How big becomes a "chore"

[dburt520]

I am starting to plan a big tank and I am curious what everyone's thoughts are on size and when it just gets to be to much.

I only have a 60g now with a 40g wump, a 7 gallon water change weekly and a simple glass wipe down once or twice a week are obviously very manageable. Vaccum the sand bed once a month and vaccum the sump once a month.

I am wanting people's opinion on when it because a "chore", or just to much work to actually enjoy our beatiful piece of the sea.

I am thinking something around 220g will fit my needs, but do not want to regret that I did not go bigger due to the fear of it becoming to much.

 

[muttley000]

With proper planning it can still be manageable. Lots of great ideas here for water changes with a turn of a couple valves. Testing is testing so no increase there. Your vacuuming and etc are going to go up proportionally with the new surface area. I am hoping that in my case by consolidating what is now 6 systems into 1 large system that I can greatly reduce the time spent.

 

[degibson84]

I have a 220 and it's not a chore at all. I setup my system to be as self reliable as funds allowed.

Ato
Turf algae scrubber
Dual reactor

All I do is weekly water changes and monthly media changes. Getting prepared to figure out a mixing station. To do a water change with the turn Of a valve.

 

[Jeff000]

I have a very self supporting system I think. But I'm finding more and more that I don't want to spend the ever decreasing amount of time it needs on it.

I may be in the minority, but am not alone if you search.

 

[cas1069]

I spend no more time on my 220 than I ever did on my 90, the only difference is adjusting the amount of water and chems for the different size

 

[michika]

Automation is key! Pretty much it's a work smarter, not harder situation. Bigger doesn't equate to more work per say, but it can be more costly to make a mistake.

 

[DavidinGA]

I have a 210gal mixed reef display and 75gal sump.

My weekly maintenance includes:
Clean glass
Empty skimmer cup
Feed fish
Glance at Reef Angel for temp pH info
Check ato level (using 55gal tank with kalk for that so it lasts last 6 weeks or so)

It's super easy for my setup.

I don't really subscribe to the weekly or monthly water change philosophy so I only do a change maybe once every 6 months or so, so the size of the tank doesn't matter in that regard.

Reef angel handles my dosing pumps for alk/cal/mag so no extra work there.

If i had the space and were to do it again I'd go with a 400+ gallon setup. As my space won't allow that I will probably setup another 100+ gallon tank somewhere...

 

[Brando457]

180 g tank w/ 75g sump w/ 40g breeder remote fuge
-
I setup my tank so that my return pumps to the drain for waste water from water changes. I then have it so my mixing station pumps directly to my sump. Water changes are a few simple turn of valves and done!

As others have said the more automated you can make it, the less likely it'll be a chore.

 

[michika]

And to provide tank specs; 700g total volume reef with ~450g display.

I have an automatic filling arrangement on a leg tank I use for water changes. I use valves, gravity and occasionally a pump to do no-labour water changes.

Pellet is fed 6 times a day from an auto feeder. Two sheets of nori, and meaty foods are added by hand daily.

I use a combination of reactors and dosing to keep things as stable as possible. With that being said the intent is to have less reasons to put my hands in my tank.

Ultimately daily I feed, I don't have to, but I like to. I run two skimmers and they are emptied pretty close to weekly. I clean my glass every 10-14 days. Every 7-10 days I do a water change. My most tedious task at this point is tank testing. Everything else can be accomplished in about 30 minutes or less, or in 5 minute spurts if I'm really busy with other things.

 

[ca1ore]

I am starting to plan a big tank and I am curious what everyone's thoughts are on size and when it just gets to be to much.

I only have a 60g now with a 40g wump, a 7 gallon water change weekly and a simple glass wipe down once or twice a week are obviously very manageable. Vaccum the sand bed once a month and vaccum the sump once a month.

I am wanting people's opinion on when it because a "chore", or just to much work to actually enjoy our beatiful piece of the sea.

I am thinking something around 220g will fit my needs, but do not want to regret that I did not go bigger due to the fear of it becoming to much.

I guess we all have a point at which big becomes too big! I upgraded from a 90 to a 265 and things were fine, but I've had really big tanks before. Assuming a reasonable amount of automation, the only things that really 'scale' with size are glass cleaning and water changes. For me personally, I'd go up to abut 450, but no larger than that.

 

[dburt520]

Thanks for the help and info.

I am quite techy when it comes to automation and I would automate as much as possible of course. I am currently away from my tank and have set up a bit of automation to my tank...

In my current set up I used a gravity fed ato, however it would be empty before I return so I am using a pump and switches to keep the ato reservoir full. I am actually streaming a live HD Web cam feed online and have remote access to my controller to monitor temp, ph as well as my pc4's.

I will have to design in the return punp/drain idea for quicker water changes as well as the fill from the mixing bucket.

Obviously I will try to go as big as my space will allow, however with that thought in mind you can always find space to make it as big as you want lol.

 

[michika]

Yeah, space is hiding where you least expect it. The place where my tank sits now was hidden by a built in shelf closet and poorly designed walls.