Large Tank Maintenance

[Socals14]

My school owns a large reef tank (900g). I was asking what they pay for maintenance and I was astounded at the monthly cost...around $1000. Presumably, the majority of the cost involves water changes. The tank has some serious issues with aiptasia. As far as I know, they do not dose at all, and have only been able to keep softies in it. From what I know, they feed daily.

So, my question is, what are the major difference in maintaining a tank this large? Are water changes done in a similar manner as smaller tanks? That is, I change 30% of my water every two weeks. Would a big tank be similar?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Nicmar]

I think most of that will be labour.

 

[dave.m]

Labour plus mileage (gas, vehicle wear n tear, parking, etc.). The amount of water to change and how often is totally up in the air. What you choose to do on your tank is not a basis of comparison. Some people do no water changes at all and still manage to maintain superb reefs (e.g. see glennf's thread here on RC). My rates actually fluctuate on how difficult the customer makes my job, e.g. can only do maintenance at certain very inconvenient hours, nearest sink is two miles away, can't have on-site storage for equipment and supplies, etc.

Most of the quality of the tank revolves around who is doing the maintenance and how much ownership of the tank is permitted by the institution. If it is a large maintenance company you can usually count on the person doing the work to being some kid making minimum wage who has a schedule to keep. It it's just a one or two man maintenance operation and the institution agrees, they can give more customized service. But if the money's not there the service will be minimum. You pay for what you get.

Dave.M

 

[crissie]

It can vary as much as running a 100g tank does. People will do things their own way, a larger tank is just a larger scale of things.

They may choose to do a 30% monthly change which would cost X amount (mostly labour costs I'd expect). They may do daily 1% changes, which may cost more or less for them.

They may be including their raise electricity bill in the maintanence costs.

There are just way too many variables, as always is when comparing the way any two tanks are run.

 

[sfsuphysics]

$1000 doesn't really sound too horrible, I know on smaller tanks the per gallon charge is higher than that, maybe some sort of bulk discount ?

 

[Socals14]

My question did not really concern cost...although I do understand that pricing can, and does, vary.

I really wanted to get a sense of maintenance on a tank of this size. What is involved? What would a typical WC schedule look like, etc?

 

[slief]

$1000 per month seems excessive on a tank that size however, as you noted, water changes can be costly if the service provider is bringing the water. Without knowing what the service company is doing for that $1000, it's all speculation.

 

[AJT]

On 748 gall I do 25 percent every 2 weeks.

 

[dave.m]

I never do more than 10% per month and it's always on a weekend it seems, and usually involves working the wee hours. But as I noted above, anything goes with water changes. I do not have the facility to truck water so I wouldn't even accept a contract like that. If someone owns or leases a truck that big you can bet the cost is included in your contract.

Dave.M

 

[Nicmar]

For a softies tank you wouldn't even need to do a water change very often IMO. If you run the right filtration then it should be fine. Simply cleaning the glass, skimmer and making sure the reactors are running the correct water flow etc. I certainly would not bother doing large water changes unless it was an sps tank, and that will cost heaps to run.