You just sold me on ai lights!
man ive had so many lenses melt i just ended up selling them, sure it was only like 4 aud for the replacement lenses but man does it suck. oh yeah and the fans tend to be loud as hell.
#1 for me would be a good ro/di unit w/ a booster pump. We can have all of the fanciest gadgets available for reef aquariums but they are basically useless without starting with high quality source water.
#2 would likely be good test kits. Just as mentioned above, the quality of the water we keep in our glass boxes is far and away the most important aspect of keeping a nice reef tank. There are plenty of ways to grow corals that don't require "good" (expensive) equipment, but there is really no substitute for good water.
I know these answers aren't much fun, but IMO they are the foundation of a good reef tank. The hobby is a lot easier, and more fun when stuff doesn't die because source water isn't good and/or because major parameters aren't kept in line.
I also purchased a 75 gpd originally. Thankfully BRS has upgrade kits which increase output to 150 gpd and reduce waste water significantly by running the water through two RO membranes. Pair this with the Smart Buddie RODI Booster and you have a great setup. One really nice thing about the Smart Buddie is it flushes the unit every time it starts up. A lot of people ignore this step it seems but is important to optimal RODI unit operation.
What's wrong with AI lights? I have 3x hydra52s that I paid $200 for and a Hydra 26 that I paid $150 for. One was DOA and probably 4 years old. Ai fixed it for FREE and even paid for shipping both ways. They are a pain to setup, but once they are rolling, they are bulletproof. There is a Facebook page with excellent lighting schemes as well. One would be a fool to NOT buy AI lights off of the classifieds.
