Pretend All Your Time Was Free

Liquid360 · May 20, 2017

Imagine for a moment that you were single, without children, and ALL your time was free. I ask because some methods of reefkeeping are discounted due to a lack of time. These days it seems all things point towards automation and PNP. These advancements are usually very expensive, but "free up time for enjoyment". However, what if the joy comes from the "keeping" and not the "looking"? It's rare in the extreme to have unlimited time AND resources, usually there's a wealth of one and not the other. I have nothing, but time. There's a reef tank system for those with the cash. That's easy, but what's the best SPS system for those with a wealth of time, but limited resources?

Ty Hamatake · May 20, 2017

I am limited on time and cash, but 75 gallon has been perfect. It's big enough to play around with and experiment a little, but it's not so big that maintenance takes up all my tank time. Lol not sure if that answers your question or not.

Liquid360 · May 20, 2017

Ty Hamatake said:
I am limited on time and cash, but 75 gallon has been perfect. It's big enough to play around with and experiment a little, but it's not so big that maintenance takes up all my tank time. Lol not sure if that answers your question or not.

I just meant there are all these different maintenance schedules and methods. Some get discounted because they require too much work. I'd like to know about these methods of keeping SPS and are they not often utilized because they're too time consuming. I need to kill time [emoji4]

HolisticBear · May 20, 2017

Liquid360 said:
However, what if the joy comes from the "keeping" and not the "looking"?

I think it's important to consider what parts of 'keeping' are enjoyable, which is very personal. For me, water changes are not an issue. However, I have zero interest in fighting crappy skimmers or constantly battling hitchhikers. Everything is new at first, but then later there are problems you are just tired of dealing with and can suck the joy out of the hobby.

So if there are things you know you really don't enjoy, don't convince yourself to deal with them to save $$$, if it kills your joy in the hobby.

Liquid360 · May 20, 2017

At the moment I have a 93g corner tank with a 30g sump. I'm running an NYOS 160 skimmer, a Geosreef fluidized reactor with GFO, an MP40, and chaeto and mangroves in the sump which also has Kessil H80 lighting. The DT has one 250w halide and one Kessil a360. I couldn't decide between LED or Halide so went with both. This tank has been running for a couple years. It's gone through cycles as they all do, but I can't get rid of the green algae to save my life. It grows dense and fast. I feed the tank frozen mysis and pellets daily. I grow my own Nannochloropsis. I also feed reefroids 3x week. I have loaded the sump with pods, both amphipods and copepods. My numbers are stable and show nothing special. I use RedSea Pro salt. I change 30/g per week and water is always RO. I control what I can manually with turkey baster and brushes. Also, I can't keep a chalice alive to save my life. They all end up looking like this...

Donovan Joannes · May 20, 2017

I been enjoying my tank virtually with almost zero maintenance (daily glass cleaning - 2 minutes, dosing carbon - 5 seconds, skimmer cup cleaning - every 5 days) with very minimum cost. Once the tank stabilized and you have learned most of the tricks and skills, I think enjoyment will come along, unless you upgrade or start over again for whatever reason.

Myka · May 23, 2017

Liquid360 said:
need to kill time [emoji4]

I'd say Zeovit is time consuming because you have to add a bunch of bottles daily, but it's also expensive compared to other methods, so that's out!

Honestly, regarding different methods, I don't think there is much difference in the amount of time spent, but rather the amount of money spent. If this hobby doesn't take up enough of your time, maybe you need another one - how about gardening? That's taking up a lot of my time right now, and my tank hasn't had a water change in a month!

Fwiw, I think your tank would look better if you add some more clean up crew.

Liquid360 · May 23, 2017

Myka said:
I'd say Zeovit is time consuming because you have to add a bunch of bottles daily, but it's also expensive compared to other methods, so that's out!

Honestly, regarding different methods, I don't think there is much difference in the amount of time spent, but rather the amount of money spent. If this hobby doesn't take up enough of your time, maybe you need another one - how about gardening? That's taking up a lot of my time right now, and my tank hasn't had a water change in a month!

Fwiw, I think your tank would look better if you add some more clean up crew.

Agreed. I actually am awaiting an order from AlgaeBarn for 6000pods and 50 ORA snails.
I also am into astrophotography, but maybe gardening could kill some daytime hours. Thanks!

EDIT: any idea why I can't keep a chalice alive yet Acro and zoas/palys are no problem?

alten78 · May 24, 2017

You mentioned earlier your water is always RO, is it just RO or was the DI implied here? My RO output is usually 1-3 on my TDS meter, the DI brings it to 0. If I'm not paying attention and the DI gets exhausted before I realize, the tank definitely gets dingy looking quickly.

Do you have any fish in there? I always keep grazers (foxface, tomini tang) that keep rocks clean.

Liquid360 · May 24, 2017

alten78 said:
You mentioned earlier your water is always RO, is it just RO or was the DI implied here? My RO output is usually 1-3 on my TDS meter, the DI brings it to 0. If I'm not paying attention and the DI gets exhausted before I realize, the tank definitely gets dingy looking quickly.

Do you have any fish in there? I always keep grazers (foxface, tomini tang) that keep rocks clean.

I'm adding a DI filter arriving today. It's just an AquaFX RO now. For fish I have a lightening clown, a purple tang, diamond Goby, and The Mandarin. I'm also awaiting shipment on a bunch of pods and ORA snails. I also recently added 200+ amphipods from aquaculturenurseryfarms. I'm hopeful that the new cleanup crew and the DI filter solves my issue. Last resort is changing out all the water for RO/DI, but will try slowly at first. I might try adding a lawnmower Goby since the name seems for an appropriate addition.

Myka · May 29, 2017

I don't like Blennies. Lots of people do, but I'm not a fan. How about a Tuxedo Urchin?

reefwiser · May 29, 2017

What I alway aim for is stability automation of water quality to keep it at a constant level. That is what automation is about. I do Auto water changes and dose my Balling method and add other chemicals to maintain the stability of the tank water. I want everything to happen on the same schedule everyday day in and day out. With out having to rely on me the hobbyist who gets busy or who is tired after a hard day at work and doesn't want to dose at 4:30pm and might wait to 6pm before dosing or forget it all together.

Paul B · May 29, 2017

I am retired so have unlimited time and enough finances to buy whatever I want for my tank, but I don't want or need anything.
I have many hobbies, fish being just one of them and I spend very little time on my tank. Today I am going to clean the glass which takes less than a minute. I will do it again in a few days. I will feed tonight but if I have the need to do something else which I consider more important, the fish won't get fed. That rarely happens as I can usually find time for that simple task.
I change water maybe 5 times a year if I have time. I have no schedule for anything. I do it as time comes available.
I do hatch brine shrimp daily and that takes probably two minutes.
I did have a full time job most of my life and I spent the same amount of time and money on the tank then. Nothing changed.
I don't have any dosers or controllers and I don't use any supplements, carbon, pellets or anything like that so most of my tank time is sitting with a glass of Grand Marnier just watching the fish.

Myka said:
I don't like Blennies. Lots of people do, but I'm not a fan. How about a Tuxedo Urchin?

This is how I collect tuxedo urchins.

Liquid360 · May 29, 2017

I had a second hobby, astrophotography. However, I sold my equipment to fulfill my midlife crisis desire for a Porsche. It was likely a bad choice, but sometimes curiosity/desire must be satisfied. Hobbies are so expensive. That Astro gear was around 30k new. I need to eventually buy new, much less pricey gear

Paul B said:
I am retired so have unlimited time and enough finances to buy whatever I want for my tank, but I don't want or need anything.
I have many hobbies, fish being just one of them and I spend very little time on my tank. Today I am going to clean the glass which takes less than a minute. I will do it again in a few days. I will feed tonight but if I have the need to do something else which I consider more important, the fish won't get fed. That rarely happens as I can usually find time for that simple task.
I change water maybe 5 times a year if I have time. I have no schedule for anything. I do it as time comes available.
I do hatch brine shrimp daily and that takes probably two minutes.
I did have a full time most of my life and I spent the same amount of time and money on the tank then. Nothing changed.
I don't have any dosers or controllers and I don't use any supplements, carbon, pellets or anything like that so most of my tank time is sitting with a glass of Grand Marnier just watching the fish.

This is how I collect tuxedo urchins.