naterealbig
pea brain
I'm in this hobby for the long haul. I've been keeping salt water fish and invertebrates for over 25 years, and have poured more blood, sweat, and tears (all literally) into this hobby than all my others combined. For my current setup, I'm already in the tens of thousands of dollars for equipment and fish alone, and will probably spend thousands more on corals to fill my display over the years. I want to protect my pets and my investment, and would like to begin a value-added dialogue on methods and equipment that the pro's use on their 10, 15, 20 year systems.
What are your go-to heaters? Lighting? Return pumps? Internal or External? What are your rules and hard-stops for plumbing? Bulkheads? Tank penetrations? What are your thoughts on all-in-one monitors and controllers? Timers? Internal or external skimmers? Media reactors? Calcium, Kalkwasser reactors, and dosers? What is your must-have redundant equipment? Backup power sources? Power-loss notifications systems?
I'm not talking easiest, quickest, most efficient. Let's discuss what is proven. Let's chat about mean time between failures. Let's talk brands and equipment that just won't die. I don't want to talk about what will grow my coral best - I want to know what to use and how to configure it so I can go on a 2 week vacation and be able to put my house on the fact that everything will be in-tact when I return. In the responses below, I will save space for summaries, guidelines, equipment, brands, and methods that appear to be generally accepted by the pro's, and those who have had aquariums for many years without catastrophic failures due to equipment.
Tell us how old your tank is, what your using, how you set it up, and why. Pick your topic, and just click "Reply". Go!
What are your go-to heaters? Lighting? Return pumps? Internal or External? What are your rules and hard-stops for plumbing? Bulkheads? Tank penetrations? What are your thoughts on all-in-one monitors and controllers? Timers? Internal or external skimmers? Media reactors? Calcium, Kalkwasser reactors, and dosers? What is your must-have redundant equipment? Backup power sources? Power-loss notifications systems?
I'm not talking easiest, quickest, most efficient. Let's discuss what is proven. Let's chat about mean time between failures. Let's talk brands and equipment that just won't die. I don't want to talk about what will grow my coral best - I want to know what to use and how to configure it so I can go on a 2 week vacation and be able to put my house on the fact that everything will be in-tact when I return. In the responses below, I will save space for summaries, guidelines, equipment, brands, and methods that appear to be generally accepted by the pro's, and those who have had aquariums for many years without catastrophic failures due to equipment.
Tell us how old your tank is, what your using, how you set it up, and why. Pick your topic, and just click "Reply". Go!
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