Sorry Aqua essentials no offense to you, i have bought from you and will continue to do so for all of the reasons listed in the above post.
By far Aqua essentials is the best online shop for ADA and other planted tank equipment.
But i will say there isn't enough of the larger ADA product for example the Mini Solar lamp unit or the pendent halide's or the various glass piping or perhaps more importantly the tanks them selfs.
I personally would like to see more specialized discreet equipment for nano planted tanks.
None taken, I was just confused 8)
Here's my take on the whole ADA thing. It's taken this long to bring in ADA because prior to the current state of the planted aquarium market, most had not really heard of ADA; there weren't forums etc for people to share opinions and if I told people you have to pay £100 for a glass outlet, they would say I was crazy
Only now are hobbyists coming round (and I say that cautiously) to ADA and what their whole concept is about. There's still a lot of confusion about their goods particularly related to price. The UK is still pretty caught up with the priceing and how
cheap is best because it doesn't hit you so hard in the pocket and it still does the same thing. This debate has been raised many a time so I won't delve right back into it but the best example is comparing it to cars - they all do the same thing (pretty much) but some cost £10,000 and others £100,000. Why pay more then...? Some people don't want the flash equipment because theirs functions just fine, others see planted tanks from a different perspective, hence the rise of companies like ADA.
Larger ADA products cost a lot of money. Try convincing people to spend £500+ on an ADA filter. Many will say, my Eheim does a perfect job and only costs 1/3 of the price. Others (the wealthy minority) will say it's all about aesthetics and embracing what ADA produce - again, it's about the way you look at things. The pendant lights are lovely but also expensive - people compare it to Arcadia and tell me you can buy the same for a lot less - I agree you can but they are different. The reason why we don't stock the lights is supply and demand. If you want it, you can have it, anything can be ordered, but with zero demand at the moment for goods like that, why bring them in, keep them in the stock room gathering dust (not to mention losing money)?
I think glass piping will become more popular as interest rises in this hobby, but only for those who love the clean look of the nature aquarium. There are other companies already in the market who produce glass ware so that is a true reflection of how things are changing.
I'm with you on the nano tanks and equipment but am confident we'll see a rise in that side of things too.
