Aqua One 980 tank / Kong's - Major issues!!!

[ashles]

In October 2007, we purchased an Aqua One 980 Tank set up.

All was good with the tank at first, when my partner was electrocuted by the light hood. He ended up in hospital, and the light was returned and exchanged.

1 month later, the lights stopped working. So the pet store ordered another one in for us. We put the lighting back on the tank and it all worked fine again for another month.

THe same situation occurred again - lights stopped working. We took it back to our pet store, who, along with the Sale Rep/supplier, pulled it apart and found the inside of the light hood had been damaged due to salt build up.

We decided, after many reassurances, that a new one would fix the problem. WEll, 1month later,the lights stopped working again. WE figured at this stage enough was enough, and enquired as to how to go about getting the lights replaced with something designed for marine tanks. Well, No other lights will fit this tank, and the supplier offered a refund of the wholesale cost of the tank at the time we purchased it, even though we paid more than wholesale cost & prices have gone up since.

After being handballed between the retailer, supplier, head office, back to the retailer (3 times)i was sick of being told
"it's not MY problem" and spoke to "I" at Kong's head office.

She did not really seem to understand what was going on and had no interest in finding out. I called her the next day to follow up, as she was referring it to "upper management" and i was told,
"It's not our problem what happens to the product after we sell it. Take it up with the retailer or the supplier" I responded with "i have, and they refer me to you" To which i was told "Well, its not our problem anymore." When i questioned her as to how they are selling this tank as a marine tank, when it obviously can't handle the salty water etc, as all our hoods had exactly the same problems, caused by salt build up, i was told "the website says it can be used as marine." -that ended that portion of the discussion. (i still disagree that it should be being marketed as a marine tank - it clearly cannot be successfully used for that purpose)

Upon enquiries as to customer service/good will/ compassion or caring, i was told they just make the tanks and the reps/suppliers sell them, its not their problem. the conversation kpt going in circles until she hung up on me.

But now the problem is, we have no choice but to accept an inadequate refund to replace the tank leaving us AT LEAST $700 out of pocket just to get the tank re-set up (different brand, smaller sizings, but with similar features), we have lost over $300 worth of coral and live rock, and we are majorly out of pocket and majorly frustrated. There are no means of resolution available to us, as the company WILL NOT negotiate or even LISTEN and UNDERSTAND the issue!

NEVER PURCHASE AN AQUA ONE PRODUCT if you want good products/support if anything goes wrong!!

[Jaime_]

I have to disagree to the fact these tanks cannot be used for marine fish. We have had 6 of these Aqua one tanks for marine fish running for years. We have since cut down on tanks because we had 9 in total at one point and it was getting ridiculous. But we currently have the same model you have (980) plus a 126 which is quite small, a 620 and a 510 all running. They have all been going for 9 months plus. The oldest is 18 months. All have always been used for salt water from day one with no problems so your experience was not a good one although Id like to see whats causing the same issue over and over since weve never had anything go wrong in that way. And the way they handled it was not good but these tanks are definitely reliable salt water tanks. Not as good with filtration as our 7 foot set up with 2 canister filters, proper metal hallide lights etc but they still do the job and would always recommend them as a cheap, easy set up for someone wanting to get into salt water.

[Jaime_]

Ill just rephrase, the oldest we have currently running has been going for 18 months straight, one we "inherited" had been running about 2-3 years when we took it over.

[ashles]

Its good that you've had good experiences, but they have definitely not saved a customer (or business as the pet store we use are withdrawing all the Aqua One products in the store due to all the problems they've had) in this case. Other pet stores we have spoken to had told us they refuse to stock aqua one as they do not trust the brand.

All the hoods had all the same problems. We had reps out examining the tank to make sure it was set up properly, levels correct etc and all was fine, all set up crrectly, but all with the same prob - salt all thru the internal eletrics of the light hood.

Perhaps they got a bit lax in production with the later model hoods (or hoods made at a later date) As you have had yours much longer than the 6 months we initially bought ours. Perhaps they changed the design of the hood slightly, i honestly don't know, but i found it a bit strange that all of them had EXACTLY the same prob. We still have not found out WHERE the salt was entering, although they hinted that it was either entering through the casing over the lights itself or the back ventilation vents. But as i am neither a fish tank manufacturer/specialit or electrician, i cant say for sure what the heck is going on.

The service i received is not even FIT to be called service, and i would not be inclined to deal with or call the company again. ESPECIALLY after being told that once they sold the item, it was no longer their problem and that they didnt care. They tried to tell me it was the supplier's fault and would not listen or understand when i tried to explain it could not be the supplier's fault as he doesnt manufacture the item, they do.

Argh, sorry, venting again, but, as you can understand, when you outlay $$ to buy a tank set up for expensive fish, corals and rock, and it all goes down hill, you're not a very happy consumer/pet owner.

[Crappedoff]

I am actually a seller of Aqua One tanks and find them to be o.k. If I was you, I would give the company (Kongs Australia P/L) another chance to rectify your problem (or get a full refund from them) and tell them you will be contacting consumer affairs. If no luck, then contact consumer affairs and let them help you. Kongs is actually a very good company and you may have just got the wrong person. They have a toll free number. Hopefully it can all be worked out for you.

Good luck

[mmdiddy]

We also have an Aqua One 980 tank - where the light hood continually fails - and we have fresh water! It is 5 years old, but was in the Garage for a while. It has only been constantly used for 2 years, and the lights started playing up around 1 year ago.

I think there are at least two problems with this unit - both of which could lead to someone being electrocuted, like the previous post!
1. The combination of heat & water makes the wiring used 'brittle' in places.
2. Water is getting into the transformers for the fluro lights

It seems, after time, the earthing becomes poor (due to the reasons above!).
For example: - if I leave only 1 starter in for the middle light, and turn it on, it works.

Then I turn the other lights on - they start glowing!

Then I put their starters in - they start flickering!

Then I pull their starters out - they stay on solid!

I'm trying to hunt down a complete, replacement unit - does anyone know where I can get one from?

Either way, if someone got electrocuted by one of these - there should be a recall notice, at least on the Aqua One website. I do think they have some major faults.