Maintenance Schedule - what to do when

[dbl]

This is really awesome! Nice work! I am not very good with Excel...functional, but not good. Are you able to write a formula so it changes it's status depending on the date? My spreadsheet is much simpler, but I rely heavily on my phone's calendar (which I have to manually input) to remind me when I need to do things. @dbl

Yes...the todays date is a formula, and formulas change the take action column, both verbiage and color. So call up the spreadsheet and it's clear what if any thing needs to be done. The only things I update are the "performed" date and if I ever change the conditional formatting parameters. It doesn't update my calendar.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Nice thread!

 

[Djtonton]

Ilovereefing, it is stable because i don't mess with it or tweek it. It just sits there starring at me

Love it! My feelings exactly

 

[Chris Radici]

My schedule:

Daily - feed fish twice a day (morning and evening). Check all equipment to make sure everything is working properly. Dose zeoBak, zeoFood 7, and zeoStart twice a week each spaced out so I am dosing something everyday.
Monday - test all water parameters - especially cal, mag and alk. If I have time, I will test nitrates and phosphates. I focus more on how the corals are reacting and algae growth vs. solely looking at the numbers.
Wednesday - replace filter socks, rinse off old ones and put in bucket to wash with bleach at end of week. Dose RedSea A and B. Blow detritus off live rock with turkey baster and stir up sand bed. Clean algae off glass. Dose Coral Snow.
Sunday - 20% water change with RODI saltwater. Clean algae off glass. Replace filter socks. Dose RedSea A and B. Blow detritus off live rock with turkey baster and stir up sand bed. Empty and clean skimmer cup. Dose Coral Snow. Wash all filter socks with a cap full of bleach, then run one more time in washer with just water.
Monthly - once a month, change out the carbon from reactor. Every six weeks, replace rowaPhos from reactor.

I do not feed my corals, they get their food from zeoFood 7 and when I mix up sand bed and blow off the live rock.

 

[WetWhistle]

For daily activities you should be checking at least twice a day, once when you get up and get home at the very least. Check for leaks on everything, corals knocked over or out of place, corals being stung or not doing well, dead animals that can pollute your water and Temperature. Are your lights getting splashed and your hardware working the way it should be. Water clarity, is it clear like it should be or cloudy. This is visual only as you should keep your hands out of the tank unless you have a good reason to put your hands in.

 

[shadow1013]

Has any tried AquaticLog?

 

[dbdisok]

Used to use AquaPlaner Pro for iPhone. I now use my Apex Fusion to log everything.

The AquaPlaner Pro worked lets t
You set alerts to remind you to do the things you want to do. It also allows you to keep track of livestock.

 

[Jizu Puentes]

Daily: Feed fish two cubes of homemade frozen food, one mysis cube to the mandarin goby giving part of it to a sun coral. I feed in the morning around 9 and use this time to take a quick look at coral appearances and placements. Once i get home at night I look over the sump, ato and skimmer to make sure all is working well.

Twice a week: Usually Tuesday a d Friday I change the one filter sock in my sump. The skimmer cup is typically em tied on Friday as well.

Weekly: 10% wc on Tuesdays

Once a month: I check Calc, mag, ALK levels. I don't check often yet because they aren't being depleted within wc schedules.

Other maintenance I just do as needed like soaking powerheads when they are covered in algae, coralline or micro. I rinse our the skimmer if detritus builds in the base, I clean the glass whenever I see any type of film and i change bulbs and RO filters on the recommended schedules.

Mine is pretty simple since I'm not dosing yet and I don't have enough algae to harvest in my fuge yet lol.

 

[Danny McElroy]

Daily:
Feed fish
Check skimmer bubble height and adjust if necessary
Weekly:
Test and record Temp, Salinity, PH, CA, MG, ALK, NItrates, Phosphates, and adjust dosers according to results
Replace 2 - 4" Fish socks (every 2 days)
Clean Skimmer
10% Water Change (15 gallons Red Sea Coral Pro Salt mix)
Fill Auto Top Off Chamber (10 gallons RODI water)
Clean Glass and Sand bed, siphon off any nuisance algea from live rock
Wipe down exterior glass, cabinet, and light covers
Monthly:
Replace 3 - 20 ounce Red Sea phosphate free activated carbon media bags
Refill 2 liter dosing chambers with Red Sea A,B,C, NOPOX, and AcroPower Amino Acids as needed
Swap out over flow combs and soak in citric acid to clean
Semi-Annual:
Replace scraper blade on mag float
back wash chiller (reverse flow) and clean dust off condenser and grill
Replace all 10 T5 Bulbs with Red Sea Bulbs (4 Blue, 2 Actinic, 4 White)
Take apart and clean main return pump and 4 flow pumps
Take apart and clean valve at main drain line
Take apart and clean skimmer aspirator pump and pipes
Replace depleted clean up crew
Replace RODI Filters and resin

 

[peter fumo]

I need to get into a regular maintenance program up besides just water changes I need to write down when I put my GFO in and Cemi pure

 

[lisawolk]

This is my schedule:

Daily - Feed fish, check ATO reservoir, stare at the tank
Bi-Weekly - Clean glass, change filter socks, clean skimmer cup, test water parameters, feed corals
Weekly - 5% or so water change, rinse all pre-filter sponges, back flush RODI system, clean and refill ATO system, wash used filter socks
Bi-Monthly - change carbon, clean overflows
Monthly - change GFO, vacuum/clean sump, vacuum dust out of chiller air intake, clean saltwater mixing container, check stock on supplies (test reagents, GFO, carbon, etc.) and order as needed
Quarterly - back flush chiller, vinegar soak and scrub all pumps (circulation pumps, return pump, chiller pump, reactor pumps), pull skimmer out and scrub entire body
Semi-Annually - replace RODI filters and resin
Yearly - Not sure yet, my tank isn't quite that old yet! Still learning as I go.

I also log all of my test results, actions, and observations (if any) on a spreadsheet so I can keep track of trends. It helps to know approximately when something happened that may have caused good and/or bad things in my tank.

I hope this helps. Great question!

I pretty much have this same routine minus the chiller. Works great, keeps things balanced and working to its full potential.

 

[lisawolk]

Daily: feed fish, put maxima clam back where he belongs
Weekly: tests, change carbon, turn gfo on for 4 hours if po4>.06, feed coral
Biweekly: clean glass, sand, chuck powerheads in the dishwasher, clean filter sponge
Monthly: scrape ats
2 mo: change GFO, change 1 di cartridge out
3 mo: change prefilters of ro unit
6 mo: Clean return pump, flush chiller
1 yr: 5% WC - lol

Way to go on the WC's!!!!

 

[lisawolk]

lol. nah he gets beat up by my melanurus wrasse or flipped by my yellow tang if there is a shred of algae on his shell

Poor guy.

 

[lisawolk]

Every morning I put my finger on the glass to check the temperature. Then I shoot some live blackworms into the tank.
Every night (if I have time) I feed the tank with clams and more live worms.
I hatch brine shrimp every day for the pod eaters. I put them in their feeder every day, if I have time.
When I can't see through the top of the skimmer and I have time, I clean it.
When the front glass looks dirty, If I have time, I clean it.
If I am near the sea and I have time, and buckets, I collect some water and I change some every few months. Sometime two months sometimes four months depending on if I have time.
If the RO unit stops making water, and I have time, I change it. The one I am using now is eight years old.
When the DI resins turn color, and I have time, I change them. They only last six months or so.
If I am in a LFS and I have time and I see something I like because I have never seen one before, I buy it.
If I am out in my boat and it is low tide, and I have time, I may collect amphipods and mud for the bacteria.
Every time a powerhead stops, I remove it to see the problem. They are all 20 or 30 years old.
That's my maintenance schedule. I don't write it down because that would just be silly as it is not very structured.
I forgot, I dose driveway ice melter for calcium and baking soda for alk, a couple of times a week, if I have time
Of course if I was a Noob, I would do all the things you guys do.

That's freaking awesome. Love the sass. "If I have time".

 

[Paul B]

If I have time, I will answer this

 

[Diesel]

it is stable because i don't mess with it or tweek it. It just sits there starring at me

The best quote I have been reading this week, LOL!

 

[Harold Green]

Morning Paul, I have to agree with you. Sometimes an ignored reef tank does much better than one that's fussed with daily. I feed daily, change filter socks every two to three days, check the ato reservoir to make sure it has plenty of water, clean the skimmer every week or two. I wipe the glass when I have trouble viewing the corals. Everything else is a, I'll take care of it when I'm in the mood. I have to disagree with acolotto about the mature tank being a myth. With closing in on six decades of keeping tanks even with all that experience I still feel it takes a marine tank a year to get to the stage where it's attained it's own natural balance. I'm not saying that reefers can't start a new tank and raise magnificent corals as soon as the tank has cycled, I'm saying the tank itself will continue to change until it reaches a stable level. You can adjust it daily to maintain what you want or you can let the tank decide what it wants to do. Perhaps I'm in the minority but I think a tank looks better when it has a natural growth of sponges, feather dusters, hydroids, pods, brittle stars, etc. and little of that happens at the start of a new tank. I guess it all depends on your view and what you want for an end result.

 

[ilovereefing <3]

Yes...the todays date is a formula, and formulas change the take action column, both verbiage and color. So call up the spreadsheet and it's clear what if any thing needs to be done. The only things I update are the "performed" date and if I ever change the conditional formatting parameters. It doesn't update my calendar.

OMGosh...took me a couple of hours and it was a total PITA, but I figured it out! So now I updated my maintenance spreadsheet to tell me when I am approaching the time to do certain maintenance! So stoked! Thanks for the awesome idea! @dbl

 

[Paul B]

Harold, I would have said 5 years.

 

[s2nhle]

Daily:
Feed fish
Clean skimmer cup
Dose Voka mixed with Vinegar, and RODI water
Bi Daily:
Clean glass
Weekly:
Refill the Kalk Reactor
BiWeekly:
10% Water Change
Fill Auto Top Off Chamber
Wipe down exterior glass, cabinet, and light covers
Monthly:
Replace RFO and carbon media
Semi-Annual:
Take apart and clean main return pump and flow pumps
Take apart and clean skimmer aspirator pump and pipes
Replace RODI Filters and resin