What are the best non-name brand equipment choices for a reef tank?

[dallast]

I know there are equipment choices for our reefs that are considered “gold standard” (Radions, GHL, Bubble King, etc.).
I want to know what other brands people swear by that are not top dollar name brands.
I personally use SB Reeflights, a Simplicity skimmer, Jabao pumps and a Coral Box WiFi doser.

 

[Sherman]

BM Curve 7 skimmer

 

[fishybizzness]

Ocean revive LED's.

 

[Trickman2]

Are you thinking Chinese knock offs or more legit companies? Also would think that we should group them by categories.

Lights - Led, halides, T5
Pumps -Flow pumps, return pumps, powerheads
Skimmers -
Misc - Controllers, dosing pumps, ATOs, heaters, etc
Livestock- IE liverock, dryrock, sand, etc

 

[Trickman2]

Lights- Aquatic Life (Hybrid T5 setups)
Pumps- Dolphinpumps.com -Ampmaster 4750
Skimmer-
Misc- Avast Marine - Spyglass Media reactors and their breakout box for apex controller
Livestock- Tropic Eden (Sand), Liferock shapes

 

[dallast]

That is an excellent idea Trickman 2! I guess I was originally thinking about the Chinese knockoffs, but I think there are a number of other brands out there that can also be listed.

 

[AdamNC]

Maxspect Razor lighting and Vertex Somatic sumps and skimmers.

 

[jduong916]

aquamaxx skimmers, jebao pumps

 

[JMetaxas]

Jebao

 

[mtraylor]

Reeflo, Tunze, Geo just to name a couple

 

[Jerry Ebner]

I tend to stay with trusted names myself so most of the small name brands are not in my use.

 

[leicaguy]

I tend not to go for cheaper equipment, in my experience its better to save up buy top notch and do not replace, these are my all time favorites:
Radion LED or GHL with Korralen Zucht T5 combination Refugium lights from kesil
GHL doser pumps
Abyzz or Royal Exclusive circulations pumps
Royal Exclusive skimmers
Panta Rhei internal pumps
Triton system, core 7 carbon and phosphate remover
Reef Roids Two little fishes Amino acids
A good wife who understands and helps maintain the tank ! PRICELESS

 

[Flippers4pups]

Been at this quite awhile. Never been that "name brand" guy. Just what works and gives me the best "bang" for the buck.

Performance and value. Old school.

 

[Tridacnid]

Really like my Jebao pumps and skimmer. My Bashsea sump is wonderful as well.

 

[Royy13]

Jebao pumps, ice cap skimmer, and finnex titanium heaters. Almost forgot, current USA led light (paired with t5)

 

[mfarris2]

Anything but Ecotech Radion X30 Gen 4 Pro's. And purchased anywhere but from Marine Depot. Nothing but one issue after another with these lights. Beginning on day one. Marine Depot will not give a refund on these, if the box is opened. (How do you know if you have a problem until you open the box?)
Purchased three lights with mounting rails,.....In less than 3 months,.....all three lights, drivers/power supplies had to go back. (One driver got so hot it melted the plug that connects to the light.) Had to purchase my own equipment to get their reef link to connect. I was instructed by Ecotech that I must contact my internet service provider and have them change my DNS to Google. Of course Spectrum told me no. Ended up putting repaired lights on eBay and selling them for less than half what I paid after only three months.
Ecotech does stand behind their product. And will make repairs if you can go several days without your lighting. And my experience with these lights,....the entire lighting system is unreliable! Marine Depot is utterly useless!!!
For those thinking of another big brand light,......Aqua Illumination,.......they are the exact same company as Ecotech. Same customer service techs and made in the same factory. Though about replacing the Ecotech's with Aqua Illumination. That thought went away as soon as I called them for some information. I immediately recognized the voice of one of the customer representatives I had already spent so many hours with on my Ecotech Radion's He informed me of the truth.
Now running Kessil with zero issues,.....along with Current USA Marine Pro's. Just putting my two cents in on what NOT to purchase.

 

[Insane320]

Post a picture of your tank as well. So we can see how successful they are.

 

[VbReefer]

8

I swear by the bayite temp controllers from amazon. Can set alarms, calibrate, run fans and heaters. Finnex titanium elements 300w in sump, 500w in display

And for those with Jebao wave makers the
jBwave controllers . I now have 2 that control my 4 power heads. I had issues with syncing with 2x 75g tanks in close proximity got one and solved the problem. Ordered another when I moved both 75gs into a new 210.
They give you much more control and patterns
Via a Bluetooth terminal app.

Hydor smart level ATO
Jaebo return
Simplicity DC540 skimmer
3x Wi-Fi 3channel black boxes

 

[Meldium]

I know there are equipment choices for our reefs that are considered “gold standard” (Radions, GHL, Bubble King, etc.).
I want to know what other brands people swear by that are not top dollar name brands.
I personally use SB Reeflights, a Simplicity skimmer, Jabao pumps and a Coral Box WiFi doser.

The most expensive products I use is the Apex Classic and MP10. Other than that I use an Aquatic Life return pump 560gph, Reef Fanatic ATO, AquaC Remora Pro S with Aqueon utility pump 1700 (in my DIY 20g high sump), Deep Blue 30g RR, (DIY Stand and Canopy) and 5 Par 38 light bulbs made by ABI lighting. Honestly the lighting only cost me $100. I can't complain and this system has been solid as is.

 

[Fergus Kelso]

In terms of off brands, jebao pumps are alright (can be a bit hit or miss though. Have had success with wavemakers but the dcs pumps haven’t been as reliable. Dcp sounds like they’re a lot better). If bubble magus counts as a non-main brand, the BM Skimmers are also pretty decent. Core Reef make really solid reactors and some decent frag racks too (atm only supplying to Australia really) but might be worth keeping an eye out. Might be able to ask nicely haha