How Much Time Do You Spend On Your Tank Daily? - Page 2

Michael · 08/29/2008, 11:21 PM

we should re-name this thread to how long do we spend on RC daily

victor_c3 · 08/30/2008, 07:00 AM

Most of you guys spend way more time than I do on my tank.

I spend at most 5 minutes on a typical day on my tank. Usually all I need to do is top off my ATO resevoir, feed my fish (which includes rinsing their food), and adding a standard ammount of my calcium supplements. I usually don't even have to scrape my glass but once or twice a week.

usually on a saturday or a sunday I'll spend an hour doing all of my weekly maintenance which includes water changes, cleaning out my filter sock, and changing my GFO phosphate remover.

Every month or two I'll spend 3-4 hours totally tearing down my sump and cleaning that.

For the most part, I try to keep my hands out of my tank as much as possible. After about 8-9 months of age I've found that the tanks I've set up really begin to stabalize and they don't need much tinkering. The hair algae issues that eat up a lot of time are gone and everything is just growing and looking good like it should. I've been totally buzzing recently because all of the SPS I added to my tank 5 months ago are finally starting to color up and grow like crazy. I have a staghorn coral that adds about 1/8 - 1/4 of an inch in all directions weekly.

As far as looking at the tank goes, I spend at least an hour doing that a day,as in I sit 6 inches from the glass and look at everything intently. I keep my tank in my living room, next to the TV. My wife and I don't have cable (we spent 4 years living in Germany when I was in the military without cable and kind of got used to not having it). So whenever we just hang out in the living room, we both just sit and stare at the tank and chill. I've gotten pretty good at fighting the urge to fidget with everything and I really just sit back and enjoy the tank for what it is.

Tangweed · 08/30/2008, 07:25 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Michael
we should re-name this thread to how long do we spend on RC daily

I should of added that to the subjet line

supervdl · 08/30/2008, 07:32 AM

Daily feeding, adjustments etc. is about 1/2 hour and on the weekend about 2-3 hours more of cleaning/ waterchange/ etc. The tank is in my living room and I am looking at it a lot.

Chihuahua6 · 08/30/2008, 07:51 AM

I spend 10 minutes per day minimum just to feed when the tank needs nothing done. On water change days about 1/2 hour per tank added to that.
All misc. stuff I do probably once or twice per week adding 20 minutes per day.

So it probably averages 20 minutes per day except for water changes every two weeks, and I have three tanks running.

Mykel Obvious · 08/30/2008, 10:18 AM

I dose Polyp Labs Reef-resh and Two Part daily, feed my fish, spot feed my hitchhiker sun coral, platygyra, favia etc., clean the glass and so forth... about 30 minutes to an hour depending...

Once a week I clean my powerheads and give everything a good once over... say 1 to 2 hours depending on if I clean my skimmer or do a water change...

Time viewing the tank is a minimum of an hour a day... longer on weekends

Time on RC?? Probably 2 hours minimum, again longer on weekends... It helps that I'm a web-potato instead of a couch-potato... no TV, cable is for MODEMS!! I either stare at my monitor or my tank

limitdown · 08/30/2008, 11:07 AM

Under 5 minutes per day on weekdays. Topping off water, feeding and fiddling.
1-2hrs each weekend to clean the skimmer, scrape algae off the back glass, test water parameters, and monthly mix/change water, etc etc

If I have fish in QT, then I'll spend more time to mix salt change water, dose medicine.

Tangweed · 08/30/2008, 02:47 PM

Thanks for all the info reefers.

chrismunn · 08/30/2008, 03:41 PM

i suspect when i get a larger tank running ill probably spend a little more time working on the tank? the tank i have now is so small and requires so little daily maintanance that i spend almost no time at all on the tank. i really dont need to.

i dump the skimmer cup, dose ca, alk, mg, and feed once every day. it probably only takes me one minute thirty seconds to do that each day. on wednsdays and saturdays i siphon detritus, that takes about 5 minutes each time i do. on saturdays i scrape the glass, that takes about 4 minutes. my tank has almost NO evaprotive losses so i dont top off. about once every 3 days ill throw some water in the refractometer to make sure my salinity is in check. if its up by .oo1 ill pour alittle fresh water in. no more than one minute spent.

Tangweed · 08/30/2008, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by chrismunn
i suspect when i get a larger tank running ill probably spend a little more time working on the tank? the tank i have now is so small and requires so little daily maintanance that i spend almost no time at all on the tank. i really dont need to.

i dump the skimmer cup, dose ca, alk, mg, and feed once every day. it probably only takes me one minute thirty seconds to do that each day. on wednsdays and saturdays i siphon detritus, that takes about 5 minutes each time i do. on saturdays i scrape the glass, that takes about 4 minutes. my tank has almost NO evaprotive losses so i dont top off. about once every 3 days ill throw some water in the refractometer to make sure my salinity is in check. if its up by .oo1 ill pour alittle fresh water in. no more than one minute spent.

Time to go to a bigger tank

What brands do you use to dose ca, alk and mg? Do you have a picture of your tank?

chrismunn · 08/30/2008, 04:40 PM

im not quite ready for the bigger tank just yet. i have an AGA 75g RR with ALL of the equipment just sitting in my garage waiting to be set up. im going to build it in wall but thats gotta wait a bit. my wife and i are about to have another baby here in about 4 weeks. she said i can set up the 75 when the baby turns one. that cool with me, untill then im just going to let what i have grow out.

as for ca alk and mg suppliments i use a 3 part made by dt's. its basically the same thing as b-ionic, but with an additional bottle for magnesium. i add 2.5ml per day of each additive and that keeps everything in the high end of the acceptable range. about once a week ill add 5 drops of iodine and five drops of coral-vite trace elements, both by kent.

here is the tank

it doesnt look like much right now because i just recently set it up. but in a year from now it should be covered in zoas and ricordeas.

Tangweed · 08/30/2008, 04:45 PM

Thanks for the info chrismunn. I like your tank also. I have a 2.5 gal that I'm thinking of setting up. I'm looking for pictures of nano reefs.

08/29/2008, 11:21 PM	#26
Michael NTTH Rookie Help Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Gloucester, England,UK Posts: 7,808 Blog Entries: 6	we should re-name this thread to how long do we spend on RC daily __________________ Don't be afraid to ask questions, we in the new to the hobby are here to help you [For My Tank Spec,Photo Album,Articles and website, click on my name] MY Very Kindest and Warmest Regards , MIKE Current Tank Info: I have a 92 gal Corner Tank, and way too many pieces of equipment to list really, (proud member of the reef central corner club)

08/30/2008, 07:32 AM	#29
supervdl Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: NE PA Posts: 1,315	Daily feeding, adjustments etc. is about 1/2 hour and on the weekend about 2-3 hours more of cleaning/ waterchange/ etc. The tank is in my living room and I am looking at it a lot. __________________ My tank thread: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1167897 Current Tank Info: 135 gal mixed reef with Radions and Zeovit; 210 gal SPS reef being set up

08/30/2008, 07:51 AM	#30
Chihuahua6 Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: West Hempstead, NY Posts: 2,124	I spend 10 minutes per day minimum just to feed when the tank needs nothing done. On water change days about 1/2 hour per tank added to that. All misc. stuff I do probably once or twice per week adding 20 minutes per day. So it probably averages 20 minutes per day except for water changes every two weeks, and I have three tanks running. __________________ Leah Amanda Current Tank Info: First salt tank 1985, current tank 150 g acrylic

08/30/2008, 10:18 AM	#31
Mykel Obvious Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Huntsvegas, Alabama Posts: 907	I dose Polyp Labs Reef-resh and Two Part daily, feed my fish, spot feed my hitchhiker sun coral, platygyra, favia etc., clean the glass and so forth... about 30 minutes to an hour depending... Once a week I clean my powerheads and give everything a good once over... say 1 to 2 hours depending on if I clean my skimmer or do a water change... Time viewing the tank is a minimum of an hour a day... longer on weekends Time on RC?? Probably 2 hours minimum, again longer on weekends... It helps that I'm a web-potato instead of a couch-potato... no TV, cable is for MODEMS!! I either stare at my monitor or my tank __________________ Mykel Obvious - "I have a total irreverence for anything connected with society except that which makes the roads safer, the beer stronger, the food cheaper and the old men and old women warmer in the winter and happier in the summer." Brendan Behan Current Tank Info: 65 gallon mixed reef

08/30/2008, 11:07 AM	#32
limitdown Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 640	Under 5 minutes per day on weekdays. Topping off water, feeding and fiddling. 1-2hrs each weekend to clean the skimmer, scrape algae off the back glass, test water parameters, and monthly mix/change water, etc etc If I have fish in QT, then I'll spend more time to mix salt change water, dose medicine. __________________ All I want for Christmas is to stay employed... Current Tank Info: 200g display + 50g sump FO

08/30/2008, 07:00 AM	#27
victor_c3 Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: New York Posts: 513	Most of you guys spend way more time than I do on my tank. I spend at most 5 minutes on a typical day on my tank. Usually all I need to do is top off my ATO resevoir, feed my fish (which includes rinsing their food), and adding a standard ammount of my calcium supplements. I usually don't even have to scrape my glass but once or twice a week. usually on a saturday or a sunday I'll spend an hour doing all of my weekly maintenance which includes water changes, cleaning out my filter sock, and changing my GFO phosphate remover. Every month or two I'll spend 3-4 hours totally tearing down my sump and cleaning that. For the most part, I try to keep my hands out of my tank as much as possible. After about 8-9 months of age I've found that the tanks I've set up really begin to stabalize and they don't need much tinkering. The hair algae issues that eat up a lot of time are gone and everything is just growing and looking good like it should. I've been totally buzzing recently because all of the SPS I added to my tank 5 months ago are finally starting to color up and grow like crazy. I have a staghorn coral that adds about 1/8 - 1/4 of an inch in all directions weekly. As far as looking at the tank goes, I spend at least an hour doing that a day,as in I sit 6 inches from the glass and look at everything intently. I keep my tank in my living room, next to the TV. My wife and I don't have cable (we spent 4 years living in Germany when I was in the military without cable and kind of got used to not having it). So whenever we just hang out in the living room, we both just sit and stare at the tank and chill. I've gotten pretty good at fighting the urge to fidget with everything and I really just sit back and enjoy the tank for what it is.

08/30/2008, 02:47 PM	#33
Tangweed Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Mohnton, PA Posts: 1,002	Thanks for all the info reefers. __________________ Thanks! Jeremy Current Tank Info: 90 gal with 40 gal breeder sump / fuge, Octo skimmer, lights and some water.

08/30/2008, 03:41 PM	#34
chrismunn Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 4,200	i suspect when i get a larger tank running ill probably spend a little more time working on the tank? the tank i have now is so small and requires so little daily maintanance that i spend almost no time at all on the tank. i really dont need to. i dump the skimmer cup, dose ca, alk, mg, and feed once every day. it probably only takes me one minute thirty seconds to do that each day. on wednsdays and saturdays i siphon detritus, that takes about 5 minutes each time i do. on saturdays i scrape the glass, that takes about 4 minutes. my tank has almost NO evaprotive losses so i dont top off. about once every 3 days ill throw some water in the refractometer to make sure my salinity is in check. if its up by .oo1 ill pour alittle fresh water in. no more than one minute spent. __________________ Marine Aquarists Association of South Texas Austin Reef Club PBITAWA... Current Tank Info: 14g bio cube

08/30/2008, 04:40 PM	#36
chrismunn Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Austin, Texas Posts: 4,200	im not quite ready for the bigger tank just yet. i have an AGA 75g RR with ALL of the equipment just sitting in my garage waiting to be set up. im going to build it in wall but thats gotta wait a bit. my wife and i are about to have another baby here in about 4 weeks. she said i can set up the 75 when the baby turns one. that cool with me, untill then im just going to let what i have grow out. as for ca alk and mg suppliments i use a 3 part made by dt's. its basically the same thing as b-ionic, but with an additional bottle for magnesium. i add 2.5ml per day of each additive and that keeps everything in the high end of the acceptable range. about once a week ill add 5 drops of iodine and five drops of coral-vite trace elements, both by kent. here is the tank it doesnt look like much right now because i just recently set it up. but in a year from now it should be covered in zoas and ricordeas. __________________ Marine Aquarists Association of South Texas Austin Reef Club PBITAWA... Current Tank Info: 14g bio cube

08/30/2008, 04:45 PM	#37
Tangweed Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Mohnton, PA Posts: 1,002	Thanks for the info chrismunn. I like your tank also. I have a 2.5 gal that I'm thinking of setting up. I'm looking for pictures of nano reefs. __________________ Thanks! Jeremy Current Tank Info: 90 gal with 40 gal breeder sump / fuge, Octo skimmer, lights and some water.