What am I missing?

Does your tank get too warm... ??
You want the tank to be temperature stable. So somewhere out there you may want a device to control your heater & fans (or chiller) accordingly to keep the temp from changing much in a 24 hour period. But, don't listen to hard to me, I'm still making plenty of my own mistakes at this time.

For example: I purchased metal halide lights and didn't know they had to have special bulbs.. so my system suffered from aglae and wrong temp lighting... now I'm still trying to get that mess straightened out after switching to LED lighting.
 
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Just get the refractometer. If you do get a hydrometer, you will have to replace it every 6 months or so. Refractometers aren't very expensive. I wouldn't use the Coralife power center -- they can be very difficult to program and usually don't work very well. You can get simple light timers from Home Depot or Lowe's for $5 to $10 instead.
 
Just get the refractometer. If you do get a hydrometer, you will have to replace it every 6 months or so. Refractometers aren't very expensive. I wouldn't use the Coralife power center -- they can be very difficult to program and usually don't work very well. You can get simple light timers from Home Depot or Lowe's for $5 to $10 instead.

Thanks Biff, :D
 
+1 for the RO/DI unit

You can save the money from buying a prebuilt sump, make your own out of a 10 or 20 gallon tank, and put it towards an RO unit
 
If you are going to get a skimmer it will make it go crazy. Also from what i understand the conditioner doesnt actually get rid of the chorine, it only makes it more tolerable. What i would be worried about is the phospates setting off a huge algae bloom.

Also problems set off by tap take a really long time to fix even when you get an rodi system, so if you could it would be best to start off with it.
 
I wouild definitely suggest a RO/DI unit as well as Biffer suggested skip the Hydrometer and get a Refractometer you will end up getting one eventually. An Auto Top-Off unit would also be a good thing to have on your equipment list.
 
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Tap water conditioner neutralizes chlorine and chloramine. It does not remove nitrates, phosphates or heavy metals (which cause algae problems and can make inverts difficult to keep).

You also have to consider cost of upkeep.
How much would you be spending per year on water conditioners and detoxifiers if you are using tapwater?
If you spend $10.00 a month for a year on the conditioners then that's $120.00. That's pretty close to a good quality RO/DI unit.
 
That is just a DI canister. You will need an RO unit to attach that to. For less than 200, you can get a complete system from bulkreefsupply.com
 
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