First piece of equipment to go.

[Tamberav]

Nothing much...

Because I bought Tunze powerheads and ATO, and IM Helio heater. They are all getting pretty old... the ATO is probably 10 years now.


I guess Apex EB32 broke first, JUNK.

 

[Miami Reef]

Echotech Vectra M2. I have 2 that go in rotation for service.

 

[Mark Goode]

I've only had two equipment failures so far: a controller for a RS Reefwave and a power supply for a Vectra M2 pump.

 

[KrisReef]

What is the one piece of equipment that seems to fail or quit the fastest in your tank?

Any mechanical or electrical equipment can fail due to age, exposure to salt and water, and electrical issues from fire to power outages.

I have noticed that the equipment most likely to fail is the one thing that is not in stock at the LFS and for which no one I know has a backup available, and the wait time for the replacement to arrive is at least two weeks.

Otherwise, the generic Mr Clean melamine sponges are pretty flimsy.

 

[BryanM]

Power supplies for me.

 

[Spare time]

Its always return pumps for me

 

[C_AWOL]

In-tank powerheads/wave makers for sure besides the tunzes that i've used. Either the unit itself goes out or the controller or powersupply dies when applicable.
Don't have the same issue with vortechs or the knock off version (yet)

A not so close second off the top of my head is probably light transformers/ballast/power supplies.

 

[Genvid]

Trident

 

[drewzaun]

For me, Inkbirds. When I was running 4 systems I purchased 8 of them within 18 months with 7 failures. The temp probes would never stay calibrated, and I couldn’t trust them.

 

[Dr. D]

Just two months in, and I’ve had not one but two EHEIM heaters fail… had one replaced on warranty and didn’t bother with the second… switched to Finnex and hoping for better luck.

 

[Dr. D]

Oh… and while I love Hydros controllers, their ATO pump (Sicce, surprisingly) failed. I have a Tunze coming in the mail tomorrow and didn’t bother with a replacement on that either.

 

[Bryce_Thomas]

Mine was the ATO magnet that was inside the sump. Apparently they were notorious for rusting out. Company replaced them twice for me at no charge. On the third one I took some aquarium grade silicone and put it around the crease where the two halves pressed together. Never had an issue again after that.

Could you elaborate on the model? my ATO system has been faithful for the past 8 months, I want to know what to do if she starts dying or the magnet goes bad

 

[Crabs McJones]

Mine was the ATO magnet that was inside the sump. Apparently they were notorious for rusting out. Company replaced them twice for me at no charge. On the third one I took some aquarium grade silicone and put it around the crease where the two halves pressed together. Never had an issue again after that.

Could you elaborate on the model? my ATO system has been faithful for the past 8 months, I want to know what to do if she starts dying or the magnet goes bad

It was the autoaqua smart ato.

 

[Sdbuehler1]

For me it’s been heaters and led lights. Any heater with a built in thermostat is a failure waiting to happen. I’ve since switched to the BRS titanium heater and rely on InkBird as the controller and the Apex temp probe as the fail safe. Two of my kessil a360x lights have failed where the ultraviolet color stops working within 2 years of use. I’ve also had an ai prime16 where the fan noise became unbearable despite cleaning so I replaced it for my own sanity

 

[Dburr1014]

My refuge. Stripes nitrate, still don't have nitrate without it.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I've had the cheap suction cup thermometers break before. The first one I bought broke over time in my tank, but luckily, nothing leaked into my tank. The second one I took out of the tank and put it in my bathroom for a week and it shattered out of nowhere. Needless to say I don't buy those anymore.

 

[JayM]

I've been back into reefkeeping almost a year and a half and haven't had anything fail.