The 3 most important reef aquarium equipment pieces...

[MrObscura]

Well lets say you have a tank free of algae - and the nitrate is 0. What does that mean?
Lets say you have a tank full of algae - and the nitrate is 0 - what does that mean?

In the first case Id say you really have close to 0, hence no algae. Or you have a fuge, scrubber, or reactor. And the 2nd I'd say algae is consuming the no3 faster than you can test.

Either way id say get some detectable no3 present because sooner of later testing 0 is likely going to result in problems.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Lighting changed everything for me followed by change of pumps (water flow).

 

[MnFish1]

Then I quite ICP testing. I utilize it more for the precision abilities to adjust my doser..... my reasoning.
Doesn't need to happen every week.

I don't think consistently testing creates stability in my case anyway, I tend to adjust more.

I also dont freak out if an element or metal reads off, if the tank is good. Keeps me in a methodical thinking of investigating rather quick reactions.

what things on your ICP testing helps you does your 'dose'... What are you dosing... My understanding (and it may be incorrect) it that it doesnt help with alkalinity. May help with Ca and Mg - but not with other things (that people 'dose') so please educate the rest of us who have no clue (and im being serious) - what are you gaining?

 

[Rakie]

Here's why I dislike this question -- You can only pick three things if everything else is under control. Half of that list is 100% critical or you can't even keep something alive.

 

[chefjpaul]

what things on your ICP testing helps you does your 'dose'... What are you dosing... My understanding (and it may be incorrect) it that it doesnt help with alkalinity. May help with Ca and Mg - but not with other things (that people 'dose') so please educate the rest of us who have no clue (and im being serious) - what are you gaining?

ATI reads DKH.

Helps double check the refractometer / salinity.
Helps double check the TDS / RODI meters.
Helps that I work 90 hours per week.
I don't dose anything but the 3 major anyway.
When I do test DKH, it does help with that double checking the hanna.

Where are you wanting to go with this, as what am I gaining?
Because it's a suttle piece of mind, maybe I have gained slightly more stability in my tank, not having to constantly buy kits and reagents, maybe just because I can.

 

[MARK M. DAVIS]

This post is kinda lame. It’s inhabitants dependent. Didn’t see algae scrubber.

 

[Kimberely]

I'd have to say lighting, live rock and circulation. I've seen many successful tanks ran without using RODI but that's going to depend on your water source and isn't an option for most people. Your live rock is your biological filtration so in my opinion mechanical filtration can be achieved with a variety of options, be it sumps, HOB or canister filters.

 

[Gregg @ ADP]

1. saltwater (obvi)
2. lighting
3. water movement

(I think can assume bio filtration will happen to a reasonable extent regardless of extra surface area we provide)

I think with the rest, there is a lot of wiggle room and degree of necessity. For instance, good water from an RO/DI is very helpful...but one of the best reefs I’ve ever seen ran off straight well water.

 

[Anchor]

Which of all of these do you think is the most important of the 3? Or is there a better way we can word this?

part of this might be effected by where you live and how you read each. For example salt to me is asking for what salt mix as opposed to what salt parameters I might run, in which case any of them "should" be effective. Temp (heater/chiller) is kind of a where and how you live pick. So, that leaves what are already the 4 highest percentage answers.

 

[DzidtheReefer]

i voted for watermovers, a heater, and filtration, those are a must

 

[smiley28]

Picked based on without 3 you can’t have a saltwater tank..

 

[Backreefing]

Well I picked 1st saltwater mix water is #1
2nd is circulation they can’t live without it .
3rd is heater/ chiller it’s absolutely a must have .
I did not pick lights because we can do it without lights. We could position the aquarium in front of a southern faceing window . Not perfect but will work, there is fiber optics. Ehh.
The other items on the list are not absolutely necessary for reefing not even protein skimmer or filters . Doseing can be done with water changes.
My opinion on the question.
Happy reefing

 

[lukewithcats]

Most important is the controller ie your brain
with the right one ANYTHING really is possible

 

[ZoWhat]

The 3 most important things in my book are:

1, water quality
2, water quality
3, water quality

 

[Steadyreef42]

Great poll!!!!

 

[mitch91175]

For me, high quality lighting, real live rock and sand can do more than the "next best thing." After that CaRx. The rest is important too, but not sure is Tunze over Vortech or Spectrapure over another good RODI will get you much separation.

OMG. Real live rock makes a huge difference. Yes you can get in pest with it but having a tank with it brings a whole level of bio-diversity that you just won't get with dead rock.

 

[Jay Norris]

Like mentioned above, live rock is the key to this, as all the biodiversity live rock will give the system. In order of importance, Live Rock, Lighting, and Filtration, as without those three you can't even began to have a saltwater system. Yes you can put your system next to a window, or even outside for the lighting part, but try it and see what happens.

 

[Rcpilot]

It's kind of not worded right.

You need filtration, but you don't necessarily need a skimmer.

Power heads fall into the filtration category IMO, because that's water movement, which could be broadly viewed as filtration.

Maybe top 5 choices?

For me:
Skimmer
Lighting
RO/DI
Live rock
Heater
Saltwater mix

.... more than 5...

Kind of hard to just pick 3... even 5.

I think the only things you DON'T need are:
Dosers
Controller
UV sterilizers

 

[ShaunRobinson]

My 2c and 3 choices from my own interpretation of the poll. I am assuming the heater/chiller option does not mean your actual basic aquarium thermostat but rather supplementary heating and cooling.

I’m also assuming the salt option is referring to the brand rather than the need for salt as we know a saltwater tank cannot run without it.

Lighting is a subjective topic depending on what you are keeping in your tank and I don’t think it is as important as other options. A friend of mine grows sps very successfully with old t5’s through an opaque piece of Perspex over his tank and a lit of softies don’t need a huge amount of light at all...

1. RODI - the basis of any salt water mix for me and so many common algae problems can be down to how good your water is before you add salt.

2. Powerheads/Water Movers - As opposed to all sorts of different lighting requirements we need to have flow in our tanks, from keeping the chosen corals healthy to aiding in the gas exchange process, water movement is a massive consideration.

3. Skimmers/Filtration - Nutrients and export are one of the backbones of a successful aquarium and a hugely important factor. From the skimmer removing waste products before they become a problem to the Bacterial filtration in a system taking care of the nitrogen cycle which is one again one of the basics of the hobby.

As I said, just my 2c worth.

 

[Jason Coy]

With the exception of non photosynthetic reefs all corals have to have light. All systems require some type of water movement and you have to have some type of rock or substrate to attach the corals to. That's why I chose those three as the most important.