Singapore Fish Shops sell Python cleaning product?

[stormhawk]

Star,

The prices are in USD. Factoring in the estimated exchange rate for the USD to SGD and using the offer price of USD 22.99 for the 25 feet model, it costs about SGD 38. Sounds like a good deal right? Actually nope. You need to factor in shipping costs and convert that bit into SGD to get a total cost. In the end, you might end up paying more than SGD $60 you paid for your 25 feet set.

However they will not ship to Singapore. Information is listed on their website. They will only ship to the continental USA, their territories and American military bases only.

[Star-flog]

Star,

The prices are in USD. Factoring in the estimated exchange rate for the USD to SGD and using the offer price of USD 22.99 for the 25 feet model, it costs about SGD 38. Sounds like a good deal right? Actually nope. You need to factor in shipping costs and convert that bit into SGD to get a total cost. In the end, you might end up paying more than SGD $60 you paid for your 25 feet set.

However they will not ship to Singapore. Information is listed on their website. They will only ship to the continental USA, their territories and American military bases only.

If I knew this price before, I would bargain even harder to get the price down further.
Anyone knows normal water hose, how much per meter or feet in those hardware shop? (fish shop tends to be more expensive)

[stormhawk]

Normal water hose pretty cheap. Shouldn't cost more than $1.00 per metre.

However some of them get too stiff over time. One my friend uses those Hozelock or Claber type hose reels. Works quite well for such applications. Using some pieces of PVC you can make a pretty good fit.

However those cheap hoses at the hardware stores are also a good buy. If they get too stiff you can just go out and get a new one.

Erm.. I don't think you can bargain that kind of price down. At SGD $60 its pretty expensive but as you said, a worthwhile buy. If you factor in the shipping costs they paid to import the item from the US, SGD $60 only gives them a very small margin of profit. The base price for the item, based on the offer price (USD $22.99) on that website is already SGD $38. If you go by the original pricing on the website at USD 28.99, its already about SGD $48. So you paid an extra $12 SGD for the item. That barely covers the shipping costs they might have initially paid to import that item.

[Star-flog]

Normal water hose pretty cheap. Shouldn't cost more than $1.00 per metre.

However some of them get too stiff over time. One my friend uses those Hozelock or Claber type hose reels. Works quite well for such applications. Using some pieces of PVC you can make a pretty good fit.

However those cheap hoses at the hardware stores are also a good buy. If they get too stiff you can just go out and get a new one.

Erm.. I don't think you can bargain that kind of price down. At SGD $60 its pretty expensive but as you said, a worthwhile buy. If you factor in the shipping costs they paid to import the item from the US, SGD $60 only gives them a very small margin of profit. The base price for the item, based on the offer price (USD $22.99) on that website is already SGD $38. If you go by the original pricing on the website at USD 28.99, its already about SGD $48. So you paid an extra $12 SGD for the item. That barely covers the shipping costs they might he initially paid to import that item.

Okay, let say we base on S$1 per meter/39", If I want to buy another 25 feet (300") and approx. 7.7 meters and that mean about S$8. Not expensive...

[stormhawk]

Yeah its pretty cheap. Depends on which type though. Your neighbourhood hardware store should have plenty of choices.

[bclee]

Star,

The prices are in USD. Factoring in the estimated exchange rate for the USD to SGD and using the offer price of USD 22.99 for the 25 feet model, it costs about SGD 38. Sounds like a good deal right? Actually nope. You need to factor in shipping costs and convert that bit into SGD to get a total cost. In the end, you might end up paying more than SGD $60 you paid for your 25 feet set.

However they will not ship to Singapore. Information is listed on their website. They will only ship to the continental USA, their territories and American military bases only.

I feel that they are reluctant to ship outside USA because they fear that they design is being copied and reproduced here in asia. I think is is not too difficult for it to be produced at a much lower price.

BC

[loupgarou]

I don't think that's a reasonable assumption since the technical diagrams as well as an understanding how the process works is readily available on the internet.

I believe its more of an issue of logistics and taxes as well as credit card processing/fraud and RMA issues.

[bclee]

I don't think that's a reasonable assumption since the technical diagrams as well as an understanding how the process works is readily available on the internet.

I believe its more of an issue of logistics and taxes as well as credit card processing/fraud and RMA issues.

I think that is reasonable. Now I am wondering whether anyone will be producing this in this region.

BC

[stormhawk]

The standard hand pump siphons that we find in our local LFS does a pretty good job. In fact with the addition of extra lengths of rubber hoses, we can get a pretty cheap alternative to the Python product.

Both work on the same principles anyway.

Like the Wolf (loupgarou) has said, its a matter of logistics, etc. The reason why some US suppliers do not want to send their items out of the US is simple.

Counterfeits are a-plenty in our region and some are blatant misrepresentations of certain brands. Even their packaging is a near copy of the original packaging of a branded product.

Another reason why local distributors do not import these items is that they're hard to sell due to high cost. If one compares the cost of the Python item with a normal cheap hand-pump siphon, they'd naturally go for the cheaper option, in this case the hand-pump siphon.

So there's many reasons to explain why this item is so hard to find and why some suppliers in the US do not ship outside of the US.

[Star-flog]

Already, there is a similar product in US market.

"No more carrying pails of water to and from your aquarium! The Ultimate Gravel Vac™ is a complete clean, drain and fill kit that connects directly to your sink faucet. It allows you to automatically begin siphoning by simply turning on your sink faucet once connected. Next, begin cleaning by inserting the Fish-Saver Cleaning Claw into the aquarium gravel and moving it from side to side or front to rear. In addition, you have complete control of the water flow during cleaning and refilling of your aquarium. By adjusting the water flow during cleaning, you are able to insure that the maximum amount of dirt is removed with the minimum amount of water. The Ultimate Gravel Vac™ Kit comes with 50’ of hose"

[Star-flog]

For your info only. JBL in Germany also has the similar product (Auqa In-Out). see photo below

[jhansolo]

Hey Star-flog, mind sharing the time taken to empty out your tank. My current water changing routine is a little over 10 mins to empty out 155L using a 1200L/Hr powerhead + gravity, cheers

[Star-flog]

Hey Star-flog, mind sharing the time taken to empty out your tank. My current water changing routine is a little over 10 mins to empty out 155L using a 1200L/Hr powerhead + gravity, cheers

Hi, honestly I did not time how long it took to clean the 3ft tank but surely more than 10 mins (from the moment I took up the equipment, done with water changing etc and put back the equipment). Once it set-up, I just read book and do other things and came back again on and off to check. That it.

Speed is not the main concern (for me at least) but rather just make the clean/changing water a little easy.....

[stormhawk]

Star-flog, I think both boxes from JBL and the other US product are showing the same image on their packaging??.

Probably made by a single company but supplied to both JBL and the other US company.

For me I'll just stick with my el' cheapo hand-powered siphon with a super long hose attachment.

[StanChung]

er guys, all this is about water out of tank... i use the good old long hose and suck... but no lip on the hose... just mouth on the ring made with thumb and index clamped over the hose . it's just that fish s$%^ in the water.
i also use one of those hand pumps that start the siphon going when i can find it. always lost in some flowerpot in garden. stupid cat i think...

anyway i would like to poll how many of you guys store your water in large drums/water tanks [to declorinate/aerate/], or just pump it back in thru the tap and add dechlorinator or other means, eg collect rainwater, RO from tap?

just curious. can we make a poll? moderator-???

i myself aerate with airstone a 100 litre tong sampah[ingeniously hidden], keep the tap water a week for water change with minimal anti chlorine chemicals. i use a 50w resun powerhead to pump water back in.
absolutely no buckets, just those suction cups to hold hose in place when i turn on pump.

i mark exactly how much 1/3 water change is on fishtank and calculated how much exactly i need to fill the tong sampah. so no overflowing if i forgot to turn off the pump. i also have noisy timer set to two minutes!

the reason being is i often flood the house...[5x already in different houses]

if you have time to read this....

i once left the tap on filling the tub in the bathroom.
i went downstairs and got caught up watching 'beauty and the beast' when drip drip drip... er wassup?
at first it didn't occur to me. then reality hits.
i was up the stairs in two seconds and wah scene like titanic.

cd's floating around, iomega jazz and maxtor ext drive zapped, parquet tiles floating, magazines in 6 inches of water.[my room was big ~30'x15]

tub overflowed and drainage couldn't cope. it's really funny now...
had to throw divan because smell like belacan...

so whenever i see beauty and the beast on tv it brings a wry smile and only a few people geddit.[my ex housemates]
==========================
care to share your misery/misfortune turned farny story?

[stormhawk]

Err.. the thread's about the Python product and the water going out of the tank bit is already obvious.

I don't store water in drums etc. Don't have the space to house a drum. I change straight from the tap at night.

If you're a forgetful person, all you need to do is to have an automatic water changer like the I-tub made by a local company. It uses a float switch and automatically cuts off water flow once the required level is hit.

Unless however you're talking about filling bath tubs.. then you'll need some auto-draining system / auto cut-off system OR, you need to set your watch on alarm.

[BFG]

Stormhawk, the I-Tub is a water container meant to hold fresh clean water for topping up to the main tank. The I-Tub is connected to the Tubby-water top-up device, to control the amount of water to top up the main tank. The Tubby uses the float switch to control the water level for the main tank. If the water level in the main tank falls to a certain level, it will activate the Tubby to start pumping water from the I-Tub into the main tank. The I-Tub and the Tubby are not meant for a water changing device, it is just for topping up of water that is lost during evaporation.

Hope this helps!

[juggler]

BFG: For the I-Tub, what happens if there's no water to pump back to tank? Will it cause any problem? BTW - roughtly how much is such a device? I saw some pics at http://www.iaquatic.com/tubby.htm Is that the one?

[StanChung]

Err.. the thread's about the Python product and the water going out of the tank bit is already obvious.

I don't store water in drums etc. Don't have the space to house a drum. I change straight from the tap at night.

If you're a forgetful person, all you need to do is to have an automatic water changer like the I-tub made by a local company. It uses a float switch and automatically cuts off water flow once the required level is hit.

Unless however you're talking about filling bath tubs.. then you'll need some auto-draining system / auto cut-off system OR, you need to set your watch on alarm.

i am indeed a forgetful person, dory.

and i keep very sensitive fish that cannot tolerate chlorine. discus la. the most books about one. i don't wanna stress them so i dechlorinate 100% before the water goes in the tank.

i like the idea of the i tub. i will look for a mini float to top up my aquarium?

i've seen lfs in kl with elaborate setup using water-closet float. it works because it's overflow system. i will post new thread regarding this as you have said this is some product thread.

[BFG]

Juggler, the I-Tub is not the Tubby. The I-Tub is a custom made water container and/or sump made from acrylic. Tne Tubby is a separate device. This Tubby is the device that the float switch is attached to. The Tubby would cost ard $1xx if I'm not wrong. You will also need a small pump to pump water from the water container into the main tank. The pump is plugged to the Tubby as the Tubby is the controlling device which operate the pump.

The container holding the fresh clean water need to be monitored. You have to prevent that container from running out of fresh clean water as the pump would be running if I'm not wrong. You could choose a larger container so the frequency of topping up that container would be lesser. The Tubby from the link you provided is the one we are discussing.