Will I have time for fish with a young family?

J

Jameswbaker

New member
Hello everyone,
I have been freshwater all my fish keeping life and have just begun to dream of the salty stuff. I always thought that I didn't have the knowledge for salt water but I have been reading lots on RC and I'm starting to get it, bit by bit the salty fog is clearing with each thread I read. I'm by no means ready yet to dive, as I know my education it not complete. However before I spend another few months getting my head around getting up and running I was wondering am I taking on too much?
I have a 3 year old boy and a 6 monther. My wife, although she has approved the tank in principle, questions my ability to juggle these 2 and an aquarium. I was looking at 150cmx60cmx60cm. Start fish only then slowly move onto other life forms when I can prove I'm adept, but not thinking about anemones.
What do people think?
Am I mad to even think about salt?
Or should I give it a go?
I would love to hear any thoughts, I know it's a big commitment and I don't want to get a tank and mess it up.

Thanks in advance

James
 
I would say a 100+ gallon FOWLR takes me about 8-12 hrs a week to maintain. I would estimate a reef tank takes me twice as much maintenance to maintain, and my maintenance time increases as volume decreases. Start with a big FOWLR tank and if still have time left over, check your parameters for 2 months and keep them steady at decent numbers for a reef tank, if you can do that and have the time add corals. I keep a FOWLR tank, a nano reef, 2 kids, a dog, and 10 boas, but I'm also a stay at home dad.
 
salt is no harder than freshwater if you have money for: a tank that has a sump and skimmer, return pump, and lights adequate for what you want to keep. Re-buys when you change your mind are a waste, but if you stick to soft corals, what keeps fish will generally keep those. T5's are about the cheapest. You need to draw off and change 10% of the water weekly, you need to run 3 to 5 tests weekly (and keep the chemicals locked up)---there will be noise unless you get a certain kind of downflow (herbie, I think it is) ---sort of a constant waterfall, which drives some crazy and tranquilizes others; You also need a 10-20 gallon quarantine tank for new fish purchases, with a backup tank so you can do Tank Transfer to stop a certain parasite (marine ich); a pump and heater for that (so don't plan to have an endless lot of fishes or you spend months with that second tank which can otherwise just be stored) do a few hardy fish and some soft (no skeleton) corals and let 'er run. They're far from hard, if healthy. And light determines the health of various types of corals. As I say, not hard, but a few moving parts. Great education for the kids, ultimately. But there will be some mess. And you will need an autotopoff reservoir of about 5 gallons and an autotopoff unit to automate fillup from evaporation to keep the tank alive. You cannot rely on hand-filling these. I recommend, for stability, a 30 to 50 gallon tank with a 20-30 gallon sump and a skimmer rated for 2x the size you think you need; plus that autotopoff.

Your alternative is what you call an all-in-one, that has miniature versions of this equipment and is good for some small gobies and blennies; or for a pair of the smallest species clowns and some soft coral---clowns like toadstools about as much as they like anemones, and toadstools are far safer for a small tank. (Nems go walkabout and sting things. Toadstools just grow. ) HTH. You can do it; but have a tank with a lid and figure how to latch it---little ones for some reason tend to toss toy trucks and tv remotes into tanks, not to mention Cheerios (I wuz feedin' da fish, dad...)
 
I have a 5 year old and 18 monther. I just started a tank after a break. Testing water and occasional maintenance takes a few hours a week.
If you want to keep it simple, just keep a soft coral tank with a light bio load. I let a tank go four years without a water change and the soft corals loved it. Throwing out soft corals was a form of nutrient export. No skimmer needed.
I like tanks with a sump and refugium. Larger is easier, although water changes will take more effort.
 
I've got a ten month old and I just work on it after the kid goes to sleep. It's also a nice release at the end of the day when you have time to yourself to enjoy the tank and tinker with it. It does require more work but like mad reefer said keep it simple with a low bio load and it will almost run its self


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I occasionally added alk, cal, mag, and changed the carbon. Big buttons, xenia, mushrooms and a few other corals loved it. But it went from very cool coralline to crappy green. Overall, I don't recommend. It was not at my house or I would have done better.
 
Your asking strangers if you have enough time?

It's good that your thinking about it, and being realistic with your other part.

I don't know you...but I have two children that play sports and have their own horses. We travel to shows, usually once or twice a month, they miss school and have make up work. Wife and I each own businesses that require a lot of time. We don't have a housekeeper, or a yard crew.

Being idle sucks.

The kids help me maintain the tank.
 
Thanks for the input.
I'm going to go for it then, but i will just scale down on what i was looking at.
The thing is i need a tank in a nice wooden cabinet to go with the decor of our Victorian house, plus it has to have a sump. Having seen want i want new (135 gallon in oak cabinet) i looked on ebay to see if i could keep costs down. And there it was, and still is. Currently running with livestock, sand and rock, and although i'm not quiet ready, i am tempted by this. Having read a few threads on purchasing second hand goods i was going to just ask for everything but the fish and sand, keeping the equipment (accept heaters) and live rock. Then set it up at my own pace so i can understand the cycling process etc.
Should I take a deep breath and reassess the size issue, as it is a big piece of kit?

Thanks again.
 
I think you'd be fine. Just be aware that getting the tank set up and established will be more demanding of your time (and money) than after the tank is established after a few months. You'll be testing the water for cycling, tinkering with all of the equipment getting it tuned in, adjusting lighting or coral height to acclimate (assuming you start coral), and just learning the system in general. I'd say it's quite a lot of work for say the first 2 months. However! if you do a fishless cycle, and have good patience, you canbe flexible with the testing and maintenance and let it work around your schedule.

Once your tank is all set up and running well, it may only take a couple of hours a week for maintenance. An ATO is a must for ease of maintenance BTW. If you're Fish only or FOWLR than your daily activities would be to feed the fish and that's it. Then you'd have to occasionaly fill your ato resivour, and change out carbon and clean filters. These can be flexible on the schedule though, especially with a lighter bioload.

I'd say go for it, unless you're already overwhelmed as is. If you can spare a few hours a week and are able to set up your tank with some light automation (timers for lights, ato...etc) than you shouldn't have a very hard time.
 
Will I have time for fish with a young family?

I started with a 29gal biocube when my daughter was 8 and my son was 5 so a good bit older than yours.

Automation will be your friend. Get an Apex or other controller to make your life easier. Plan your water changes and maintenance. If you try to "fit it in" you'll end up missing it half the time though fish only it shouldn't be near as bad.

Get quality equipment that you can rely on. It doesn't have to be super expensive but read reviews. You don't want a skimmer that you have to adjust all the time. You want a set and forget. Design your sump with a compartment dedicated to the skimmer where water level is constant.

An ATO is a must. A good RODI is as well. Get one with built in TDS meters so you're not testing all the stages all the time.

By the time I took down my 60 cube to move I had auto water changes setup and was spending maybe 1-2 hours per week on maintenance. It doesn't have to be this massive time consuming hobby. But it can get expensive lol!

My wife was skeptical when I started. Now she wouldn't dream of me not having a tank. She loves it, the kids love it, and I do all the heavy lifting. Which is fine with me. My daughter has grown up knowing about different fish and corals. My son is getting there but isn't quite as interested. Good luck and have fun!


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There is some decent advice here...however we don't know your budget or space requirements.

There are a lot of sunk costs in SW. Decent pumps, test kits, your space for mixing equipment, etc. Keep in mind that a 135 is only more expensive than a 55 when it comes to lighting, salt, RO use, and stocking (ok some other minor stuff as well).

Look at the space you have and think about size and location of the tank...where will you mix? Is it easy to get to? Will I be moving locations in the next year or three? Is there too much natural light? What is my electrical supply like in the location? Will it look like I am running a grow operation from my front windows? Are my kids using the crap out of that room so the potential for an unsupervised error creeps in?

There is no need to do this tomorrow, and as is often repeated, don't rush into it. Enjoy the planning, research and thought behind it and include your wife and kids...buy in from them helps with the enthusiasm for the hobby.

I spent about 1.5 months researching equipment while I ordered my tank, had the tank in place for about 3 weeks as I connected equipment. This july I mixed salt and ordered live rock. In August I added some CUC and inverts and coral. I am 1 week into a 2 month quarantine period for my first two fish. I have no second thoughts to the equipment I purchased.

Bottom line, be patient, read, learn, and make informed decisions (while starting a build thread).
 
The bigger the tank, up to 150 gallons, the easier. The smaller, the more futzy. More water = more leeway. Ideal for a low maintenance tank would be soft corals, mushrooms, blennies, gobies. I run a damsel tank, and while they are hardy as all getout, they also require some expertise to balance personalities and maintain peace: stay out of that class. Blennies, gobies, a dwarf angel, a jawfish, a couple of chalk bass, or royal grammas---go for the smaller guys and stay away from tangs, butterflies, triggers, puffers and such would be my advice: flashy, but nippy, spendy, and ich-prone more than the blennies and gobies. But naturally---get what really rings your chimes and read up on care for whatever-it-is. With small children, and soft coral, avoid palys (a type of button coral: sea mat) and stick to kenya tree, mushrooms, toadstools, maybe a couple of clowns---the hairy toadstool seems to be favored by percs; and if your fish load is small and your soft coral load is high, weekly testing and strict attention to chemistry (8.3 alk, zero ammonia, and phosphate at 'trace' and alkalinity under 20 would support them just fine) should keep you going with occasional 20% to 30% water drawoffs and replacement.
 
I have a 7 week old, and I'm still able to work, and keep 4 tanks healthy (1 fw, 10 nano, 40b nano, 150gal) I spend about 10 minutes a day between them. As long as you set yourself up for success you will be fine!


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One piece of advice: locks, on everything. Including the canopy. That or a real convincing growl with..."This is MINE..." if you have a toddler at the MINE stage. "MINE. Only mummy/daddy feeds the fish. MINE."
Hey, if you make it forbidden fruit and make it stick, you may bring up a junior helper when the youngster is old enough. But beware of younger sibs joining older...

If I had a dollar for every time I've posted 'water changes and carbon' for somebody who's had a toddler dose the tank with Cheerios or sent their toy truck for a swim, I'd have a small 'mad' fund.
 
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