Newest Hardware Trends (possibly returning to hobby)?

[Mr. Microscope]

Hello Nano-Reef!  It's been nearly five years since I left the hobby and this forum and all of its members were home and family for me for so so long.  I've suddenly gotten the reef bug again and have been considering starting something in the next year or so.  This time, I want to go a little bigger, maybe something along the lines of a 65 gallon display with sump, etc.  I don't want to cheap out, but I also don't have a lot of income.  So, this will be a slow build up of equipment. 
TLDR: What's new in hardware in the last five years?  When I left, ghost overflows were new.  What are y'all relying on to keep your systems going, water stable, and livestock happy these days?
Cheers!

[jservedio]

Welcome back! I missed seeing your cube - I can't wait to see what you do next!

 

Not all that much has changed equipment wise, but really, really nice tanks/stands have gotten significantly cheaper. Check out the Innovative Marine INT and EXT series tanks, the Red Sea Reefer series tanks, and the Waterbox stuff - all of them have Herbie or Bean-Animal silent overflows stock, they've all got crazy nice beveled low-iron glass with black seams and white stands are finally a thing. LED is indisputably king now, T5s are much less popular, and MH and PC are entirely gone for the most part. For flow, DC controllable returns are widely available and and Gyre type powerheads are new and awesome. What used to be custom acrylic sumps with all the bells and whistles are now mass produced.

 

Mostly, things just got more polished, quieter, cooler, and more energy efficient.

[Mr. Microscope]

Thank you, jservedio!
I'm so excited that herbies are now standard stock!  Maybe I won't have to build from scratch this time. 🙂

 

[jservedio]

No problem!

 

Most companies stands now are powder coated aluminum with synthetic panels or epoxy coated plywood, so you can cross that off the to-do list as well! I just went through the process of upgrading after 10 years this past fall and what's now available saved countless hours by not having to build a stand and risk cracking the tank to drill a 2nd drain hole.

 

They are absurdly cheap now as well. The IM, Red Sea, and Waterbox tank quality is on par with the custom ReefSavvy stuff from 5 years ago but for 1/4 the price. My 30x24 50g tank/stand was shipped to my door for $849 including tax! While the stand isn't as nice as fully custom, it's lightyears better than what was out there off the shelf 5 years ago (plus with a little DIY, you can make things much nicer).

 

(excuse the totally un-scaped tank - that was minutes after transferring things from the 20g!)

 

I hope your return isn't just a possibility! If you were starting totally from scratch and didn't have any gear to reuse, you could easily go high-end and be under $3,000 these days for a tank that's 3' long or less (tank, stand, sump, plumbing, lighting, flow, skimmer, heater/temp controller, dosing pump, and ATO) buying everything brand new.

[Mr. Microscope]

21 minutes ago, jservedio said:

No problem!

 

Most companies stands now are powder coated aluminum with synthetic panels or epoxy coated plywood, so you can cross that off the to-do list as well! I just went through the process of upgrading after 10 years this past fall and what's now available saved countless hours by not having to build a stand and risk cracking the tank to drill a 2nd drain hole.

 

They are absurdly cheap now as well. The IM, Red Sea, and Waterbox tank quality is on par with the custom ReefSavvy stuff from 5 years ago but for 1/4 the price. My 30x24 50g tank/stand was shipped to my door for $849 including tax! While the stand isn't as nice as fully custom, it's lightyears better than what was out there off the shelf 5 years ago (plus with a little DIY, you can make things much nicer).

 

(excuse the totally un-scaped tank - that was minutes after transferring things from the 20g!)

 

I hope your return isn't just a possibility! If you were starting totally from scratch and didn't have any gear to reuse, you could easily go high-end and be under $3,000 these days for a tank that's 3' long or less (tank, stand, sump, plumbing, lighting, flow, skimmer, heater/temp controller, dosing pump, and ATO) buying everything brand new.

Oh, wow! Is that an aluminum stand on the IM EXT?  I remember wanting to do away with a wooden stand and build one of those Al slotted ones.

[jservedio]

4 minutes ago, Mr. Microscope said:

Oh, wow! Is that an aluminum stand on the IM EXT?  I remember wanting to do away with a wooden stand and building one of those.

Yep, I impulse bought it like 3 or 4 days after they released the white version and scrapped two years worth of planning for a custom stand. The powder coated aluminum is really nice and extremely well done - super high quality. The panels leave a bit to be desired since they are some sort of plastic board, but since they just slide into channels on the frame so you can replace them with nicer paneling if you want.

 

That said, the plywood stands that come with the Red Sea and Waterbox tanks are coated with some sort of epoxy paint and are very nice and have no cheap material like plastic paneling showing. I like doing a little DIY and wanted a really nice acrylic sump and color-matched schedule 80, so I went with the IM. Literally none of them are a bad choice. Since they are all super common now, it's really easy to see them all in person and compare them - it's really unbelievable how far these tanks and stands have come in just a few years. you picked a perfect time for re-entry.

[Hasted]

4 hours ago, jservedio said:

That said, the plywood stands that come with the Red Sea and Waterbox tanks are coated with some sort of epoxy paint and are very nice and have no cheap material like plastic paneling showing.

 

I agree here! I have a Red Sea XL300 which has a 65g display and the stand is really nice. Happy owner. All the popular brands are high enough quality that you will probably be very pleased. 

[Mr. Microscope]

57 minutes ago, Hasted said:

 

I agree here! I have a Red Sea XL300 which has a 65g display and the stand is really nice. Happy owner. All the popular brands are high enough quality that you will probably be very pleased. 

Cool!  Thank you, Hasted!

[Nano sapiens]

'They all return, eventually!' 🙂

 

Welcome back!  I haven't looked into the latest and greatest equipment as I'm still running my old Cadlights cube, but hope you find something nice that works for you

[Mr. Microscope]

4 hours ago, Nano sapiens said:

'They all return, eventually!' 🙂

 

Welcome back!  I haven't looked into the latest and greatest equipment as I'm still running my old Cadlights cube, but hope you find something nice that works for you

Great to see you again, NS!  I'll make a tank thread if I start up again.  Cheers!

[Christopher Marks]

Good to have ya back @Mr. Microscope! Lots of fun tank possibilities ahead 🙂 

[Mr. Microscope]

1 minute ago, Christopher Marks said:

Good to have ya back @Mr. Microscope! Lots of fun tank possibilities ahead 🙂 

Thank you, Christopher!  It's great to be back on the forum and I'm so happy to see you're still running it.  Even if I don't end up starting a new tank, I'm having fun browsing the posts and helping out where I can.

[Murphs_Reef]

On 3/10/2021 at 5:55 PM, Mr. Microscope said:

Thank you, Christopher!  It's great to be back on the forum and I'm so happy to see you're still running it.  Even if I don't end up starting a new tank, I'm having fun browsing the posts and helping out where I can.

Did you ever start a new tank up? We left the hobby at around the same time... I started back up April last year and now have a 90g. Never looked back 👍🏼

[Mr. Microscope]

 

On 6/8/2021 at 11:35 AM, Murphych said:

Did you ever start a new tank up? We left the hobby at around the same time... I started back up April last year and now have a 90g. Never looked back 👍🏼

I just dug out all of my old reefing stuff yesterday and have been sorting through it.  I took all of my old plumbing bits and soaked them in vinager to dissolve away the years of calcium gunk that had build up over the years.  I may set up my old 7 gallon cube with a 10 gallon sump.  Though, I've been fantasizing about setting up a peninsula in my apartment to separate a hallway from the main living area.  Not sure I can afford to do that though.  I might have to wait a while.

[Murphs_Reef]

Would be great to have you back. You guided me through a few problems back in the day! 

 

[Nano sapiens]

On 3/9/2021 at 10:39 AM, Mr. Microscope said:

TLDR: What's new in hardware in the last five years?  When I left, ghost overflows were new.  What are y'all relying on to keep your systems going, water stable, and livestock happy these days?
Cheers!

A name I remember and welcome back! (as they say in reefing, "They all come back eventually") 🙂

 

Still nano reefing with the basics, so unfortunately I have no first hand input as far as the 'latest and greatest' equipment wise for the larger systems.

 

Whatever you go with, all the best!

 

 

[gena]

On 7/12/2021 at 10:56 AM, Mr. Microscope said:

 

I just dug out all of my old reefing stuff yesterday and have been sorting through it.  I took all of my old plumbing bits and soaked them in vinager to dissolve away the years of calcium gunk that had build up over the years.  I may set up my old 7 gallon cube with a 10 gallon sump.  Though, I've been fantasizing about setting up a peninsula in my apartment to separate a hallway from the main living area.  Not sure I can afford to do that though.  I might have to wait a while.

yay!!!!  I took a few years off too.  I needed a nice break to appreciate it all again.  Sounds like you are well on your way to a comeback 😁.  I'm envious of you having saved equipment.  I had sold everything.  So many regrets LOL.

[jservedio]

30 minutes ago, gena said:

yay!!!!  I took a few years off too.  I needed a nice break to appreciate it all again.  Sounds like you are well on your way to a comeback 😁.  I'm envious of you having saved equipment.  I had sold everything.  So many regrets LOL.

Saving money is good and all, but there is just something really nice about getting a boatload of brand new equipment and starting over on a new tank. No carbonate build up, no dead algae, no smell, no soaking things in vinegar, and most importantly: no hoping that heater that was sitting in a box in the garage for the last 12 years isn't going to burn your house down!

[gena]

1 minute ago, jservedio said:

Saving money is good and all, but there is just something really nice about getting a boatload of brand new equipment and starting over on a new tank. No carbonate build up, no dead algae, no smell, no soaking things in vinegar, and most importantly: no hoping that heater that was sitting in a box in the garage for the last 12 years isn't going to burn your house down!

My used 6 year old tank came with a used 6 year old heater (Original owner quote: "Still works great"....me thinking...yeah NO!!!!)  That was the first thing I replaced LOL.  Yeah...agreed on fresh equipment.  But I still wish I saved my AI Prime!!!!

[Murphs_Reef]

29 minutes ago, gena said:

My used 6 year old tank came with a used 6 year old heater (Original owner quote: "Still works great"....me thinking...yeah NO!!!!)  That was the first thing I replaced LOL.  Yeah...agreed on fresh equipment.  But I still wish I saved my AI Prime!!!!

Oh yeah they haven't got cheaper over the years. It cost me £65 for 2 flexible arms in February.. never mind the lights @ £225 a piece... 

[gena]

51 minutes ago, Murphych said:

Oh yeah they haven't got cheaper over the years. It cost me £65 for 2 flexible arms in February.. never mind the lights @ £225 a piece... 

I think might thought process was, by the time I get back into the hobby, there will be something new that's even better.  Guess I should have waited longer than 3 years to get back in LOL.  

 

I also wish I saved my mp10.  Regrets LOL.

[blasterman]

The biggest trend i see right now is more and more beginners are spending too much cash on controllers and $1000 plus worth of monitors and have no clue what they are doing. They expect the gear to think for them and end up spending more time futzing with probes and weird results. I still use the good old Salifert kits and manually dose and I literally bring buckets of over grown coral to my local reef store for free.

 

Lighting has also got more expensive but not better. My $90 black box just died after 5 years of loyal use, and I paid fortune for a so called top end Radion XR15 to replace it. My black box was the better light...albeit with some modifications. The software with the Radion was horrendous to use and my lowly black box didn't require an Email address just to use it.

[gena]

5 minutes ago, blasterman said:

The biggest trend i see right now is more and more beginners are spending too much cash on controllers and $1000 plus worth of monitors and have no clue what they are doing. They expect the gear to think for them and end up spending more time futzing with probes and weird results. I still use the good old Salifert kits and manually dose and I literally bring buckets of over grown coral to my local reef store for free.

 

Lighting has also got more expensive but not better. My $90 black box just died after 5 years of loyal use, and I paid fortune for a so called top end Radion XR15 to replace it. My black box was the better light...albeit with some modifications. The software with the Radion was horrendous to use and my lowly black box didn't require an Email address just to use it.

Are you in northern Colorado by chance and have some sinularia to get rid of???? LOL 

 

I'm pretty much an old-fashioned style reefer myself.  It works for me.

[Murphs_Reef]

21 minutes ago, blasterman said:

The biggest trend i see right now is more and more beginners are spending too much cash on controllers and $1000 plus worth of monitors and have no clue what they are doing. They expect the gear to think for them and end up spending more time futzing with probes and weird results. I still use the good old Salifert kits and manually dose and I literally bring buckets of over grown coral to my local reef store for free.

 

Lighting has also got more expensive but not better. My $90 black box just died after 5 years of loyal use, and I paid fortune for a so called top end Radion XR15 to replace it. My black box was the better light...albeit with some modifications. The software with the Radion was horrendous to use and my lowly black box didn't require an Email address just to use it.

Haha I read that in the voice of an old timer shaking his stick at a "whipper snapper".  

I think this, automation is a regular part of life now, having to login to applications to use them is more than common place.

My daughter laughs at me when I tell he not only did I not have a smart phone but I didn't have a TV or car at home when I was a young boy. 

It might not be the way we did it back in the day.... but it's absolutely fine.. 

Having things like AI primes and wifi dosing pumps are they a must, not really and can they be done cheaper? Yeah of course they can... do I even need the control it gives me.. na never... Is this hobby FOR ME as much about hardware / software as it is about the life in the tank... 100% yes that's why it's such a rich all encompassing hobby, it can be what you want it to be.. I still reserve the right to moan about the price 

 

I'm not a newbie or young.. I just like to use new and exciting technology.  

[Nano sapiens]

3 hours ago, blasterman said:

The biggest trend i see right now is more and more beginners are spending too much cash on controllers and $1000 plus worth of monitors and have no clue what they are doing. They expect the gear to think for them and end up spending more time futzing with probes and weird results.

 

Sad, but true for many.  When I see novice reef keepers proclaim that they've spent 7K+ on a medium sized reef setup before it's even wet, I can't help but look like this