What equipment upgrade made the most impact on your tank?

[Gumbies R Us]

During our time of having tanks, we will sometimes upgrade our equipment to something better. Maybe it is getting better lights, a better doser or maybe a better sump for our tank. I am wondering what equipment did you upgrade made the most impact on your tank. Curious to see what everyone says!

 

[CasperOe]

Definetly my custom sump making the refugium 20% of the total water volume in the setup! What a game changer.. Bye bye to rollermats and socks!

 

[JeffB418]

Adding Hydros across my farm system has helps tremendously. Originally installing wave engines (6 wave engines, and 2 WELE) helped me power over 20 icecap/maxspect gyres, multiple octo pulses, and multiple varios 2/4 accessory pumps with WAY less power bricks or pump controllers. Then with Kraken coming along, I have been able to even further reduce power supply clutter by powering all my wave engines off 1 kraken/1 power supply plus have over 24 hours of batter backup for all those pumps. In addition I have been able to run a second Kraken that powers all of my farm's Reef Brite XHO strips, again allowing me to consolidate 10s of power supplys down to 1 kraken supply. The clutter and wiring reduction has helped tremendously.

 

[Tuffyyyyy]

Oof this is a tough one. From a simplicity perspective the answer is ATO. Apex is probably the other one. Are the alarms annoying? Yes, absolutely, but it's also saved me so much heartache while traveling.

 

[shakacuz]

adding another light, and a gyre. corals loved the added par and flow.

 

[landlubber]

Oof this is a tough one. From a simplicity perspective the answer is ATO. Apex is probably the other one. Are the alarms annoying? Yes, absolutely, but it's also saved me so much heartache while traveling.

have to agree that an ATO is invaluable.
However, If i had to consider an ATO a necessary part of every reef tank and pick something that substantially improved the function of my system:
1) moving over to LEDs over my T5's. no more burn-in, no noticeable loss in growth and a very noticeable improvement in required maintenance.
2) ditching the gyres in favor of mp40's. gyres make for great flow... but only when they're clean and that falls apart in a week. MP40's flow hard months later.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Oof this is a tough one. From a simplicity perspective the answer is ATO. Apex is probably the other one. Are the alarms annoying? Yes, absolutely, but it's also saved me so much heartache while traveling.

Couldn't agree more with an ATO

 

[Zamboni]

I'd say a sump. Extra water volume is always nice.

 

[Reefer Matt]

Neptune Apex. I have three tanks on it. I use it for monitoring and controlling parameters, voice control actuations (with "Alexa"), and attribute my overall success to using it. I do not always have the time to do things manually, so this keeps my tanks in order along with my routine maintenance.

 

[MnFish1]

During our time of having tanks, we will sometimes upgrade our equipment to something better. Maybe it is getting better lights, a better doser or maybe a better sump for our tank. I am wondering what equipment did you upgrade made the most impact on your tank. Curious to see what everyone says!

Proper lighting

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Neptune Apex. I have three tanks on it. I use it for monitoring and controlling parameters, voice control actuations (with "Alexa"), and attribute my overall success to using it. I do not always have the time to do things manually, so this keeps my tanks in order along with my routine maintenance.

Never knew you could do voice control with those!

 

[SPS2020]

Another vote for Neptune Apex. Convenience and safety in a small expensive package.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

MP40 was a magic wand for my tank

 

[Enderg60]

In order of importance:

Halides - Just cant beat them
Dosing pumps - Stability and laziness
Filter roller - Stability and laziness

 

[chip shop]

+1for apex Neptune,expensive but could have saved me a fortune preventing a tank crash that happened losing corals and fish that are no longer available in uk

 

[Patx]

Dosing pump !

 

[Cthulukelele]

I'm going to give a dumber answer and is probably a stretch for "equipment," but I keep a pipe cleaner next to my skimmer now for clearing out the vent holes and it's a game changer

 

[VintageReefer]

Turf scrubber - eliminated water changes, my skimmer, and display algae

 

[Reefer Matt]

Never knew you could do voice control with those!

Yeah, the Alexa has an app for it. I can start feed cycles, turn on/off things, get tank status, etc. It's handy when feeding the fish and doing maintenance.

 

[Cincyreefer513]

ATO for me. Topping off twice a day and not being able to go away for even a couple days made it tough without one.