Here are my personal thoughts on the dialysis system for the aquarium.
Obviously at those kinds of prices, I've never actually used one.
Generally, when I see an aquarium product that is completely different from the current ways of doing things, the first thing I wonder about is if it is for real. I can only think of a few things in my many years of aquarium keeping that were radically different, and actually worked as advertised. A few that come to mind are the undergravel filters, all glass aquariums, the “mini-reef” concept for SW aquariums, RO / DI systems for a water source, and a few other things. I can think of many many things that didn’t work at all and some that were actually worse that what existed at the time.
Most radical changes come years apart. To catch on, they have to work much better than what currently exists, especially if they cost a lot more. Now “better” is a bit subjective. It could mean that the system cost less, or is easier to use, or keeps the livestock in much better condition. The dialysis system has been out for awhile, but we don’t see many other vendors building similar units. This contrasts with how quickly we saw many other vendors out with “mini-reef” systems, once it was demonstrated that the concept worked.
I can’t really say if this dialysis system actually works, but I would want to see proof that it did work before buying the system. I would want to see it in operation, for several years, on several systems that are not controlled by the vendor. Not just pictures either, I’d want to see the systems in action.
Once I was convinced that the system actually worked, I’d want to evaluate how much better it was over all other existing systems. Take a look at the pictures people post here of their own reefs, and the pictures of the dialysis systems. Most of the dialysis systems seem to be a fiberglass reef structure and are set up as fish only systems. So I am not convinced that the dialysis systems is any better, although it might be better for something like an aquarium maintenance business, where they can’t work on the system every day.
Next I would evaluate price. If the system was only about as good as what was current, it would have to cost a lot less to buy and run. If the system was much better that want existed, then I would have to ask if the price paid to buy and run it justified the improvement. The $2499 price is a lot, much more than would be spent on a typical filtration system.
So after all was said and done, even if money was no object, I don’t think I’d spend the money on the system.
