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

Joelgama

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The BRS 1.1 liter per minute pump. I've been using it for kalk for about a year.
Can you share with me your setup with this 1.1 BRS pump for kalk. I have a couple of these seating around for a few years and would like to give it a use . Do you have a kalk stirrer then push water with this pump? And diagrams or pictures would be appreciated. Thanks
 

ChadmRoman

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What a great question, however I’m pretty new at SW so this is a nubey perspective.

I have to go with the RSR I purchased second hand. I first purchased a 30 gallon, did all the plumbing and could not get away from constantly adjusting water level and flow. That gargle noise drove me up a wall. Buying a RSR made life so much easier. Everything ready, just plug and play gave me the opportunity to spend time with family.

Everything else I setup, triton, ato, doser, apex def helps but the winner is def the tank itself.
 

vetteguy53081

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Controller unit
 

ReefyTank

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A Hydrometer. never realized how important salinity was on a saltwater tank.Hehehe just kidding.

For me a temperature controller. I have been blessed not to impacted by a rogue heater but the piece of mind that this will shut of power as a safety net has been great especially when hearing another local reefer losing their setup due to that problem.
 

weamdog

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- 100g x 2 mixing station with AWC/ATO (added a year after i hit about 500g of tanks)
- Milwaukee salinity tester
- Additional stages for RO/DI to deal with well water nitrates and ammonia from farms. I blow though anion like it was water (ha ha). 0 TDS is not always pure!
 
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DBR_Reef

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Maybe not the first thing, but I struggled with Kalkwasser and 2 part for WAY to long before finally moving to a calcium reactor- wish I had done it as soon as I started adding corals.

A scale: I'm not kidding- weighing out salt is way more accurate and easier than measuring.

Also wish I had listened to old timers about Sea Sweeps and Sea Swirls

And yeah, I actually had these form the beginning, coming from freshwater, but: ATO, AWC, RODI
 
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Bryn

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WOW, never thought this thread would be as popular, but I think it is doing its job.

Looked at the people viewing, and we have 47 Members, and 40 Guests right now, and 587 views sine the first post. I hope it keeps on growing and being helpful. Thanks to all who have posted so far, great answers.
 
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Bryn

Bryn

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I wish I had invested most of the money I spent on a mid range skimmer on a better refugium setup and a good air pump.

I think a lot can be said for having the plumbing in place on 40G+ tanks for sumps, refugiums etc., even if not ready.
 

EnergyGuy

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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. :D

What was your piece of equipment?

Cheers
LED lights. Easy to adjust and very little heat. At normal room temperature I have not needed a chiller in the summer
 

Ulm_nano_diybudgetreef

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A sump. I started this hobby with a 75 gallon tank with an marineland HOT cannister and aquac remora. Never again unless its a very small nano.
What issues did you have with the canister? I'm just starting in the hobby now and got a canister filter for my 14g breeder.
 

dtruitt

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I think a lot can be said for having the plumbing in place on 40G+ tanks for sumps, refugiums etc., even if not ready.

Well we have the plumbing and a half way workable sump.

The issue is that everyone loves to hype up skimmers, and there is this idea that you need to use a lot of different filtration solutions together. For the $330 I spent on the skimmer, I could have easily gotten a black box grow light, powerheads, more macro, and a skimmer pump to aerate the water, not to mention the space that would become available for use as a fuge.
 
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