How many hours a week do you spend "Reefing"

[ScubaFish802]

I would say less than 5hrs a week I actually do anything within the tank.. however I watch a ton of youtube videos which includes trying to keep up on all the podcasts and channels. Things are always evolving. I also like to think even if you are not actively listening to it your brain still absorbs it.


Way back as a kid I fell asleep with a hockey goalie instructional video playing and proceeded to wake up and play one of the best games I ever had, shut-out and all. Ever since I have assumed it was the subliminal teaching

 

[ReefGeezer]

Winter... Many, many hours per week. It's my therapy when it's to cold & outside

Summer... Maybe 4-5 hours per week when I got a lot of other interests.

 

[Garf]

5 mins a day doing stuff to the tank, probably 20 hrs a week googling unnecessary stuff.

 

[1112-425XL]

Probably about 12 hours a week between maintenance and research. Probably another 12 just watching because my tank is a lot more interesting than whats on TV.

 

[Stephen8169301]

i mean.. its... ALOT!
my wife often tells me: you dont know how much time you are spending on this tank!

But yeah she's right.. i often come home and insta check the tank.. scary!

Facts this is me

 

[bakbay]

I think it’s around 5 hours…a day for me!

Between watching, fragging, tinkering, and researching (more like dreaming) bigger tanks - I can honestly tell you that I’m passionate about this hobby. I’ve only been in the hobby for ~30 years!

 

[Tuna Melt]

I think it’s around 5 hours…a day for me!

Between watching, fragging, tinkering, and researching (more like dreaming) bigger tanks - I can honestly tell you that I’m passionate about this hobby. I’ve only been in the hobby for ~30 years!

That's a fulltime job!!

Glad to hear it doesn't get old after 30 years!

 

[Garf]

it doesn't get old after 30 years!

That’s only because nobody knows what the heck we are doing.

 

[bakbay]

That's a fulltime job!!

Glad to hear it doesn't get old after 30 years!

Still learning everyday! Ha

 

[killer2001]

All the hours.

 

[BamaCoastPyrat]

Just curious, I've been in the hobby almost three months and I am shocked how willing I am to dump hours of time into this fish tank. Despite all the hiccups, (Ba da ba ba ba!) I'm lovin it! What's surprising to me is not the amount of time I spend doing water changes and scraping glass, but the time spent researching topics, watching YouTube videos, diagnosing problems, shopping for livestock, etc. Its just always on my mind. Maybe its just a bit of a honeymoon phase, so I'd love to hear from you all, how much time do you spend doing actual work on the tank, and how much do you spending thinking about it, researching things, online reading about reefing, etc...

Does time spent wondering what happened to my checking account balance count as "reefing"?

 

[rtparty]

Way too much on both. Depending on the week, I might spend 2-3 hours on the tank and I might spend 10. Daily, I’m on here or Facebook for 2-3 hours every day. So 15-20 hours a week minimum

 

[dangles]

I'm still pretty new, too. I started my tank in December.

I spend maybe 3 or so hours testing, vacuuming sand, making saltwater, feeding, dosing, cleaning glass and fighting back salt creep. A couple more hours tinkering with my controller (both the app and the hardware).

Add a few more hours just watching, and a maybe a couple more hours surfing YT, R2R and BRS

I anticipate the time spent on maintenance and tinkering with stuff will decrease as time goes on and I get my system more dialed in.

I love every minute of it so far

*edit* I could be wildly underestimating lol

 

[ReefHunter006]

2-3 hours nightly for 3 years. A lot less before that.

 

[zoomonster]

Welcome to the obsession

 

[Dbichler]

About 3 hours a day the last 16 years so around 17000 hours or about 2 years worth of the 16 years. Yes I have a problem.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

About 1.5 hours a week maintenance. Once you get past the learning curve your time spent on research and maintenance will decrease.

 

[Larry Stewart]

Great question. Due to the various stages/phases/changes that my reef has gone through, I find myself doing a lot of investigative type of work nowadays.

I've been involved with this hobby over 20 years. In the earlier years, I spent all day figuring things out about these creatures.

As far as maintenance...this has definitely cut down with time due to different products on the market: From salt mixes, siphon devices, algae scrapers and even filtration devices.

I have now collected enough reading material to be considered a library. I can go on and on about the time spent with my hands in saltwater... my wife will tell you that I'm always sitting in front of the glass glaring inside the tank - you will never be able to put a time on this type of enjoyment.

Go out and buy you a stool.....a chair....and probably a bed to sit on and think about all the wonders that this hobby has to offer. There's so much to do and explore. It will be one of those EVERLASTING PLEASURES for me. Enjoy and have fun discovering what's hidden within this hobby. 24/7 obsession - sounds crazy but I think we're hooked.

 

[00W]

This hobby is my peace-my therapy.
First thing I do when I get home from work is go into my "room."
I've got 35 years in and couldn't add up all the hours honestly.
I spend a lot of time on here too!

 

[Salty_Northerner]

January when I got back into the hobby after 20 yrs I'm spending hours with it. Like tonight, I only had 1.5 hrs at home to shower, do a load of laundry, shower n shave and sat in front of the tank. Observed my one frag of silver pulsing Xenia which has now 3 stalks on the plug and the one stalk not looking to hot. It was a darker then the other 2 and looking like it was wilting. So rolled back the index to see what I changed. Hmmm... I ended up placing it on the sand bed and moved my Kenya tree for room. Umm, did a quick glass scrape and changed the flow rate on the Vortech and adjusted the rfgs so they weren't being blasted.

All that in 1h20min and back to the truck lol.

So while working I'll spend 24 hrs a week listening to BRS and a few other YT channels for more knowledge..

7 hrs a week on R2R reading.
8 hrs researching hardware
2 hrs on Amazon or my online fish shop.
2 hrs doing water tests a week
2hrs a week feeding and spot feeding.
30min pulling out intank basket and cleaning the media and cutting new filter pads.
Dang typing this 15 min haha

All in all I spend at least the amount of hours as a regular person with a part time job..

But you know what!

I wouldn't have it any other way! I've been absent for so many yrs and with all this new tech I'm more passionate for this hobby then I was 20 yrs ago! Imho there isn't enough time for me to enjoy this wonderful stress reduction hobby. Gawd I can't wait to retire some day so I can enjoy every day at home doing what I love so much.