What is the BEST purchase you have made for your reef?

[Drew1600]

Greetings reefers

Looking to make some upgrades to my system and I was just wondering what are the best purchases people have made for their tanks? Could be equipment, additives/supplements, livestock, anything..

I have a 29 g + 20 g sump, complete w/ Curve 5 protein skimmer, Green Killing Machine UV, 5 gallon refugium lit with stock Fluval Evo light, nitrate reactor, and ato system. 150w Aqueon Pro main heater, Tetra backup, controlled by an Inkbird. I have a 165w Viparspectra for lighting, so not looking to upgrade there. I have 2 hygger mini wave makers, set on random variable mode, and a VCA output on my ~350gph return. Eshopps PF-300 overflow (not drilled). I drip Kalk (currently 1 tsp/gal). Tank is fully stocked with a pair of True Percs, Blue Damsel, PJ Cardinalfish, Blue Fairy Wrasse, and Lawnmower Blenny. Also a Sand Sifting Sea Star, 15-20 Astrea Snails, 5-6 Turbos. For coral, I keep mostly soft. I love mushrooms, zoas, and duncans specifically. I really enjoy the motion that soft corals create.

The only thing I can think of to further improve the reef would be auto dosing 2-part Calc/Alk as I currently hand dose Red Sea's Foundation.
Maybe a better fuge light in the future depending how this one grows chaeto.

Anyways I would love some suggestions for furrher upgrades, and am very interested in everyone's favorite hardware, accessories, chemicals, gear, etc.

Thanks and Happy Reefing!

 

[tehmadreefer]

6 bulb t5 retro over a 60 cube

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

Hands down the best thing I ever bought, that was a game changer was my tunze ato. I did it manually for many years.

 

[vetteguy53081]

For me would be several Orpheks and Apex controller

 

[ScottR]

Probably my Orphek V4 lights and Orphek blue plus bar.

 

[Drew1600]

What do you love about the T5's?

This might deserve a thread of its own, but is the Apex worth the investment?

I will have to look into the Orpheks blue plus bar, currently running 2 Aqueon max blues for supplemental lighting..

 

[davidcalgary29]

A properly-calibrated refractometer. For salinity, and not beer. I could have avoided two months of confusion, an imploded Kenya Tree, four mushroom frags, and three snails had I CHECKED MY AMAZON ORDERS properly...

 

[austibella]

Octopus 120R biochurn. So I always have good bacteria .really keeps the water clear and clean

 

[ScottR]

What do you love about the T5's?

This might deserve a thread of its own, but is the Apex worth the investment?

I will have to look into the Orpheks blue plus bar, currently running 2 Aqueon max blues for supplemental lighting..

I use the Orphek bar for additional light and color. It adds more of a blue tinge to the tank.

 

[DaddyFish]

Hands down - UV

 

[Drew1600]

So is the Orpheks Blue everyones choice for supplemental lighting? Any more budget friendly options? College reefer here

 

[Waters]

Probably the Trident for me.

 

[Cabinetman]

For me it was all my apex gear. When it works like it’s supposed to it’s a game changer. Trident right on the top.

 

[JaaxReef]

I think the kits to mix your own Tropic Marin All for Reef really simplified my setup. One dosing pump for replacing all elements between water changes.

Would be a great choice for dosing for a tank your size.

 

[TankCandy]

Orphek LEDS and Neo Nitro/Phos.

 

[fish farmer]

Since you only have softies do you even need much for dosing, I only dose kalk in my 29 gallon.

I can't add much to your 29 list, you have more stuff than my 29 gal.

As a current best purchase would be a BRS dosing pump for kalk.

 

[Mooneyhan22]

Hanna checkers for Alkalinity, Nitrates and Phosphates. It really helped me fine tune my parameters.

 

[tippin.turtle]

Hands down the best piece of equipment for me has been a CO2 scrubber. Can't imagine ever running another reef tank without it and for the life of me can't understand why this piece of equipment is not part of the "essential" must have gear.

 

[sorloe]

Royal exclusiv double cone 180, that skimmer is a beast.

 

[68 Stang]

My best investment was my doser for alkalinity/calcium. It is rock solid at 8.0 hand dosing for years prior.