A Light, A Skimmer, A Return Pump and A Controller: Name your favorite brand!

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Today we're taking a break from big fish as I'm done with talking about them for the week! HA! Instead I thought we could put together a list of 4 very popular saltwater aquarium products. You don't "NEED" all of these but let's talk about your favorite brands for these 4 categories! Let's go!

Name your favorite brands for the following aquarium equipment items:

Reef Aquarium Lighting:
Protein Skimmer:
Water Return Pump:
Aquarium Controller:

image via @sil40sx

 

[design.maddie]

What is a controller? I have Apps, I have timers, I have DC automatic potentiometers. Did I pay an extra $500 to have them as ONE? no.

 

[Kristopher Conlin]

I have everything but the controller. Probably going to pick one up this coming black Friday!

 

[Lolleo]

Reef Aquarium Lighting: Radion
Protein Skimmer: RedSea but wanna try octo
Water Return Pump: If I could afford it would do eco tech

Aquarium Controller: Neptune/Apex

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I have everything but the ontroller. Probably going to pick one up this coming black Friday!

Name your favorite brands!

 

[CoralB]

All the above !!!

 

[X-37B]

Only controller I have is on my powerheads.
I run a carx with no controller or ph probe.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

What is a controller? I have Apps, I have timers, I have DC automatic potentiometers. Did I pay an extra $500 to have them as ONE? no.

Ok that's great! Name your favorite brands for the items you do use! Thanks!

 

[X-37B]

Ok 4 tanks 3 systems.
Lighting 16hds and Radion xr15 blues.
Skimmers Tunze 9410dc 9430dc.
Return pump are all Tunze.
Controllers are on my Tunze and Jebao powerheads.

 

[KrisReef]

Name your favorite brands!

COntroller : My Spouse Lisa.
(She made me post this!)


Reef Aquarium Lighting: Kessil. Geissmann
Protein Skimmer: Reef Octo/ ?
Water Return Pump: Jebao/many others
Aquarium Controller: See above, otherwise, I am unguided

 

[Gtinnel]

I have and love my Apex system.
For lights I use Noopsyche and for the price they’re great, but I’d really like to try kessils.
My return pump is Jebao and I can’t see any reason to spend more money on a nice brand but Abyzz sure do look nice.
I have a Vertex and Bubble King protein skimmer and both of them are really well made. I’d probably go with the Royal Exclusiv just because it has a few nice convenient features (like removable neck).

 

[capnjack]

Lighting; 3 Hydra 52 Skimmer: Coralvue Octo skimmer Return pump; Simplicity DC return pump System controller; Apex controller system

 

[Kristopher Conlin]

Name your favorite brands!

Haha OK!

I really like my kessils. I have them on two tanks one supplemented with t5s and another with reefbrites. I am a huge fan in the shimmer the give.

I have only ever had two skimmers but I'm a huge fan of my reef octopus regal dc skimmer.

I run a lot of sicce syncra silent return pumps. They work great and I don't mode the small amount of hum.

If I do buy a controller I'm going Apex!

 

[MMcKenna1029]

Reef Aquarium Lighting: I use reefbreeders Photon 32V2 Pro w/ 2 3ft T5 - ATI Coral Plus
Protein Skimmer: Reef Octopus Classic 150-SS
Water Return Pump: DC pump from Reefbreeders, (coral box?)
Aquarium Controller: Hydros

Very happy with my lighting setup. Colors look great and adding the T5s smoothed everything out really nicely and helped with less shading. The RB leds provide all the blue, red, green and white at 0%.

Skimmer is great, no problems ever and pulls plenty of gunk. I run very dry.

2 DC return pumps from reefbreeders. They push high flow and are dead quiet. That said, I would like to replace with 2 Octo Varios pumps and keep the others as emergency spares.

I have had the Hydros controller for a few months now and am very happy with it. Where it is still developing I wish updates and new features came out faster but not a big deal. I expect great innovations going forward. It does what I need it to.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[WVNed]

Lights - I am currently using 2 4 foot Hamilton Cebu Sun MH/T5, 4 Noopsyche K7V3, 2 36 inch Aquatic life Coral Cover, 48 inch Reefbreeders Photon V2 Pro and 2 Viparspectra 165 watt

Skimmers - Reef Octo and LifeReef

Return pumps - multiple Simplicity and Jebao

Controller - Hydros XS, X4 and X2 in a collective

 

[Scott's reef]

I have three out of four. I want a control system of some sort but funds do not allow. It keeps me my in tune with my systems because of having to stay on top of things.

 

[Hydrored]

Reef Aquarium Lighting: Orphek
Protein Skimmer: Royal Exclusiv
Water Return Pump: Royal Exclusiv (in house built)
Aquarium Controller: Apex

 

[Dburr1014]

Light: Reefbreeders photon v2 upgraded to pro.
Protein skimmer: Aquamaxx fc 180
Water return pump: Sicce Syncra 9.0
Controller: Apex (recently not to fond of it)

 

[Jwise]

I love to run Ecotech on my system i have 2 mp40's, a vector s2 return pump and will be getting 3 gen 6 xr 30 pro's on in about a year from right now i run 2 kessil a160w's on my aquarium now. I dont have corals yet and will wait to get any until i get the new lighting on so for now i have a really high tech fowlr lol. I also run a reef octopus regal 150sss on my system as well down in my sump.

 

[Snoopy 67]

I have an old Aquacontroller II & a back up.
The rest I will buy when the new smaller tank comes in.
Downsized!