Maintenance Comparison on Different Tank Sizes

[NotReefsafe]

How does maintenance on a 10g compare to maintenance on, say, a 180? I'm finding maintenance on my 15g not too bad at all and wondering if I'd be okay with a bigger tank, although I initially ruled it out. Speaking primarily on time differences rather than cost.

 

[scootPrime]

Cost of maintaining obviously increases with more salts and water as well as all the extra stuff like tote to pre mix the water, pump and bigger siphon hose. Time depends on how involved you wanna be. The more you spend on convenience the less involved you’ll need the be in your tank maintenance. I don’t get too involved with my big tank having a mixing station setup. Worst chore is filter socks every couple of days.

 

[lelolai15]

I have only had nano tanks in my time in the hobby and it fits well with it my budget (averaging $50 per month) and timeframe (personal and work life).

As mentioned by the member above, it all depends on how invested you want to be with time and financially. I would love to make my max nano a bit more automative to support my business travels but I am pretty good at staying within my budget. Still saving up!

Currently spending 30-45 mins per week max on maintenance (water changes, parameter checks, mixing water, etc). Every day I do spend about 30-40 mins drinking my coffee admiring, feeding, cleaning the glass, and changing out filter floss & socks.

Be mindful smaller tanks could have rapid swings in parameters if something goes wrong. Larger volume tanks have fudge factors built in.