If you are new to the hobby people should not get a doser. You need to get experience of what your corals use or need and how they act in your tank, the best way of achieving that is by doing and not by relying on technology. To many new people in this hobby think technology is the magical fix for everything because it is more convenient then manually doing something. Ironically a lot of issues they run into is cause by them not understanding their tanks needs and over reliance on technology. They actually cause a lot off issues that could have been avoided because they chase numbers that they think they should have. They don't realize there is no set number but a range of numbers that factors into your tanks health and each persons tank acts differently. If you take two people in this hobby that are new, one that manually does things and one that rely's on technology. The person that did things manually for the first few years understands the feel of their system better and understands the cycle of the tank better then the one that rely's on tech. They end up being a better reefer in the end because they got experience by doing. The best way to learn your tank needs and consumption rates is manually doing it. By actually paying attention to what your tank looks like and what it is telling you. Instead of relying on technology that can give you a false sense of reassurance. When they fail it causes more problems then it would have if you had done it manually and it complicates troubleshooting. Nothing beats manually in the end, manually is just not as convenient as the toys but simplifies troubleshooting and issues.
Week to week corals grow at different rates so if you are not constantly adjusting your dose rates you run into an overdose situation quite quickly and easily. To be honest sps tanks don't need technology to help keep up with their needs unless you have a very packed tank with large mature SPS colonies. Most cases unless you are away all the time or have extremely heavy dosing needs because of a lot of large corals, manually keeps up no problem with the needs of your tank. Especially in the first year your tank is set up.
With that being said once you have experience in keeping corals and have learned how to troubleshoot your tank issues, technology can make things easier because it is one less thing to have to do for your tank. But in the end I still do all my manual checks and needs daily. After all is your tank not supposed to be looked at and enjoyed?
This is the true basic hardware needs list for a reef tank. Tank, Lights, Pumps (powerhead or other means to move water), heater and skimmer (if you are new). Pretty much anything else is a want as you can have a thriving reef tank with the bare minimum of hardware in that list. Even the skimmer is not needed in every situation. It depends on how your tank is set up, what you are keeping and how much experience you have.
I myself recommend to people they should keep the tank simple hardware wise and manually do things for at least 5 years with 10 years being better still. Even at 5 years people are new to the hobby and don't fully understand the complexity of what is actually going on in your tank for quite a lot of cases. People have just enough experience at this level to be comfortable and pretty knowledgeable in what they are doing, but know just enough to be dangerous. Not implying that someone that has less experience is not doing a good job or has a successful tank. Just saying some things need time and experience to truly get good at.
If you really need something hardware wise outside my list the best hardware for stable conditions is an ATO. That will have the greatest impact on your tank for maintaining stability. Keep in mind before you buy hardware. The more you have the more things you have that can cause problems and fail. It is not a matter of if it will but when it will fail.
maybe an algae scrubber if planning on a heavy stock list
