It's time well spent either good or bad. Once you get past the first few months with diatoms, cyano, and just misc crud in your tank, it gets easier from there. The two things that take the longest IMHO is water changes, and testing your water. As for testing your water, there really is no shortcuts. It just takes however long the test's take. As for water changes, there are plenty of ways to make that much faster. It is for sure a hobby to love though. I just spent almost 2k on a DSLR and macro lens just so I can take pics of my tank that cost less than that 2k. The easiest way to go about things, is stick to a water change schedule, and whatever maintennance you do, just see how long it takes you however your doing it, and keep track of it. You can then adjust from there to figure out ways to speed up the process. If able, get 2 brute trash cans. 1 for rodi, 1 for saltwater mixing. You can fill them both and already have the water ready for a whole month of water changes/top offs, longer depending on tank size. Then you just gotta move the water from the can to the tank. There are also many simple things you can do to save time. Getting lights that have a timer, or putting them on a timer, ATO which was already mentioned, etc. The first few months are for sure the worst, but for the most part after that, you just gotta keep up with water changing, cleaning the glass, and feeding the fish.
