what is the most important piece of equipment you have?

[zach jay]

the reason I ask is that I want to upgrade part of my system, but I don't know what I should get haha!

my specs:
-20g long display/10g sump
-NAC6 bubble magnus skimmer (pump broke, I have to fix it)
-current sundial t-5s
-k1 for flow (I have another k1 in the tank, but everything blows way too much for some reason. I have to adjust the placement I think).
-I just bought a refugium, but am not sure if I want it on this tank or to save it for when I buy a larger tank (years down the road...hah)
-ATO from autotopoff .com

I have mostly zoos and lps. I have two or three sps, two of which are looking pretty good (almost directly under light and flow).

so my question is, what can I do to make this better? I feed every other day (target my lps). I have almost no more room for frags. I dose calcium as needed. My temp swings a little (my apartment has a terrible draft and its getting cold so I need to adjust my heater a lot). my pH tends to stay around 8, but I would like it higher. nitrites are 0, nitrates and phosphates are low (haven't checked in a bit). should I just leave everything be and watch for growth (which isn't much, but I'm happy everything is alive)? thanks!

oh and I have a ywg+pistol shrimp, purple firefish, and false perc so I'm pretty settled with fish.

[tkeracer619]

I would go with a skimmer upgrade.

[sbeason]

+2 on skimmer upgrade

[redfishsc]

DIY skimmer. I have nothing to compare it to right now, it's just PVC pipe driven by two Coralife Luft pumps and my own DIY wooden air diffusers.

It's on a 45g system and skims very well. I dose a lot of VSV and the skimmer does a great job staying on top of the bacterial scum produced by this.

[zach jay]

I would upgrade my skimmer, but I did that in august. after doing about 2 months of research on here and asking around, that was what was suggested (it was that vs. reefocto something or other). true I do need to fix the pump (they sent me a new one because the first burned out or something), but the impeller is incredibly loud and since the tank is in my bedroom I just can't run it without fixing it. any other suggestions?

[redfishsc]

Install the refugium.

Also, Ranco heater controller (or Reefkeeper lite) will go a long way to keeping your temp swings under control. Single stage will handle just the heater, a dual stage would handle the heater plus fans (or chiller). For now just set the heater to 80. It's better to have a tank that's constantly a tad warm than cool-warm-cool-warm-cool-warm.

Then look into a nice DIY LED array to add some more punch to your lights, and some nice shimmer.

[E.intheC]

What brand are your bulbs? You might want to try some ATI or Giesemann bulbs.
Other than that, if you're not happy with your skimmer, get an upgrade.

Or, try a Vortech ;) an mp10 would be perfect for your tank.

[zach jay]

I was thinking maybe a cheaper controller. I could also look into the bulbs. I can't remember which they are (bought it from a friend that gave me a few extra, he recommended the ones I have now and I do like them). I looked into some diy leds, I need to build a new canopy so my lights don't look as bad as they do now, maybe I could add some in if I can find the time to learn how to wire things haha.

on another note, how are vortechs different from koralias? I know the price (obviously), but what exactly do they do that is different? I know that koralias are better than regular maxijets because they create a more general stream of flow rather than a straight blast. thanks for all the responses!

[E.intheC]

this is an extreme example.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eehd863e5aU

Vortechs give you an extremely wide, controllable flow. I've had Koralias, Maxi Jets, Tunzes, Aqua Clear 70s, and the MP10 and MP20. By far my favorite pumps are the Vortechs. They're not just for 'wave action' but they do give you a great flow pattern that will make your corals sway back and forth. Tough to beat.

[E.intheC]

Regarding your controller question.. I have a ReefKeeper Lite and love it. I use it to control my lights and heater right now, but you can even use it to turn off your lights if the temps get too high, and it's very expandable. You can control pH, ATO, LEDs, and many others with expansion modules.

[zach jay]

The lights I have are on timers (the sundials have built in timers). I do like the idea of controllable heaters - and pH. Maybe I'll look more into the reefkeeper lite and the mp10. Is there any other controllers that are worth looking at? And is there anything else other people can suggest? Thanks!

[zach jay]

i was looking into the neptune controllers. is there anything hugely different between brands?

[Mark426]

In a 20L...a skimmer is a waste of money. Water changes will do more for you than any skimmer could.

I guess if you cant or wont do 20-30% water changes each week...then you could use a good skimmer.

[redfishsc]

In a 20L...a skimmer is a waste of money. Water changes will do more for you than any skimmer could.

I guess if you cant or wont do 20-30% water changes each week...then you could use a good skimmer.


I agree with your last point, although I would not do more than 20% routine water change--- larger than 20% seems to irritate my corals and BTA's more than necessary.



I will respectfully disagree with the first one though.


If we are comparing "skimmers vs. water changes" then there is no comparison. Skimmers will provide a much more stable environment than weekly water changes can ever come close to. Skimmers help aerate the water constantly, continuously remove organic pollutants, and are a decided requirement if you ever dose VSV. The CO2 exchange is greatly helped by a strong skimmer, reducing the impact of nightly pH swings when CO2 levels hit their peak. So we not only have more stable oxygen, CO2, and dissolved organic compounds, but we also have a more stable pH.

Compare this constant oxygenation, CO2 exchange, and waste removal to the weekly ups and downs of water changes. No comparison.


Although there's no real need to compare them. Do them both ;) although weekly 10% is all that's generally needed.

[am3gross]

bigger tank!!!

[scrapz]

RK LITE L3

it controls everything in my tank.

[hondadude2k5]

Everyone has missed the single most important piece of equipment in Reef keeping or anything else in life..........upgrade your knowledge base. Read more books, magazines, product mauals. That way you know what you are doing and why you are doing it.

[reeflover62]

2 mp40 vortech and battery backup

[livenow]

The thing that holds the water

[sharrison]

I say your tank is the most important :) the more water the better.

[Mark426]

, Skimmers....and are a decided requirement if you ever dose VSV.

You do have some valid points...but who would ever dose sugar in a nano tank. Something is seriously wrong with your husbandry if you have nitrate problems in a nano.

I still say...money is better spent on quality lighting, quality pumps (vortec) or automation equipment than a skimmer in a small tank. A larger tank, well...then one is definitely required due to the unfeasibility of 20% water changes as a nutrient export method.

[nif]

I would say a Good job to support this madness. LOL

[sharrison]

To dose or not. I pick not.. :)

[mm949]

Everyone has missed the single most important piece of equipment in Reef keeping or anything else in life..........upgrade your knowledge base. Read more books, magazines, product mauals. That way you know what you are doing and why you are doing it.



^^^^what he said^^^^

fancy expensive equipment is nice, but like a computer its only as good as the person using it...

[zach jay]

so I guess topping off my list is:
controller
vortech mp10
rodi (I go every month to a local shop for it for 50cents a gallon)

and in terms of what hondaduke said, I'm on this site every day for a few hours. I read all the build threads and new to this hobby ones haha. hopefully reading where others failed or succeeded will help me as much as some books! haha


edit: whats the difference between all the reefkeepers? and other controllers? Thanks!

[redfishsc]

You do have some valid points...but who would ever dose sugar in a nano tank. Something is seriously wrong with your husbandry if you have nitrate problems in a nano.


I'm dosing VSV in a 45g system, not for nitrate reduction, but for phosphate. My system very, very very rarely showed any nitrate over 0.2ppm (salifert) even before the VSV.

Phosphate removal is a different issue. It's not easy to keep phosphate below 0.05ppm without carbon dosing, unless you use GFO, which I do not.


Nitrate is a breeze to control. Phosphate, not so much.

[sharrison]

Well I couldn't agree with you about:

"Nitrate is a breeze to control. Phosphate, not so much"

It is my opinion that if you cant even keep Nitrates to zilch that you need an entirely different hobby. It's just bad husbandry and it means that you:

1. Don't have a clue and need to read before you even put one living thing in the tank.
or
2. You are lazy and don't pay enough attention to the tank.

I think it is a wonderful thing to see people keep a tanks parameters correct with just live rock. Then slowly add occupants to the tank and watch what happens to the bio-load/parameters.
New people to the hobby are spoiled and think they must have everything "Now".
The only thing that happens is a catastrophe, in the end.

[Ekdrummer]

The display tank ;)

[redfishsc]

Well I couldn't agree with you about:

"Nitrate is a breeze to control. Phosphate, not so much"

It is my opinion that if you cant even keep Nitrates to zilch that you need an entirely different hobby. It's just bad husbandry and it means that you:

1. Don't have a clue and need to read before you even put one living thing in the tank.
or
2. You are lazy and don't pay enough attention to the tank.

I think it is a wonderful thing to see people keep a tanks parameters correct with just live rock. Then slowly add occupants to the tank and watch what happens to the bio-load/parameters.
New people to the hobby are spoiled and think they must have everything "Now".
The only thing that happens is a catastrophe, in the end.


I'm having a hard time understanding what you are saying. You say you disagree with me, but then basically say the same thing I said-- that nitrates are fairly easy to keep under control.

Perhaps a typo? Is "well I couldn't agree with you more is what you meant?



My apologies to the OP for taking this so far off topic.



:confused:

[Runfrumu]

I would say my Lighthouse Pro. It keeps everything on my tank running smooth and like clockwork and also alerts me to power failures at my home via email forwarded to my cell phone.

I have a generator that comes on automatically after 10 seconds or so but it's still nice being able to come check on things. Also if something were to go wrong with temp or ph it will alert me as well.

[sharrison]

LOL yea it was a typo :) "redfishsc"

[rkelley_10]

My DA Reefkeeper 2. A massive spaghetti mountain of cords and huge mechanical timers was quite offputting.