Equipment more or Less?

[Mandee]

Alright I'm A TOTALLY NEW to salt water. And all this equipment has me very confused.

I see guys with these extraordinary and elaborate set ups (talking about equipment) which look awesome and beautiful but than I see people running bare minimum and they still look amazing and their tanks look like there thriving. UGH

 

[redfishbluefish]

You must know of Paul B.....he certainly is one of a kind.


I'm going to give you a very simple answer.....that will probably cause revolt:

A small system....the nano crowd....can get away with less equipment, but with scheduled water changes. The larger the system, the easiest way to control the bad guys (nitrates and phosphates) and adding the good guys (the calcium, alkalinity and magnesium), is by adding overpriced equipment.


EDIT TO ADD: That doesn't mean you can't go equipment crazy on a nano...you most certainly can. But for the most part, frequent water changes could mean no skimmer, dosing pump, refugium/sump, etc.

 

[Shep]

It really depends on how much you want to spend, you can have an awesome tank on a budget. You do not need to get the best of the best in order to have a nice tank.

 

[Mandee]

What Is a dosing pump?

 

[Shep]

Its just a pump that adds small amounts of additives to your tank so that you do not have to do it by hand. Only really needed if you have a heavily stocked tank with lots of livestock that use up elements really fast (clams and SPS usually)

 

[redfishbluefish]

There are a couple different styles, but to the best of my knowledge, they are all peristaltic pumps. I'm using two BRS 1.1 ml/min pumps to dose both my alkalinity and calcium solutions.

EDIT TO ADD:

Here is a picture of my actual pumps and the two containers of alk and calc solution.

 

[143MPCo]

The bigger the better I always say but, as noted above you don't really need all the high end stuff to make things work!

I'm a bit on the lazy side so I tend to automate anything and everything I can to make less work for myself and to make my systems as stable as I can.

 

[melypr1985]

in my opinion the most important pieces of equipment you need are a good skimmer, refuge, and an auto top off. Really the last one isn't a life or death need but I really LOVE mine!

 

[Shep]

in my opinion the most important pieces of equipment you need are a good skimmer, refuge, and an auto top off. Really the last one isn't a life or death need but I really LOVE mine!

Those are but I think the three most critical are powerhead, lights and heater.

 

[Mandee]

I have power heads, lights, heater, sump (which I have no idea what to put in it?) And a protein skimmer (which o know goes in the sump) but I see all this other equipment that I have NO IDEA what it is or does.

 

[SeaMonkeys]

Do you have pictures of it? Might be able to help if we could see what you have.

 

[Shep]

You have all that you need, anything else is just extra. Most of the time the other stuff is for the more advanced reef or the reefer who wants to automate their system.

 

[redfishbluefish]

You have all that you need, anything else is just extra. Most of the time the other stuff is for the more advanced reef or the reefer who wants to automate their system.

Very true. I've got to believe that most of use started out doing a bunch of manual stuff. I know I use to turn my lights on and off every day....same with dosing, using an Erlenmeyer flask to measure out the alk and calc.....and same with top-off, all manual when I first started.

 

[StikHedRon]

Other equipment would be Kalk reactor (not needed) Gfo Reactor (good to have) Carbon reactor ( also good to have but not necessary) Zeo reactor (not needed unless running zeo) UV sterilizers ( not necessary) Controller ( very necessary)

 

[Mandee]

Other equipment would be Kalk reactor (not needed) Gfo Reactor (good to have) Carbon reactor ( also good to have but not necessary) Zeo reactor (not needed unless running zeo) UV sterilizers ( not necessary) Controller ( very necessary)

This is jibberish to me lol

 

[redfishbluefish]

Controller ( very necessary)

Hey! When I first started...and maybe for the first two years, I was totally manual. Today, I couldn't live without it, but I wouldn't consider it a day one piece of equipment.

 

[redfishbluefish]

This is jibberish to me lol

Don't fret on any of this equipment. Again, you have what it takes to start a tank. Post up pictures of equipment you're not sure about and we'll tell you what it is.

EDIT TO ADD:

Better yet, start a "Member Tank" thread and post pictures and questions within that thread. Wait, I need to pat myself on the back for that one!

 

[Mandee]

What is a controller and what does it do....... I know it controls lol but..

 

[redfishbluefish]

A controller is an overpriced timer and turner-on/turner-off device. I use two old-style ReefKeeper 2's to "control" my lights, pumps, dosers, etc. The newer controllers today are smart phone savvy and communicate issues with your tank....these controllers are pricey.

 

[greg 45]

Mandee
It takes time to learn all of this it doesn't happen overnight.