Feedback on basics

[aquatic26]

Hi everyone. I am new to salt water aquariums, but have had fresh water for many years. I live in an apartment in the city and have minimal real estate for a large set up, so I purchased the Waterbox 15 AIO Peninsula tank and plan to have a pair of clowns, maybe a Randall's pistol shrimp/goby pair, CUC, and softies (maybe LPS in the future). As I do research, I find myself wondering what is a "nice to have" versus a "need to have" with several technologies. I know that coral and saltwater tanks in general are much less forgiving than fresh water, but I also am not going to be housing thousands of dollars worth of corals. So, my question is, of the following devices, which is a "must have" and which can I either do without or do without the most fancy/expensive version of?

1. ATO (already decided this is a must have, looking for recommendations of one suitable for the WB15 that won't break the bank)
2. Inkbird or similar heater controller (thinking of doing a 75 watt eheim jager heater)
3. Wave maker
4. Light (I know this is a need to have, but wondering if there are any recommendations of a good light that isn't $250 like the WB recommended AI 16 Prime)
5. Return pump (reading that the one the WB15 comes with is lousy and recommendations of the Tunze 1073.008. Any personal experience with this?)
6. Any other equipment I should have on my radar?

Thank you all!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

7. good quality testing equipment (I like hanna)
8. rodi unit (if you don't already have one)

 

[Doctorgori]

I’m biased against heaters but that’s hardly a popular opinion, your choice if you don’t believe your ambient temps are adequate

I do think wave makers and alternating flow is mandatory… how exactly you implement it is a choice

I’ve gone skimmer less, you can adjust to life w/o one

same for filter socks

I have 8 AI primes but replaced 3 power bricks, my endorsement is wavering

Tunze is a brand with a solid reputation, I like Sicce but many solid choices out there

I like Hanna for some things Phosphate and Alkalinity and Salifert for Calcium and Magnesium … ATI is ok for cycling a tank, opinion varies but that’s mine

 

[RandyL]

I don't see these covered here yet, so I'll add:
- Specific gravity refractometer
- pH monitor. While there are non-electronic ways to do this (e.g. test kit), I like being able to quickly see the reading
- non-reactive buckets to mix your sea water for water changes
- Cleaning apparatus (e.g. algae scraper, siphon tubes to get detritus off the bottom, etc).

Welcome to the hobby and best of luck. You're off to a great start since you're planning before you buy! Much better for you and the livestock that way.

 

[boacvh]

My only must have addition would be a ground probe and GFCI

 

[jda]

Tunze makes good pump... good everything. Their ATO is the best, IMO. Nobody even comes close to them for service.

Thermometer with mercury or the current day equivalent. Digital ones are all trash, IMO, but you can work with them if you have an analog one to compare against.

Save some gallon jugs so that you can make some 2 part soon. There are plenty of good recipes out there.

Salifert test kits are plenty good for now. Alk, Calcium is probably enough. You can add others later. Don't spend too much here at first.

Don't worry about pH right now. Just have good surface agitation and a skimmer while keeping your home aired out and it will be fine. You have plenty of time to work on this later if you care. Certainly don't buy a test kit for it - spend that money on a pH Pen from Amazon, or the like, if you must.

 

[Kmarshall168]

A good lid for your tank depending on your livestock. And a simple wifi power strip can really be useful

 

[Kmarshall168]

Simple things like a gravel syphon and a glass scraper/cleaner are overlooked as well.

 

[Kmarshall168]

Also just random buckets of all different sizes and a few of each

 

[JM302]

Agree - Tunze ATO is the only way. I've been running one for as long as I can remember. 15+ years?

If you want to save money, stay away from the high end wave makers and run the stock return pump until it gives you problems.

 

[aquatic26]

I’m biased against heaters but that’s hardly a popular opinion, your choice if you don’t believe your ambient temps are adequate

I do think wave makers and alternating flow is mandatory… how exactly you implement it is a choice

I’ve gone skimmer less, you can adjust to life w/o one

same for filter socks

I have 8 AI primes but replaced 3 power bricks, my endorsement is wavering

Tunze is a brand with a solid reputation, I like Sicce but many solid choices out there

I like Hanna for some things Phosphate and Alkalinity and Salifert for Calcium and Magnesium … ATI is ok for cycling a tank, opinion varies but that’s mine

Unfortunately I'm in a cold climate, so heaterless isn't an option. Do you think I need a wave maker on top of the return pump outflow (can angle it different directions)? Any light recommendation if not a fan of the AI primes anymore? Thank you for your help!

 

[aquatic26]

Agree - Tunze ATO is the only way. I've been running one for as long as I can remember. 15+ years?

If you want to save money, stay away from the high end wave makers and run the stock return pump until it gives you problems.

Thank you for your help! You think the stock return pump will generate enough flow in a 15gal?

 

[aquatic26]

Tunze makes good pump... good everything. Their ATO is the best, IMO. Nobody even comes close to them for service.

Thermometer with mercury or the current day equivalent. Digital ones are all trash, IMO, but you can work with them if you have an analog one to compare against.

Save some gallon jugs so that you can make some 2 part soon. There are plenty of good recipes out there.

Salifert test kits are plenty good for now. Alk, Calcium is probably enough. You can add others later. Don't spend too much here at first.

Don't worry about pH right now. Just have good surface agitation and a skimmer while keeping your home aired out and it will be fine. You have plenty of time to work on this later if you care. Certainly don't buy a test kit for it - spend that money on a pH Pen from Amazon, or the like, if you must.

Thank you for this reply! You think I need to run a skimmer in a 15 gal or is weekly water changes sufficient?

 

[Doctorgori]

Unfortunately I'm in a cold climate, so heaterless isn't an option. Do you think I need a wave maker on top of the return pump outflow (can angle it different directions)? Any light recommendation if not a fan of the AI primes anymore? Thank you for your help!

I just came from Cleveland and my tanks were in a basement with a ambient room temp of 68F. I think it all depends on pumps, lights and temp fluctuations day vs night …
Also, its not a wholesale pro vs con thing since if a heater is set & sized properly the heater doesn’t have to have a frequent on/off cycle … if you are set, this is one piece of equipment to invest in quality IME

 

[aquatic26]

I just came from Cleveland and my tanks were in a basement with a ambient room temp of 68F. I think it all depends on pumps, lights and temp fluctuations day vs night …
Also, its not a wholesale pro vs con thing since if a heater is set & sized properly the heater doesn’t have to have a frequent on/off cycle … if you are set, this is one piece of equipment to invest in quality IME

Any recommendations? Thank you for your feedback here. Very helpful and appreciated!

 

[7of9]

Thank you for this reply! You think I need to run a skimmer in a 15 gal or is weekly water changes sufficient?

For 15 gallons, Weekly water changes should do you unless you overstock or over feed.

I’m setting up a 32 gallon and this is my list of stuff before I feel ready to add water:

Food grade 5 gallon buckets for mixing
RO/DI unit
Heater - I went with cobalt
Wave maker/power head - Jabeo because I’m on a budget!
Instant Ocean salt
My tank came with a return pump, lights, and a siphon for cleaning

There’s a lot I want to add, but this will get me started and I can add on things as the tank cycles. I get a lot of stuff off Facebook marketplace. On the top of my list to get off there next are some Hanna test kits. I’ll wait to get an ATO until I’m about a month out from vacation since I want to test it out before I’m away.

Frequent water changes in nanos can make them require a lot less equipment.

 

[Doctorgori]

Any recommendations? Thank you for your feedback here. Very helpful and appreciated!

Also apologies: I re-read and saw you had a 15g …in that case I would definitely get a good heater …

Heaters? I’m ole skool and can’t really recommend past Finnex or Jaeger, but High end would be Rancor <controller> (as I was just reminded) …but there are new models being talked about and heaters have come a long ways …


Someone: A lil help here

 

[X-37B]

I run a 20g aio. It was up for 10 months running 2 16hds, no skimmer, Jebao ow25 for flow.
Tanks an 18" cube.
I took it down and restarted it 5 months ago. Diy skimmer, not really needed imo, NP K7 V3 for the light. You could run a K7 mini.
Take a look at the Jebao ow10. I run one in my 30g Nem tank. They are small and have an excellent controller for wave, pulse, constant flow.

I run Tunze ato's on 3 systems. One is comming up on 7 years old with the same pump.

Keep it simple. Pm me if your interested.
Current 20g running the K7, diy skimmer, and ow25 for flow.

Only thing I dose is A4R which is a simple one part to keep parameters inline.
All my systems get a 10% water change once a month.
My current 5 month old 20g cube.

 

[JM302]

Thank you for your help! You think the stock return pump will generate enough flow in a 15gal?

The majority of your flow will be generated with the wave maker. The flow thorugh the AIO 'sump' really doesn't matter too much IMO. I'd rather take the spare funds and buy a little better wave maker. Something DC controllable so you can randomize the flow and call it a day. When you inevitably upgrade to a larger tank, you can take it along with you

 

[aquatic26]

I run a 20g aio. It was up for 10 months running 2 16hds, no skimmer, Jebao ow25 for flow.
Tanks an 18" cube.
I took it down and restarted it 5 months ago. Diy skimmer, not really needed imo, NP K7 V3 for the light. You could run a K7 mini.
Take a look at the Jebao ow10. I run one in my 30g Nem tank. They are small and have an excellent controller for wave, pulse, constant flow.

I run Tunze ato's on 3 systems. One is comming up on 7 years old with the same pump.

Keep it simple. Pm me if your interested.
Current 20g running the K7, diy skimmer, and ow25 for flow.

Only thing I dose is A4R which is a simple one part to keep parameters inline.
All my systems get a 10% water change once a month.
My current 5 month old 20g cube.

Thank you so much for all these recommendations! I just bought the Jebao SLW-10 at your suggestion. Would the K7 mini be sufficient to grow softies and LPS? The tank I got is a peninsula style, so it's not as deep, but is long.