Time to maintain

[m_wonnacott]

Hello everyone I am new to the forums. I am just starting to consider switching my 55 gal cichlid tank to salt water. I am thinking of a low stocked tank with maybe a few polyps and mushrooms down the road.

Before I get to far into the upgrades and suplies I will need to do the switch over I need a rough idea of how much time this is going to take to maintain in comparison to the current set-up. I currently run the tank with sand and reef rock (dead white live rock), atm I am running a penguin 350, and a marineland hot magnum. The hot will be replaced with a AC 300.

I am currently spending about 15-30 mins weekly doing maintanance. and about maybe 45 mins once a month when I do filters.

I have a 19 month old and another one due in January and just want to be sure I will have the time to maintain it. I am a stay at home mom so do have a fair bit of time.

 

[stingythingy45]

Don't even bother with the filter unless you're going to run carbon.I spend about 15 minutes each night checking out the fishroom and sump/equipment every night.I dump out my skimmer cup every Saturday and clean that.Then I do a water test for alk and calcium about 15-20 minutes.Skip the filters and get a good quality skimmer.