Are you aquarium "right sized?"

[gparr]

A couple of years ago I re-did my aquarium setup to my current 65 and 40 breeder reefs. I felt at the time that, given my weekly schedule, I could comfortably do a thorough job of keeping those two reefs in top condition. In the past two years, that has proven to be the case. I spend about 10 min. a day and a couple of hours on weekends doing basic maintenance. In other words, I'm able to keep my reefs in good condition without the work becoming a burden and taking the fun out of reef keeping.

Is your system the right size for your schedule and lifestyle? Is your system too big and keeping it up is getting to be more work than fun? Is your system too small and you could comfortably handle more water without maintenance becoming a daily/weekly chore?

Gary

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Wow this topic will make you think! I really havent had the time to keep my 250g up to par like I like it. Starts to make me wonder if it may be to big. The frag tanks upstairs are never cleaned and not maintained well. I have been considering talking them down and I may end up doing it. I also need to automate my water change more and this should help out as well.

 

[subielover]

I have a 40 breeder and a 14 gallon nano in my daughter's room. I feel like I have time to take care of both, while still enjoying them. Eventually we would like to upgrade, but I think I have found a nice balance with just these 2 smaller tanks.

 

[litenyaup]

i have a 90g and a 29g aqua pod, have not problems taking care of both and as a matter of fact im going to be upgrading the 90g to a 190g custom tank.

 

[johnanddawn]

yeah def a good topic - it is easy to get overwhelmed.
in the past i have had as many as 5 tanks running
- down to two one at home and one at school - thats enough for me for now - have to resist the temptation

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Honestly I am not having too much fun right now with mine. So busy with coaching my daughters softball team almost every night and when I get one night off I just want to relax. Makes you think about taking them down sometimes.

 

[m and m]

I have a 50g breader and a 135 on the way. I feel like i will hands down handle the 135 fine. I do not take the work as a chior i find it relaxing and fun most the time. I can say i truely LOVE watching High end pieces grow. Seeing a New eye pop/polyp bud it very interesting and fun. Also another is grabing pieces from the LFS and watching them color up more. Granted there are times i want to pull my hair out and get ****** but i truely love watching the coral grow.

 

[Paul_N]

I have a 75g and upgrading to a 225. For me I feel that upgrading won't really create much more work for me besides scraping the glass. We shall see..:smile: Now the build is a different story.

 

[benjabba]

I have a 34 gallon Solana and a 60 gallon frag tank. Both are very well maintained. If I didn't have to travel for work I would have a bigger tank setup again. One thing I will say is in the past I have automated my tanks with different kinds of reactors, etc. I am now doing everything manually and the results are much, much better. I currently spend about 5 - 10 minutes a day working on both tanks and about an hour on the weekends doing the same. It may not be possible to do this in a bigger tank, but when I upgrade again I am going to try it.

 

[CoralBandit]

I got one 90gal, I feel it is the perfect size for me to be able to maintain without it going south on me. I am really busy, when I moved I had plenty of options to upgrade but I decided to just get another 90gal tank without any scratches and a custom stand which sits up nice and high. I figured if I went any bigger it would become a burden and the cost is exponential when you get into a bigger tank. The only thing I wish I had was room for a fuge and a frag tank so I could keep my small pieces inside. Good thread Gary, we always have to keep in mind that bigger is better only if you can keep it that way lol

 

[650-IS350]

slimmed down to only a 37cube from a 100, 37cube and a 20Tall ( will be take down soon ). have way more time, less buckets , water , salt etc to deal with.

 

[rng_pw]

great topic. this has been on my mind alot lately. i have a 450 gallon inwall tank and i have not been able to give the tank as much attention as i would like lately. although the tank still looks great it has been a bit overwhelming. i feel that most of the time i enjoy tinkering with my tank but sometimes it can feel like a job.

ricky

 

[TopNotchCorals]

I have a 50g breader and a 135 on the way. I feel like i will hands down handle the 135 fine. I do not take the work as a chior i find it relaxing and fun most the time. I can say i truely LOVE watching High end pieces grow. Seeing a New eye pop/polyp bud it very interesting and fun. Also another is grabing pieces from the LFS and watching them color up more. Granted there are times i want to pull my hair out and get ****** but i truely love watching the coral grow.

I think we can use this thread more as a place to vent and re energize,I too get in the mood where I feel like im overwhelmed but im in the same boat as
m and m I love the rewards of doing the things that "need" to be done and I feel better doing them also.It can sometimes be a chore for me too but most of the time I cant wait to do a WC and the weekly equipment maintenance.I dont know if you guys recall my thread "I got that sweet after WC feeling" but I like that feeling more then "**** I just did a WC 2 weeks ago feeling".Enjoy the privilege of the skills and knowledge we have to maintain a reef aquarium and be happy with what you got.

 

[AlexStinson]

I have a 40 breeder and a 14 gallon nano in my daughter's room. I feel like I have time to take care of both, while still enjoying them. Eventually we would like to upgrade, but I think I have found a nice balance with just these 2 smaller tanks.

awesome, this is exactly what i have running right now.... I would prefer to have my 185 back up and going, i find my small tank too tedious to keep up with water quality etc

 

[jordan3548]

I have a 120 mixed reef and I can moderately keep up with it I slack from time to time but always make sure everything is healthy and happy and that my glass is cleaned lol. I am sure my life would be easier with a smaller tank but I love tangs and refuse to keep them in anything less than a 6 foot tank. So I sacrifice headaches for my beloved fish. Besides I never have to clean the sand and hardly the glass I have a ridiculous amount of snails and hermit crabs. 300 blue legs 100 Nassuris snails 8 mexican turbos,8 emerald crabs and much more I cant think of lol

 

[nayrgaijin]

I have to say after my 40b finally finished cycling it became CAKE to take care of. About to combine it with my 57 into one system and I have a feeling these two together will be pretty easy and fun

Moving into an apartment this year and plan on bringing both with me, I have a feeling that with good explanation whatever landlord there may be won't mind. I hope! haha

 

[jordan3548]

Everytime my landlord swings buy he asks to see it. I even tore a closet out for my frag tank area and he was cool with it lol

 

[nayrgaijin]

That's awesome! haha

 

[MAKcorals]

Everytime my landlord swings buy he asks to see it. I even tore a closet out for my frag tank area and he was cool with it lol

That is way cool! I used to have my whole setup in the garage at my apartment and the landlord picks up the tab for the garage electricity.... or at least until he saw a $150 jump each month haha. I got away with it for a month or two though.

 

[Gazog]

I have a 75 reef, 56 Seahorse, 30 breeder and 20 long frag tank's. I spend at least 45 minutes to an 1.5 hours a night between dosing, cleaning and feeding and Saturday's are my water change day and major glass cleaning day. I do the 75 one week, then the seahorse tank and then the frags.

This is why the Seahorse and the smaller frag tank is coming down in next few weeks. When I had just the 75 it used to be how I relaxed working on my tank but now its almost like having a second job!