Need advice - tear down? downsize?

[kstripp]

I could use some advice. My tank has had near total neglect since my second kid was born last august, and the bill has come due so to speak. When my urchin started looking in really poor shape, I sent out an ICP to see just how bad the water quality was. (surprise surprise ... it was ... _really_ bad). At first we thought maybe a sprint of daily water changes could get things back in order, but then a mishap (probably user error) during one caused me to get up close and personal with the sump and stand while cleaning up the mess. I did not like what I saw... the sump is showing signs of stress fractures, and the stand is starting to deteriorate. Neither is terribly surprising - I got this setup second hand, and I'm pretty sure the person who had it before me got it second hand. So the stand is at least 6 years old, and the sump is likely older - and I doubt either were particularly high quality to begin with. Regardless - the warning signs must be heeded before a real problem occurs.

Unfortunately, even though the baby is sleeping through the night, we are still completely under water with our time on a daily basis - which of course is why the tank was neglected. Trying to give even an hour a week to the tank is not a realistic proposition at this time.

So the question is where to go from here - tear the tank down and take a hiatus from reefing, or get a new (and smaller!!) tank set up to be as low maintenance as possible (like no more than 1-2 hours a month)? We all like looking at the tank (even the baby watches the fish), but time is the big concern.

Would something like a FOWLR be doable for this, that could maybe be upgraded to a reef down the line as time allows?
Simplify everything possible, and automate whatever is left? Maybe a rollermat, automated phosphates checking, and either carbon dosing or an algae reactor? Is 1-2 hours per month even plausible?

I would imagine that if I were to downsize, the new tank would have to be as complete out of the box as possible - maybe an AIO or a tank that comes with stand, sump and plumbing.
Even if a truly low maintenance tank is a realistic goal, my wife and I are very worried about the design and setup time. Again, see the total neglect the current tank has received.

Any ideas, suggestions, and experiences with similar situations would be welcome.

 

[bluemon]

Not sure what size the tank is now, but It really is up to you.

Of course we want you in the hobby, but we realize life takes priority, and especially new kids.

I would suggest a very low maintenance AIO with just softies would be nice and easy though. A couple easy clownfish, a few nice mushrooms (maybe even a higher end one so you can fund your next tank when they reproduce well)

 

[kstripp]

Current tank is 180 gal. My build thread is in the badge link, though I haven't updated it in a long time. I should post some photos before it comes down, regardless of what is next.

 

[kstripp]

I should add, thanks @bluemon for the softie suggestion. I figured I might end up with some if I end up downsizing. Especially if I do it by transferring rock from the current system - I doubt I could keep the kenya tree out if I tried (I mean seriously - they out competed freaking aptaisia..)

I think my main concern is two fold - is 1-2 hours a month ongoing maintenance for a FOWLR or softie tank plausible? And (possibly even more important), what about initial daily and weekly time to get it to stability? (not counting the actual tear down and setup days) .

 

[Dom]

...and the stand is starting to deteriorate...

This tells me a complete breakdown of the tank is required. I wouldn't have piece of mind with a tank on a stand in questionable condition.

 

[kstripp]

This tells me a complete breakdown of the tank is required. I wouldn't have piece of mind with a tank on a stand in questionable condition.

This is definitely going to happen. I should stress that the signs of deterioration are pretty early/mild right now. As such I do not see a need for an emergency teardown. It goes in the "as soon as practicable" category. To that end, (and what I was hoping to get out of this thread) is figuring out what comes next.

This matters because I'd like to have a plan in place for the current livestock before starting the teardown, and catching the warning signs early gives the luxury of (some) time to do so.

But for that to happen, I need to figure out if I am simply getting rid of everything going on a hiatus from reefing for a while, or downsizing to something more manageable given our time constraints. I think what I'm mainly hoping for is to gauge whether 1-2 hours a month of ongoing maintenance is truly plausible for a FOWLR or softie tank. Also important would be the daily/weekly time needs would be after initial setup to get to the point where the (new) tank can do reasonably well with only a couple hours a month of maintenance.