Best 3 Equipment Purchases Thread

[cpreefguy]

I thought it'd be fun to see what people regard as the absolute best 3 pieces of equipment they've ever bought, and why.

1. Refractometer - Never have to guess on a swing arm again! An absolute must-have in my opinion.

2. Auto Top-Off unit - Another must-have! Keeps your levels constant throughout the day and you never have to worry about it. I could not have survived this hobby without my trusty ATO. I have been able to leave my tank with nothing other than the ATO for periods of up to 2+ weeks with no ill effects.

3. RO/DI unit. I love making my own water, instead of having to lug jugs back and fourth from the HEB Penguin machine!

[Crazyeyes]

1 ro/di (no more hauling around large amounts of jugs to LFS)
2 sump (gives me better filtration)
3 refractometer ( helps prevent crashes)

[ACE]

1. RO/DI- never skimp on water quality

2. ATO- this is really priceless. It's surprising how not doing the daily top off makes you relax more.

3. Controller-having everything controlled from one central device really does make having my tank enjoyable. It's also surprising what all you can get these devices to do once you install one.

[TexasTodd]

RO/DI/DI
Best skimmer you can afford (or can't but get anyway)
Good lights

[ReefCube]

controller,refrac,rodi

[justahobby]

MH - I could never go back to CF's
Sump - More water volume, stability
Air pump - Double if not tripled the foam in my CPR once tuned and broken in.

[sharkboy]

1. ro/di - water is heavy
2. skimmer - imo the single most important piece of equipment!
3. chiller - eliminates temp control issues

[devonian]

1. ATO
2. t-5 lights
3. great skimmer

[hobogato]

RO/DI
Solar tubes :)
tunze wave box

[recoiljpr]

1. Mag Float Cleaner - It was a PIA to clean the glass with a scraper with a "Sponge" tip. That one little piece of equipment saves me a lot of time and aggravation

2. Timers/Controllers - Without those I used to forget to turn on my lights, or run them too long, etc. It's so nice to set it and forget it. I do love my controller, you would have to pry it from my fingers.

3. MJ 1200 pumps - Those little pumps can do absolutely anything. From keeping my change water circulating, to pumping the water into the tank, running a skimmer in a pinch, replacing a powerhead in a pinch. Those little pumps are awesome, everyone should have at least one.

Honorable Mention - Separate freezer for my fish food, it saved me from hearing from my wife every day how bad my fish stuff is stinking up her food. It also gets my beer nice and cold while doing a water change.

[RayAllen]

ATO with monitor

DE Metal Halide

Octopus Skimmer

(I no longer have none of the above, but they were great)

[Big_Pun]

1-RO/DI- great to have extra water on hand for emergencies
2-Good lights (t5, halides)
3-controller(placing order soon)

[Shu]

I am new to this hobby so this list my change except for 3

1. Skimmer man I had no idea that my water was this dirty.
2. k1 flow really helps.
3. Something for the wife so that I can still make these purchases.

[clamgal]

1. RO/DI
2. MH lights
3. Skimmer

[txav8r]

1. MAAST Membership
2. RO/DI
3. ATO

[CoryDude]

1) Vortech MP40
2) Tunze Osmolator
3) Skimmer

[kkiel02]

Man cory you stole mine. LOL
But yeah like cory said
Osmolator
Mp40s
Skimmer

[Rychek]

Here are my choices, in no particular order:

1) IceCap T5 retro kits (yes, kits)
2) IceCap digital timers (it's hard to beat a good digital timer)
3) MAAST Charter Membership

I'm sure Items 1 and 2 will change once I get my new tank setup with better hardware, but, for now, I'm content.

[Bill S]

RO/DI
Auto Top Off
Algae Free "Tiger Shark" mag cleaner WITH AN EZ BLADE!!!

And no, I do NOT own a refractometer. I use a "Made in Germany", large floating hydrometer.

[clone]

flow
heaters/fans
ph controler

[fishypets]

BubbleKing skimmer

Profilux plus controller/balling doser

Top off (right now my pump is out and what a PITA!)

[ballardjr2000]

LIGHTS,
SUMP,
FUGE.

really makes my life easy.

[DSAfanatic]

Euro Reef Skimmer - absolutely amazing
MP40W - also amazing
JBJ ATO

[captexas]

1. Refractometer
2. RO/DI unit
3. Shop-Vac :rolleyes:

[Rvela]

#1 RKL3- so many controller possibilites and safeguards
#2 RO/DI-never have to rely on someone else's water quality
#3 Vortech MP40W-can't beat the flow options

Roy

[ErikH]

RO/DI
Refractometer
Handheld PH monitor. I can easily tell whats going on in my tank in regards to the reactor.

[TexasTodd]

Solar tubes :)

Darn you!

:)

Todd

[allan]

1. Complete light set up (T5 HO)

2. Tunze Wave Maker

3. One wife to mop up my mess after manually adding top of water... (I'm sensing an investment in my future... either two younger wives or one ATO)

[reybeast]

RO/DI unit
AC3 with DC8 and pH probe
EZ blade!! fantastic for scraping coraline algea off the glass

[stoneroller]

EZ Blade - essential for bowfront
DYI ATO
Loctite SGG:nerd:

[Europhyllia]

what the heck is an osmolator?

My single best purchase was when my toddler dumped a can of fishfood into my 30g tank (had that one for 10 years) and I was able to convince my husband that a larger body of water would be more stable and only a 125g would be able to save my stuff from th gunked up 30g. Bigger really is better.

I also enjoy my 6ft T5 fixture, my refractometer and the sump.

[ACE]

what the heck is an osmolator?


It is a Tunze ATO system

[TexasTodd]

1. Complete light set up (T5 HO)

2. Tunze Wave Maker

3. One wife to mop up my mess after manually adding top of water... (I'm sensing an investment in my future... either two younger wives or one ATO)


Oh, I think you owe some frags or I'm going to show this! :)

Just kidding, you have a wave maker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?

Todd

[TexasTodd]

I'm amazed at the number of people listing refractometers.

The sg isn't all that big of a deal as long as it's fairly constant and doesn't go too low. It can go pretty high without problems.

Todd

[allan]

Oh, I think you owe some frags or I'm going to show this! :)

Just kidding, you have a wave maker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?

Todd


lol, yeah, you show it I'm tellin' her you hacked my account! :)

I got the wavemaker from Carlinsa, I wasn't too impressed with it until I turned it all the way up. Now everything has a back and forth motion that is pretty cool. I don't think I've got it angled in the best location but I'm really pleased with the effect.

[cpreefguy]

I
The sg isn't all that big of a deal as long as it's fairly constant and doesn't go too low. It can go pretty high without problems.

My problem was trying to get a consistent reading with a swing-arm. It was always all over the place! I'd test the same water and get different readings, love my refractometer :D

[Kristy]

1. Vortechs with battery backup
2. Tank upgrade- bigger is better
3. ATO/RoDI

Honorable mentions:
1. EZ blades
2. Cheap Walmart clip on fans (2 on the tank- 1 on the sump- No chiller needed)

-Mike and Kristy

[joelb]

1. the 8" diameter euroreef skimmer (its like an advanced dyson vacum for the tank)
2. vortechs
3. Aquacontroller

[firecoral3msd]

1. Tunze wave box
2. JBJ ATO
3. RO/DI

[barderer]

1. ATO
2. RO/DI
3. Yellow Tang (yeah I consider him equipment)

[dannyv]

1.RO/DI
2.ATO
3.Calcium reactor

[vman181]

I thought it'd be fun to see what people regard as the absolute best 3 pieces of equipment they've ever bought, and why.

1. Refractometer - Never have to guess on a swing arm again! An absolute must-have in my opinion.

2. Auto Top-Off unit - Another must-have! Keeps your levels constant throughout the day and you never have to worry about it. I could not have survived this hobby without my trusty ATO. I have been able to leave my tank with nothing other than the ATO for periods of up to 2+ weeks with no ill effects.

3. RO/DI unit. I love making my own water, instead of having to lug jugs back and fourth from the HEB Penguin machine!



These were the same first three that came to my mind.

[Paul28]

1.RO/DI
2.Topoff
3.APC Back-ups Pro ,,,,, ITs a half to when power goes out :):):)