishservice

Hikari Sponge Filter from Amazon

Shilling Hikari (Chinese) Aquarium Sponge Filters for Amazon while attacking industry professionals

This “Aquarium Opinions” article deals with an article that is a clear example of what is destroying our aquarium hobby and industry. I have to admit that I was floored when I was sent an email from a friend in the industry that has also worked for my mentor in the aquarium industry as to this article and the author’s attack upon my friend and mentor.

Article in question:
wwwDOTfishlab.com/sponge-filter
“Sponge Filters: Cheap Mechanical and Bio Filtration for Your Aquarium”

We have this author promoting Hikari Sponge Filters, which is nothing more Hikari placing their name on the Chinese XY-380 knock off of the AAP/ATI Hydro Sponge Aquarium Filter.

If this author had really done his homework, he would have known this as pointed out by my friend. I might add that my friend [Steve] did this in a polite & respectful manner.

Instead the author of this article makes a ridiculous attack attempting to point out that the AAP Sponge Filtration article [by Carl Strohmeyer] has had an update that included “Hikari” being added to the content in what appears a way to divert attention from his shilling for Amazon. This diversion is known as a “RED HERRING ARGUMENT” which this guy sadly uses quite effectively.

What is worthy of note is that the author AAP & “Aquarium Answers” aquarium/pond keeping articles updates his many articles DAILY to make sure content is a clear and accurate as possible, NOT to discredit shill articles such this one attacking him [regular followers or those who do their homework would know this, so his attempt to discredit is laughable].
Sadly he continues to try and discredit Carl since Carl obviously recommends the AAP Hydro Sponge Filter which he sell on his professional based web site as attempt to cover his own alleged shilling of Cheap Amazon Sponge Filters via well known aquarium industry destroying Amazon [which is all this article is about with every outside link going to Amazon].

He posts a link that he claims shows that Carl only had two updates in the last year which it does not, and in consulting for this “Aquarium Opinions” blog post, I spoke with a “techie” friend who also stated that the web site used in a libelous way to discredit Carl cannot detect all updates since it only crawls a web page limited times. I also spoke with Carl himself, who stated his HTML edit logs showed multiple edits per year for this particular article. Stupidly on my part, by bringing this point up, really only buys into his libelous attempt discredit Carl, all the while to divert from his own alleged credibility issues as a poser who clearly know little about the aquarium industry, unlike Carl who has given so much to the industry/hobby and taken very little out [I know for a fact he makes less than minimum wage from his business].

The author of this article later states that he could not find the patent, even though Steve provided him a link that had the name of owner of the patent. I will admit that I am not Internet savy [I am not a poser here], yet it took me little time to find the patent [which I do believe is recently expired, however these knock offs have been around for at least 15 years, well before the patent expired].
In my opinion, this shows even more alleged credibility and honesty issues for the author of this article, as while it is obvious that he has little to no knowledge of the aquarium industry and products there in, it appears that he is quite tech savy and uses this to attempt to divert attention from his shilling of Chinese products via Amazon over USA product sold by professionally sources.
Sadly this alleged shilling author then attempts to discredit this blog Steve shared about the history of the AAP/ATI Sponge Filter just because Carl & Steve both collaborate on this blog-site [another ad-hominem attack]. Again this shows this author’s lack of knowledge and respect for the true pros in this industry.

This attack upon Carl & Steve is no different than attacking a friend and eye-witness to President Kennedy who wrote a bio about Kennedy just because he is the author of the bio. Ditto Carl, he personally know the inventor of the ATI/AAP Sponge Filter and is a known and credible expert on the subject.

Here is a quote from Steve in the comments section:
“Ian, this is not my article, however I do in fact know the author the respect he has in the industry and community.
Your comment that it is not reliable information is really nothing than an Ad Hominem argument.
If you read his bio, you would know that he arrived at what he sells via decades of experience & research. So why should he not sell what he recommends? This goes for all his articles.

As for the Hikari, I did a quick re-read and he does mention this sponge filter.
Moreover I know that this is well known in the industry as a Chinese knock off [via the XY-380 filter] that infringes on the patent, so supporting this over and American made one really makes me respectfully question your intentions too, especially when you link to Amazon which again is well known within the industry for the harm they are doing to the industry.

An article that addresses what Amazon is doing to our industry (there are more, including one I co-wrote):
https://aquariumopinions.com/2013/08/27/purchasing-aquarium-pond-equipment-via-amazon/

As you said, I mean no disrespect, but I simply pointed out a fact, & you used it as a way to attack someone who has given much to this hobby and industry, often in ways many except those close to him could know”

See this screen shot of this Amazon promoting article in response to my friend’s comment above where he clearly avoids the REAL question and instead attacks based what appears to be a lack knowledge on the subject while he promotes patent infringing Chinese made product over USA made product:

Shilling Hikari Sponge Filter

I will lay my cards out on the table in the next few paragraphs, unlike the author of this alleged shill piece who in my opinion is very rude and condescending to both Steve & Carl.

The person [Carl] in the Aquarium Sponge Filtration article being questioned for his integrity in this alleged “Amazon Shill” article is highly respected in this industry. He [Carl] has and continues to give most of his free time helping others with their fish problems for free.

Carl’s knowledge is well known and many in the industry, including Disney World, consult with him regularly.

Yes, he supports himself with sales of products, but only products he would use and recommend professionally, as do I. I also know for a fact he makes very little from his online business too.

Attacks made upon him such as by the author “Sponge Filters: Cheap Mechanical and Bio Filtration for Your Aquarium” accusing him as unreliable because he sells a certain product is a common Ad Hominem attack that Carl himself addresses as this is a common tactic when someone does not know the subject matter.
The fact the author of this article attacks Carl in this way also proves he is nothing more than a poser using this tactic to cover for his alleged shilling of Cheap Chinese Sponge Filters for aquarium industry killing Amazon.

My relation is I began working for him around 1983 and later took over his aquarium maintenance route when he had to move to Oregon to protect his family from a predator. He also stood up for me in an incident that cost him his largest account, so obviously money is not his main motivator. Carl has also helped me financially too and has given me tips on blogging [admittedly setting me up here too]. So for this author to attack Carl’s credibility is beyond disgusting.
As for Steve, he is an expert in photography and also has worked for Carl and writes some blog articles, sometimes with Carl [I do not collaborate].

Since I have a policy of not linking to pages that sell products, but not for Ad Hominem attack reasons, I will not link to Carl’s excellent article on the subject, but it is readily found online.
However I will link to other articles such as this one by yet another friend, this time a techie who Carl helped and built this website to make more simple versions of the information Carl has provided for years to this hobby and industry for free:
What is an aquarium sponge filter?

Here are related articles as to purchasing via Amazon or purchasing Chinese Sponge filter knock offs, which include one from this blogsite:
Buying Aquarium Products via Amazon (& Chewy, eBay)
Aquarium Sponge Filter Made in USA or China
Purchasing Aquarium & Pond Equipment via Amazon

In summary, I would ask readers to look at where links go when reading articles such as “wwwDOTfishlab.com/sponge-filter”. If you see links to Amazon, you will know this is likely nothing more than an Amazon Contributor. Does this mean the article is bad? No, but unlike the authors Ad Hominem attacks, this is simply a program by Amazon meant to provide Black Hat unnatural SEO to keep Amazon at the top of searches.
What is also worthy of note is that the real expert in the subject is clearly attacked by the author of the article in question when it is so obvious he is highly knowledgeable and well respected in the industry & hobby.
Just think about the many who cite his material from Steve, myself, Nippy Fish, Fish Beginner, the Spruce, and many many more.

What is also noteworthy, it the author of this web site has many other articles, all very general in natural, and in my opinion, very well written too, making for a good “hook” for less experienced readers.
He seems to have enough knowledge to appear to know what he is talking about, but to a pro who has not just kept four aquariums, but professionally maintained 1000s between myself & Carl, it is easy to spot that much of the information is borrowed and very incomplete [example Columnaris].
As an example, in one of his “Fish Lab” articles, he notes AAP Wonder Shells, but it is ovious he has little knowledge of this product and worse, he links to Amazon yet again for the product. This link is but another glaring example that he knows little of the industry since Amazon is NOT AN AUTHORIZED source for this product!!! When someone buys this product from Amazon, they are getting clearance product and not the full line at that. The problem with clearance product is that that AAP Wonder Shells loose their charge of mineral Cations over time and are therefore a less effective product.

G

AAP Professional Aquarium Treatments; For Columnaris, Ich, more

Posted on by fishservice

This blog post deals with a product line that was well known by most professionals in the aquarium industry going back to the 1970s.
My mentor in aquarium design, maintenance, & care was heavily mentored by the scientists who developed this line of products for aquarium conditioning and disease treatment/prevention.
Unfortunately this line went away around 2003, but thankfully this line has been mostly been brought back as “AAP Professional Treatments”

1oz bottles Banner

AAP Professional Treatments

I will not provide a link as per my policy of not linking to selling pages, but it is easily found in searching the internet, just be aware that their are still some sellers of old product via discount outlets. So look for the ONLY online seller of “AAP Professional Treatments”
I will also “borrow” (copy & paste) some information from AAP Professional Treatment’s website to make writing this blog post easier/quicker.

A few highlights of products from this line that I personal use professionally:

    • AAP Res-Q & Shieldex.
      This are two of the best water conditioners available that I would ad to a short list including Seachem Prime.AAP Res-Q is the ultimate water conditioner when fish have frayed fins or have visible abuse. A most effective product with seven way action. RES-Q detoxifies and conditions water by polymeric complexing (bonding) of metallic ions. Coats the fish with a slippery medicated bandage, balances osmotic processes, removes chlorine, clarifies water and aids in safe shipment of fish.
      Res-Q does not color the water.
      Used in lieu of other water conditioners if medication on the fish is indicated such as after injury or introduction of new fish.As per AAPs founder who has used this product in 1000s of professional applications, Res-Q is excellent both as a first aid and a water conditioner of choice when minor injury is present. It can also be directly applied via new fish introduction, as well as netting or “cupping” the fish.
      In our founders controlled test, the use of Res-Q improved the results of Super Ich Plus and sped healing of minor fin & body damage as compared to Stress Coat which had zero effect.

      AAP Shieldex is a Vitamin E fortified protective, stress relief and disease preventing slime coat treatment for ALL fish (freshwater/saltwater).
      As per AAPs founder, whom has used this product & similar products in large quantities in his 1000+ aquarium maintenance business, Shieldex is far superior to StressCoat. For one it allows for more natural slime generation and does not tend to “blob” on the bottom of the tank.

      Shieldex has a specific use when setting up a new tank. Nitrifying bacteria enjoy clinging to the slime coat it produces. Success in cycling tanks has been achieved by squirting the liquid directly into the filter bed prior to adding water.

    • AAP Dyacide (Dylox).This is an excellent substitute for Clout.
      AAP Dyacide treats: Gill Flukes, Anchor Worms, Fish Lice, Parasitic Copepods, Pinpoint Sores, Tricodina, Monogenetic, and Digenitic Trematodes.
    • AAP Spectrogram.This is THE ORIGINAL Columnaris treatment that is still superior to purchasing Kanaplex and Furan 2 separatelyAAP Spectrogram is the widest spectrum, gram positive and negative medication treatment available in the industry. It is indicated for all persistent or undiagnosed conditions (other than parasitic infestations).
      Spectrogram is MUCH easier to use than the traditional Kanaplex/Furan 2 combination as there is no conflicting dosing schedules which also allows for this synergistic combination to work MUCH better since both antibiotics are required at THE SAME TIME for optimum results.
      As well this blended combination overcomes the draw backs of using Nitrofurazone in higher pH aquariums
      Far superior to Maracyn II too.
      For ALL fish (freshwater/saltwater)!

      AAP Spectrogram is the treatment of CHOICE for Columnaris!! More effective when already combined, as well as this product being pharmaceutical grade. Why settle for less for your Columnaris treatment or Aeromonas Treatment too?

    • AAP Super Ich Plus.AAP Super Ich Plus is second to NONE as the most effective freshwater aquarium fish Ich treatment with its unique/synergistic Malachite Green/Quinine combinationAAP Super Ich Plus is an effective external treatment Freshwater fish for: Freshwater Ich/White Spots (Strongest available choice!), Scratching & Darting, Collapsed Fins, General external parasites
    • AAP Wound Control (Merbromin).This was a product that made my “Fish Doctor” calls more difficult until AAP Professional Treatments brought it back as it was and is an essential part of fish treatment that there was NEVER any true substitute for; not Methylene Blue, not Potassium Permanganate.AAP Wound Control/Merbromin is a swab or paint-on disinfectant with PVP emulsifier for: wounds, scrapes, and abrasions as well as opportunistic bacterial infections that often result from these problems.
      A scrape against rocks or a bite on the scales can result in a serious infection. The simple process of catching the fish and painting the affected area will often prevent more serious problems or aid in an in tank or hospital tank treatment with antibiotics for more serious infections.
      As well, a direct swab of Merbromin has been very helpful from my experience for Columnaris external lesions of all kinds, except for those within the gills. The effectiveness of Merbromin lies in the fact Merbromin is an organomercuric disodium salt compound and a fluorescein that is effective on external infections because of its permanence, and lethality to bacteria, IN PARTICULAR COLUMNARIS!
    • AAP DiscomedAAP Discomed is a unique anti-parasitic (internal & external) medication to use to make a medicated fish food for Freshwater and Marine aquariums.
      Specific Treatment for Cichlids suffering weight loss.For treatment of Nematodes; Including Camallanus, Capillari, & Eustrongylid
      Treats parasitic causes of Color Loss, Weight Loss and Wasting, Darkened Body Color, Skinny Body, & Concaved Abdomen
    • AAP MarexAnother product that there was really no good replacement when it disappeared from the market in 2003AAP Marex is a colorless antibiotic blend of Pyrimethamine and Chloroquine Phosphate. The first effective copper substitute treatment Marine/Saltwater Oodinium.
  • AAP Myacin; Superior Erythromycin Phosphate TreatmentWhile API and Mardel provided Erythromycin products, these were inferior Erythromycin sulfate products.
    AAP Professional Treatment’s pharmaceutical grade Erythromycin Phosphate is a superior product that is stronger and more wide spectrum.
    Only a fool would purchase one of the others with this product now available!!

FURTHER RECOMMENDED READING:
#Fish Diseases | How to Treat Sick Fish
#My Fish are Sick, What do I do?

Information courtesy of AAP Professional Treatments

Modern Aquarium Supplies Marketing; My Aquarium Box, etc.

Posted on by fishservice

Modern Aquarium Supplies Marketing; My Aquarium Box, etc.

In speaking with others in this industry, especially those I admire and trust who have mentored me to where I am today, it seems we have entered a new era in this hobby & industry where listening to those with more experience, trusting those who have paved the way, and promoting honest products is no longer what matters.

I will list a few points and let readers decide for themselves:

  • Mentoring. This is how I learned and continue to learn. Yes, I gain a lot of experience from my aquarium service route, but I still ask questions and read, often well beyond the 3 minute Youtube video or 4 paragraph copy/paste aquarium blog.

    Mentoring, Freshwater Aquatics Marine & Ecosystems, Northfin, Rachel O'leary

    However of late, this seems to not be the case with how many get their information.
    You see popular Youtube channels with otherwise knowledgeable aquarium keepers promoting products such as Poly Pads that are excellent when used properly, but ignoring the proven affect these products have on aquarium redox. Yet this information is easily found if they just try and expand outside of their circles of friends!!

    You have a Facebook group [F.A.M.E.] that one mentor shared with me, that invited him in, only to edit anything he brought into the group to expand their understandings such as again aquarium redox, and prevention of common aquarium diseases. This group even attacked him when he corrected their misunderstandings about fish foods and a certain brand in particular.

    Further Reading:
    Redox in Aquariums

    • Deep Blue Sponge Patent Infringement, My Aquarium Box, Kens Fish

  • Patents/Copyrights I have seen patents copied, mostly with products coming from China, where they brazenly copied modular designs of products such as the AAP/ATI Hydro Sponge Filter. One notable example here is the Deep Blue Sponge Filter. The Deep Blue along with the Aquarium Solutions filters are infringing upon the patent rights of ATI (originally Lustar), so when you purchase these filters, you are in fact receiving stolen goods!!
    Worse, is you have marketing ideas such as “My Aquarium Box” that promote this product. What in the end is this going to this hobby/industry if no one can develop a product without the fear their time is wasted by someone in China copying their design and then promoted those with popular marketing ideas, but clearly no interest in the future of the hobby/industry and reliable content!

    In fact speaking of content and “My Aquarium Box”, I know in speaking with a friend/mentor in this industry that when it comes to fish food, they most definitely are all about the marketing and not at all about the facts in that they spewed back incorrect information about Paradigm, all the while showing no class in how they backed out of a deal to market a truly science driven food developed by fish food guru Clay Neighbors that utilized my friends years of experience too. My jaw dropped when he shared his communications with this marketing company.

    Later “My Aquarium Box” used a plagiarized formula from Paradigm [not Clay Neighbor’s updated energy optimized formula either] and branded it as their own. Then they claim there are multiple dehydrated fish foods available when is fact there is really only Clay Neighbor’s formula.
    In my thinking, this shows their character, and that they are NOT about good information driving good products. AVOID “My Aquarium Box like the plague!

    Resource:
    What is an aquarium sponge filter?

  • Inexperience Posing as Experienced You have websites and Youtube channels where persons who have been in the hobby and industry sometimes only a few months and often just a year or so posing as experts in everything. For experienced aquarium keepers, these persons are easy to spot, but for the undiscerning or inexperienced, these people are sharks!

    A good example is NorthFin USA where the owner also has a Youtube channel and poses as a fish food and fish medication expert.
    He simply reads labels of fish medications like this is going to solve everyone’s problem when in fact if you looked at most API Antibiotic treatments such as Triple Sulfa and Furan 2 you would see that everyone of these matches the next! So what kind of information is this??

    You need to first look at causes and parameters, then symptoms, then finally what to treat with, which may also include changing how you feed, house, filter, etc. your aquarium.
    No wonder this guy pushes a fish food with energy levels that long term are not all that healthy for fish!

    A good place to start for REAL information in fish medications/treatments:
    Fish Diseases | How to Treat Sick Fish
    My Fish are Sick, What do I do?

Why Aquaray LED Light Fixtures, Review?

Posted on by fishservice

Revised Oct. 12, 2019

Why Aquaray LED Light Fixtures, Review?

As readers already know, I clearly have a bias toward the TMC-AAP Aquaray LED lights.

For a little background, most of my aquarium service customer contract with me AFTER purchasing their equipment elsewhere, so I get to use many different products from many different manufacturers. This pattern has been prevalent since I started in about 1986, at first working for another.
In the end, some products are so bad that I cannot do my job well and I have to tell the service customer that they will need to change this product or I cannot continue or even start a new contract.

Why Aquaray LED Light Fixtures, Review, by TMC AAPWhen it comes to lighting, I probably have at least some experience now with about 70% of the popular LED brands now available. Some others I have not but I have listened to others I respect and have applied common sense and have not recommended those 30% I have yet to use.

Nonetheless, most of the lights that I do have at least some experience with work well and these lights do the job they were intended for such as keeping a reef, planted or just plain fish tank. A couple of exceptions include the Marineland Double Bright, Aquatop, and a few others.
So my experience is not that there are not many capable LED lights, as the majority are more than capable!!

My practical experience as well as common sense has eventually brought me to my favorite when it has come to LED lighting.
This without a doubt is the Aquaray line of LED lights, so let me list off why I feel this way. Readers may not always agree, nonetheless, much of these reasons I list are based on factual reasons, not just simple subjective opinions.

  1. The highest water-resistant rating of any major LED (IP67).
    This means your electronic lighting device that is placed in a wet aquatic environment has a chance of lasting more than a couple years.
    From Aquarium LED Lights, Lighting:
    “LED fixtures are NOT aquarium lights in the traditional sense, even the emitters are not a “bulb” as many people think. They are computer chips making micro-explosions, emitting photons in frequencies of waves. Some of these waves, we know as light.”

  2. The AAP AquaRay has the longest and best warranty of 5 years. BEWARE of official sounding parasite sellers on-line such as “Aquaraylighting.com” selling out of a home that come up high in “googling”. As despite “pay to play” search engine’s poor algorithms, the only professional and long time authorized seller in North America is AAP (American Aquarium Products).
    This warranty is also for full replacement, not what can be a weeks long repair, nor are there exceptions as with many others requiring a certain percentage of emitters be out before a warranty can be utilized.

  3. Highest output light energy per input energy, in other words the electrical input required to produce both the quantity and quality of light needed to keep reef or planted aquariums in particular.

  4. Similar to the above, the highest PUR using patented designs and licensed emitters that provide optimum light energy with less need to mix emitters to achieve this.
    The result is a light that has an optimal man-made light energy, not a CRI that might look better or brighter to the user.

    Ref: PUR, PAS, PAR in Aquarium Reef/Planted Lighting

  5. Most options for light spread and more; Large and small tiles, strips, patented mounting system also optionally available.

  6. History; the Aquaray line of aquarium LED lights has been around since 2007 and has locked in some of the best patent designs, licensing agreements. Many of the new fixture while quite nice still has to operate around these designs which includes using multiple emitters to achieve what Aquaray can do with one or a few due to patent and licensing rights. Those who in 2015 & beyond who have never heard of this brand show that they have had their head up their a## in some forum that clearly spews out the same garbage over and over.
    Part of this reason too in my opinion, is many of these persons live on the Internet where the same information is passed back and forth, so they never see what the down and dirty professionals are using.
    The FACTS are the Aquaray line has always been marketed to the professionals, not forum sponsorships, so this results in a brand that is well known among many in professional circles and many brick & mortar retailers, but less well known among forum readers [with a few exceptions]

The above reasons are quite self explanatory and frankly hard to argue with.

In the end, while even the better economy brands such as Finnex or Fluval can keep your planted aquarium going nicely, any up-front savings is lost quickly as per my list of reasons and I have already witnessed early failures of these lights, in particular the Finnex.
When one of the brands I “inherit” with customer who purchased their aquarium set up elsewhere go belly up, this is often when I replace the light with an Aquaray.
I have already replaced lights for customers for total failures. Often moisture damage is a reason, although failed fans have killed a few LED fixtures too.

Another issue I have found is less than optimal emitter combinations, both for marine and freshwater applications.

An example is a freshwater BML LED strip fixture with three blue emitters. The amount of blue has a higher tendency to grow more algae.
This is nothing new either as both I and the person I purchased my aquarium service company from have used actinic blue fluorescent lights in combinations over the years and this almost always resulted more algae growth versus the use of a good pure 6500K trichromatic or Triton lamp.
Changing out to a pure noontime tropical sun 6500k emitter LED such as the Grobeam improved the algae issue. More subjectively I think the more natural daylight color looks better too.

Ditto some of use of amber emitters to make up desired light kelvin colors. This gets close to optimal light wavelengths for cyanobacteria, something warm white fluorescent lamps years back also had more issues with. In the end, changing lights improved cyanobacteria issues too.

Below are a couple of examples to make my point. Please note these are generic aquariums as my contracts protect privacy of my customers aquariums which I cannot use publicly.

This first pic is from a BML showing the too high blue color for most planted aquariums.
Please note that BML is now out of business as per aquarium LEDs. Be wary if purchasing one of these lights used, as they have issues due to heat causing silicone to separate from the fixture since these fixture often produce to much excess heat.
Build My LED Freshwater Light with blue tint

This pic shows GroBeam 600 strips over an aquarium and the more natural color
GroBeam LED lights with more natural daylight color