Day of the cheap ac110 over?

[12 Volt Man]

Personally I think that, although the price of the AC110 is up a bit, when you consider that it should last you at least 10+ years of service, when you amortize this over the life of the filter, it is still dirt cheap. my oldest AC is 12 years and counting.

I also don't think the small price difference is worth it over the Emperor, which is (in my opinion) not nearly as good and you will spend this difference in replacement cartridges in no time.

so it really doesn't make much sense to get the emperor because its a bit cheaper.

the cartridge costs will make up this cost quickly, and the life of the filter is not going to be as long.

 

[vfc]

I do not believe the new AC110 are built as well as the ones ten years ago. I would be surprised if a newly purchased AC110 lasted ten years.

I see no difference in built quality over the Emperor. I suspect that both, on average, would last about the same time.

 

[Ed209]

AC110 are lil high. But why not buy a few of the 20$ AC70 from bigalsonline plus if you buy a couple you get free shipping n with the code you get 10% off too! I bought a bunch sold a few on craigslist n ending up getting the 1s I kept for FREE!! Heck 2 AC70 better n cheaper than a AC110 anyhow you can put one at each end of your tank.

I'd stick with one 110. I've got 4 and they've all come back on after a power outage. The 70's and below sometimes don't.

 

[iloveyouDIE]

Cheapest I can get one in a store around here is $60. One LFS has that as their standard price, the other has been having a sale. I need another one so I think I have to take what I can get when it comes to local pricing.

 

[12 Volt Man]

I'd stick with one 110. I've got 4 and they've all come back on after a power outage. The 70's and below sometimes don't.

agreed. its the impeller/impeller chamber on the smaller models. its too small and it gums up easily.

the 110s always reprime after an outage.

all the smaller ones often have issues.

 

[kallmond]

You can't post a thread with the word filter in it on this board and not have someone tell you you should get 2 ac110's to go along with your FX5 filtering your 10 gallon planted tank with no fish.

Demand > supply = price increase.

 

[LD50]

You can't post a thread with the word filter in it on this board and not have someone tell you you should get 2 ac110's to go along with your FX5 filtering your 10 gallon planted tank with no fish.

Demand > supply = price increase.

LMFAO Don't forget some of the claims the AC fan club makes as well. I have been told that AC's not only provide equal if not better mech filtration than a mag350 or a filter sock but that they are also zero bypass filters.

 

[12 Volt Man]

to be honest, I don't really think there has been much of a price increase at all, all things considered.

when I started keeping fish 20 years ago, AC 110's (then called 500's) were $79.99 brand new at the LFS.

today, I think they are $86...

it may be simply inflation.

the demand for AC's has always been very high as far as power filters go. they have always been the most popular brand. and the price stayed virtually the same for almost 2 decades..

 

[Dane]

to be honest, I don't really think there has been much of a price increase at all, all things considered.

when I started keeping fish 20 years ago, AC 110's (then called 500's) were $79.99 brand new at the LFS.

today, I think they are $86...

it may be simply inflation.

the demand for AC's has always been very high as far as power filters go. they have always been the most popular brand. and the price stayed virtually the same for almost 2 decades..

They have been as low as $35 online 10 years ago when I started. They are now in the $70s. The difference you have seen is the LFS having to compete with the internet now, so you could say they have lowered their prices. Otherwise they would have the ACs at $150

 

[Toby_H]

They have been as low as $35 online 10 years ago when I started. They are now in the $70s. The difference you have seen is the LFS having to compete with the internet now, so you could say they have lowered their prices. Otherwise they would have the ACs at $150

LFS has a much larger overhead than onilne stores...

So when the two are forced to sell the same product in the same price range... this results in the LFS making a much smaller profit per sale...

And we wonder why LFS's don't have quality employees...


"Anything to save a buck"... well what we sacrificed is quality local pet stores, and I think the hobby is worse off because of it....