What piece of Equipment would I have bought if I knew how important it was in the beginning.

[jay06705]

A tie between my apex and generator.

 

[hardcorefishhead]

Hopefully some long time Reefers will chime in here, even if they agree with other posters about the equipment, giving us an indication of what equipment we should have bought when we setup that tank. In over twenty years of playing in water I should have done this sooner.

For me, I wish I had started with an ATO, especially in an AIO (All In One) tank. I run an AIO with the lid off, and it is incredible how often that ATO is operating during the day, and how salinity will swing during the day without the ATO on an AIO. Salinity is very important to keep stable. All my independent tanks now have ATO on them, and I have seen a dramatic response, in the absence of my laziness.

What was your piece of equipment?

Cheers

RODI Filter, had to learn the hard way that tap water is disaster waiting to happen.

 

[Bryn]

RODI Filter, had to learn the hard way that tap water is disaster waiting to happen.

Which filter did you have problems with?

 

[Adamantium]

Vodka. Way more vodka.

This is about items for your tank. Not yourself

 

[marxman]

Lights..... hands-down lights.

You seem to be able to work around many things in Reef Keeping with hard work, but you can't fake good lights.

 

[Reeferstin]

100% gas powered generator able to run 2 tanks and 2 fridges 24/7 in case of power outage, living in florida we get hurricanes during hurricane irma we lost power for 2 weeks straight it was hard to find gas

 

[Kfactor]

Good test kits

 

[LRT]

Real testing kits/equipment
Correct lighting

 

[725196]

My ATS hands down

 

[Bryn]

My ATS hands down

Yes, an Algae scrubber...

 

[Adamantium]

Yes, an Algae scrubber...

Wish I could somehow put one on my AIO...

 

[Bryn]

Wish I could somehow put one on my AIO...

Which AIO do you have? I have an old Corallife I use for QT. At the back looking from the front you have water overflow to the right, middle section for filters etc. and then return pump on left compartment. The middle compartment has a horizontal plate that strains the water. I had thought abut replacing that plate with plexiglass, with a hole about 1/4inch wide, and about 8" long, and then suspend some needle point material through the hole hanging down, and illuminate from the back. Tunze makes a great 9w water proof light you can attach with magnets, outside or inside the tank.

Very simple scrubber in an AIO

 

[somekindabonita]

No competition, auto water changes. I think almost every problem i had with the first few tanks could have been avoided with awc. Have apex pumps now but even a standalone litermeter or similar would do the trick.

What kind of tubing do you run for your pumps? Our DOS just showed up today, and I was surprised to find the Neptune tube it came with was more like airline tubing than RO tubes.

We need about 120 ft of tube for our auto water change setup, so trying to come up with the most cost effective way to do it

 

[Hydrored]

1. Auto water changes
2. Whole home generator

 

[Hydrored]

What kind of tubing do you run for your pumps? Our DOS just showed up today, and I was surprised to find the Neptune tube it came with was more like airline tubing than RO tubes.

We need about 120 ft of tube for our auto water change setup, so trying to come up with the most cost effective way to do it

I ran murlok 1/4 tubing from BRS and used John Guest fittings. Lines run from mixing station in garage to living room using a DOS

 

[tfford]

Mine would have been not buying "starter" lights and opting for the right lights for the tank the first time around lol since then i havent really found a lot to be "i wish i would have..."

Although i do need to get an ATO for my tank...do you have a suggestion?

I've got an Xpaqua Duetto ATO and it works great.

 

[Bryn]

Want to say a quick thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread. From the replies we got, there is great information for the beginner and the experienced reefer. I hope people will keep adding, and that people have got ideas that they did not think of, I have.

Overwhelming response for the beginner, is stability, which can be obtained from ATO . For the experienced reefer, with a lot of time effort and possibly money tied up in their systems, Auto Water changes, and a back up power sources, either generator, or UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply).

Please keep posting, even if it has already be posted, as this gives validity to others posts. Once again, thanks for your time and effort in replying, it makes a community, one that gives.

Cheers.

 

[SixtyFeetUnder]

Which ones have you looked at, or thought of using?

@Bryn ive been using a GHL Doser 2 for 6 years. I’ve had to change 2 tubes; never screwed up once. More than 50,000 doses.
That said if you have an Apex the integration with the DOS is awesome.

 

[Bryn]

@Bryn ive been using a GHL Doser 2 for 6 years. I’ve had to change 2 tubes; never screwed up once. More than 50,000 doses.
That said if you have an Apex the integration with the DOS is awesome.

Thanks for the reply, that is great news about the number of doses. I'm leaning more towards the GHL equipment, I like the capability of stand alone units, then adding a controller.

Thanks

 

[SixtyFeetUnder]

Thanks for the reply, that is great news about the number of doses. I'm leaning more towards the GHL equipment, I like the capability of stand alone units, then adding a controller.

Thanks

@Bryn This is the route I went as well; I got my GHL Doser years before an aquarium controller and it’s been so reliable I see no reason to spend money on something simply for apex integration. I’m a firm believer in the reliability of GHL Dosers.
@Vinny@GHLUSA Vinny helped point me to the GHL support site the one time I needed help getting software updated to connect to the cloud and new app. Him and his associates were very responsive in helping resolve my issues; though I’ll again point out it was 5 years into having the product I had my first issue and it’s because I was tardy with software updates and getting off a sunsetted app. I endorse their Doser (and by virtue other equipment) with confidence.