Do you do it alone?

[Mark Novack]

Just curious.
Back story. I maintain an 800 liter fish/reef tank and it's quite a backbreaking job from time to time. My last month was spent dedicating a day per weekend performing a thorough cleaning from top to bottom. Actually, I went from bottom to top with a calculated order to not bio-shock the system. Went through a 1000 liters of water, setups, clean ups and I really love the results. So do the fish. My aquarium requires this at least once a year. Between, its weekly 100 liter changes with routine maintenance as normal.

I'm curious, do many of you get help from family or is it your toy for you to enjoy? I'm just whining because this time it was really hard on my back. I have 4 serious injuries to 4 lumbar vertebrae. Plus I need to whine a bit. It's been a few really tough months. If I drank alcohol I'd go to a bar and by a stranger drinks just to listen to me whine ! Thanks for listening.

Mark

 

[Ron Reefman]

Mark, sorry to hear about your physical concerns. And yes, keeping an aquarium can be a physical experience. Maybe you should look at doing something rarely done in this hobby, downsizing without getting out of the hobby.

I'm 70 now, and I do all the work on my tank(s) myself, including building the tanks and stands! Over the last 4 years I've downsized from 4 tanks (600g total) to a single 40g tank with a 25g sump/fuge. It's WAY easier and as it turned out, it was way better looking as well. So easy in fact, that I just built a new 90g tank to replace the 40g tank. But still just one tank!

 

[Iamjeff6]

My 4 year old helped me dip corals last weekend.

 

[NanoDJS]

Nothing worth it is easy ..... I agree with Ron , I stay with "managable" sized tanks I can reach every part easily , so I run an 80g 48x24x16 , a 40g 48x18x12 and 30g 24x24x12 , lotsa room to reef and saves my body from getting beatup more at home than at work. I dont do water changes so that solves that one.

 

[sfin52]

My wife helps and so does one of my sons. It helps. Water change is left to me.

 

[Indytraveler83]

Absolutely do it alone. I just upgraded to a 90 gallon and was extremely grateful my lfs offered to deliver, place and plumb it for free if I bought the complete setup from them. Wouldn't have been able to do it otherwise.

One tip I learned: use old return pumps and powerheads with flexible tubing to move water through the house. Dragging/lugging 30 gallons of water around at a time is back breaking!

 

[Humblefish]

My wife helps, but she's just not into it like me so she doesn't do it with a on her face.

 

[fish farmer]

My wife and I are both 50, she shouldn't do much heavy lifting due to injuries.

If I get to the point of where lugging full 5 to 7 gallon buckets and other cleaning tasks take a toll, I'll either downsize the system or do it in smaller parts. My work is similar to running a very large reef tank (state trout hatchery), so if I can't do my job I probably should rethink the hobby.

I feel when I can't do much lifting is when I'll set up a reef bowl.

 

[Birdbrains?]

Hey Mark
It sounds like an awesome system, definitely worth the effort I keep a super tiny nano and I try to make it as difficult and time constraining as possible for me, but I am probably gonna be complaining in a few years even over the water changes on that unless I do more to make it easier on myself but keeping marine life puts a on my face.

 

[Fires Fish]

Take care of three tanks and a room full of five ferrets alone. Hubby and son wouldn't know what to do if anything happened to me.

 

[WVNed]

You reminded me I have a 40 pound bag of dog food in the car.

They help if I ask. I have my physical problems as well. I just get mad at myself and do it.
I set up all this by myself.

Work smarter not harder works great until
you get weaker and forgetful.

Buckets. Hahahahahaha nope nope nope

 

[Hemmdog]

Just me. Family just gets in the way.

 

[Phil D.]

I do all tank maintenance by myself. Just confiscated daughter's e-170 due to her "not having time", and it's looking poorly, so will have to do multiple WC to get parameters and algae back in line. BTW I have a Red Sea E-260 with sump.

 

[Phil D.]

 

[vetteguy53081]

Three tanks and I do all the maintenance/work but also don't mind doing it

 

[squampton]

I do it alone, my wife has no interest and we don't have kids so none of those to help out, so just me. I do at times think about just hiring a maintenance company as I hate the maintenance aspect and I do feel a maintenance company would likely keep it up better.

 

[phatduckk]

2 toddlers and a wife that doesn’t mind the tank but isn’t going to help either (fair enough).

I do all my reef related work before they’re awake or after they’re all asleep.

 

[raketemensch]

I did a full teardown/clean/rebuild of a 55 gallon with a 25 gallon sump this weekend -- had to carry the 55g out to the backyard by myself to clean it. Everything got pulled, cleaned and re-built over the course of 3 days -- I just added ammonia, and am waiting for it to hit 2ppm before I drop in a bottle of biospira, probably just before I go to bed.

I also did an 80% WC on the 20g QT tank today. Been a heck of a weekend.

I have an old rolling computer desk that I use for the water changes, with a 20-gallon tub on the bottom shelf and a 20 gallon tub on top, which makes big WCs/rebuilds easier.

My wife is willing to help, but I'm kinda... stubborn? Stupid? Both?

 

[robbyg]

Mostly just me but the wife will help when it's a job that requires two people or if there is an emergency. She likes the tank to look at but is not interested in the maintenance. Thats fine since she has her own house hold jobs to deal with.

 

[Glott3133]

I got into the hobby with my 14yr old son. I make him help whenever I have a lot of work to do. I doesn't like putting his hands in the tank, because the clowns bite; but he will help with water changes and bringing and emptying water. Also, perfect for getting me a beer.