unnecessary equipment but best investment

[niloc16]

which piece of 'unnecessary' equipment do you own that you think was the best investment?

[Sushiman]

40w UV & SQWD.

[danny zubot]

I don't have any of those, but I'm interested to see what items people really enjoy having.

[christyf5]

I'm on the fence between chiller and calcium reactor. I've decided to select calcium reactor because I've had it longer (4 years vs 1.5 yrs for the chiller)) and it gets used more often than the chiller (ie. year round vs summer months). I really do feel I couldn't live without either though. The calcium reactor keeps me sane from not having to dose daily and the chiller gives me piece of mind knowing I'm not cooking my critters.

[niloc16]

you can select multiple choices. i was probably the worst to vote because i chose, calcium reactor, wavysea, wavebox and controller. in the beginning it thought these units were 'wants'. but after using them i have found huge benefits from each one. the latest unit being the wavebox has given awesome PE on the sps, and the wavyseas give crazy flow with the tunzes on them. when i was building the setup i took the advice of Fudge to get a calcium reactor. a huge thing for me with this setup was to not have to do daily stuff aside from feeding and trying to judge if corals grew over night so i did not want to have to dose for calcium each day. i really really contemplated getting a controller at first. i just wanted one because it was a new cool toy but after having it and seeing the benefits of it i would not go without it.

[christyf5]

Oops I didn't see it was multiple choice. I added my vote for chiller then.

I have a wavebox as well, and while I agree that it is a great piece of equipment to have and I've never seen my corals with such incredible polyp extension. I don't think I would have any problems going without it as my Tunze powerheads were getting the job done for me before I got the wavebox. Not that I'm saying the wavebox isn't great, its just not a neccessary piece of equipment IMO. Just as a ca reactor or chiller isn't necessary if you don't have a tank crammed with sps or your tank is in a cool basement or something

As for the aquarium controllers, they're out of my league. I have read up o them several times and I still don't really "get it"

[niloc16]

i have a controller and i still dont know how to use it to the full potential . but from i do have hooked up it is a big help.

[Delphinus]

Interesting question! Also considering that there are different ways to view what consitutes a "good investment". At any rate I voted calcium reactor and phosban reactor because those were the only two items on the list that I actually have. I probably didn't need to vote phosban reactor because I'm not sure that it's neither unnecessary (it could be viewed as necessary), nor a good investment (eh, I've been running carbon in them for a while, I only just started up one with actual phosphate reducing media two days ago. Hardly a lifesaver in my case!).

Calcium reactor on the other hand ... sure, you could argue it's not necessary, but I find it's one of the best bangs-for-buck there is. Not only do I find running a calcium reactor cheaper in the long run over other methods (although the startup costs are high, if you look at the cost of additives over 2 or 3 years you might find the additives to be the more costly option. At least I did at the rate I was going through additives), but also I find there's just nothing to compare to the set-and-forget aspect. It was a little tricky trying to dial them in at first but once they're set, they're set. If I go away for a weekend or whatever, I don't have to get someone to add my alkalinity additive in the morning and the calcium additive at night (because you shouldn't add them at the same time), or alternatively not worry about making my tank go through weird swings because nobody's adding them. So the peace of mind counts as a return on that investment as well. And, and and and!!! One more thing, I found that I got *better* growth of SPS using a calcium reactor than I was getting with the additives, despite even having lower Ca and Alk values than I was acheiving with the additives. My thinking on this is that the values are replenished at the same rate they are depleted, thus acheiving a more constant steady-state situation, whereas you get a "sawtooth wave" effect with the additives (sudden rise when you add them, followed by slow depletion over the course of a day, rinse and repeat). So ... cost, peace of mind, better results. Complete slam dunk!

[niloc16]

wow delphinus, you sould be a salesman for ca reactor. you have me sold and i already have one

[Ruth]

Hands down - feet down - the calcium reactor for me although I really do need to get a chiller or 2 before summer hits again.