TOP 10 Inventions for Modern Reef Keeping?

[SeymourDuncan]

WOW!!! NOBODY said SURGE DEVICES! I Love these things passionately. They save electricity (HUGE +) make Natural waves (HUGE +) and are Extremely simple.
Everything listed above is definitely listable, and surge devices are not The NUMBER ONE, which would be aquarium

 

[sammirooter]

+1 surge protector. and my generator... so if the power goes out i dont lose everything

 

[johnanddawn]

my list in order would be:
Live rock - not really an "invention" but the cornerstone of biologic filtration for most reef tanks
lighting - all types - not a debate - T5, MH, LED without which there would be no reef tanks
quality synthetic sea salt - allows anyone to keep salt water reef organisms
ro/di water - makes synthetic salt true to percentages
protein skimmers - improve water quality
propeller pumps - water flow is a must and propeller pumps increased flow rates many fold
quality handeling and transport of live animals without which we wouldn't have the availability that we do
coral aquaculture/mariculture - improved quality, color, and health as well as availability of unique morphs
fish aquaculture - same as coral
tanks the availability of size, shape, quality, and price has never been matched before

 

[mcarroll]

Surprising entries and misses!

The "Go slow…" maxim was the best, and least used, invention/innovation for modern and ancient reefkeeping.
"Don't over stock…" is #2 on both lists.
Tunze Stream pumps showed the right way to flow a tank. Practically speaking, nobody does it any other way now.
Affordable, accurate-enough, precise-enough Ca and alk test kits. It's not 100% clear to me, but I think Salifert led the charge and today most of the available options are pretty serviceable.
Aqua Lifter "dosing pump" - historically nothing like it at the price.

Who didn't make the list?
The skimmer is personally my favorite device, but also one of the greasest disappointments given what we've discovered about their overall lack of effectiveness. (Referring to the skimmate testing ..). This fact puts a pretty hard cap on what I'm willing to spend. Also will consider going skimmerless on future designs.

LED lighting may make the list in another year - I'm hoping for at least one more wave of innovation that'll make it right for everyone. Most people should already be able to make the switch to LED for about the cost of one or two bulb replacement cycles on their current T5 or halide fixture. This, however, requires a fair effort in DIY. Hoping the commercial market continues to look at new tech for implementing LED at more popular price points.

 

[Dog Boy Dave]

You guys (excepting Return.. Sorry missed ya ) are missing the number one invention that makes all of our reef tanks possible. It was the single most important invention that made almost all the salt water tanks you see today possible. Before this invention there was no salt water hobby to speak of. Its called....Silicon Cement.
Before meta frame came out with the all glass tank in around 1970, all we had was stainless steel framed tar lined glass boxes. They would rust if you tried to kleep salt water and back then alomost nobody tried. After the advent of the all glass tank people started trying to keep salt water in a big way. Now we have plastic tanks as well but without silicon and the all glass tank this hobby would have not gotten started when it did. All the rest of that stuff is nice but without the first all glass tanks...

 

[Paul B]

Before meta frame came out with the all glass tank in around 1970, all we had was stainless steel framed tar lined glass boxes. They would rust if you tried to kleep salt water and back then alomost nobody tried. After the advent of the all glass tank people started trying to keep salt water in a big way. Now we have plastic tanks as well but without silicon and the all glass tank this hobby would have not gotten started when it did. All the rest of that stuff is nice but without the first all glass tanks...

Thats right, I spent many hours sealing those tanks with tubes of asphaltium varnish which was tar with some other goey stuff. They still leaked and rusted.
Before the stainless steel they were framed in iron painted black with swirly white lines and the bottom was slate.
My present tank was one of the first all glass tanks available.