I enter by accident so am finishing this up
Run them simple.
5 tanks running currently. Weekly testing of NO3, PO4, and alkalinity on 3 takes less than an hour including clean up using Hanna testers. I test every Saturday morning while drinking some coffee. I test calcium once every month or two. Nothing else is tested and nothing is continuously monitored.
Tank one is a 40g breeder running a hob filter, floating ATS, ATO and heater on an inkbird and powerheads I recently added a UV because I had one laying here and I was bored. This tank is my observation/ grow out tank. I test alk and nothing else. Probably haven't changed more that 20g of water in the last year.
Tank 2 an 8g nano, 5g total. It's a trial run at NPS but i haven't done much with it yet. I have phyto on a doser with a little mini fridge next to the tank so I only need to fill the phyto ounce a week or so. I do 0.5g water changes 3-4 times a week which takes about 5 minutes each. I toss some floss in the cup if i scrape the glass or blow the rocks. Heater on a inkbird controller. I don't test.
Tank 3 an IM20. Filter floss in the cups, heater on an inkbird controller, ATO and power heads. I manually dose some AFR each day. Water changes? meh tank runs N and P at or near zero so I manually dose some PO4 and ammonium once a week of I see 0 on my test. I do a random 2g WC on no set schedule.
Tank 4 a reefer 300. Heaters on an inkbird, reefmat, skimmer with an outside airline for aeration never emptied or cleaned, powerheads, AFR on a doser and an ATO. The 8g sits next to this tank so I share an ATO reservoir and a 2 head doser between the two tanks. WCs 2g every 2-3 weeks to vacuum detritus that collects in a corner. N and P run low and I'll manually dose PO4 and ammonium as needed but it's been several weeks since I've tested 0.
Last a WB 330.7 285g total with skimmer and a floating ATS that are cleaned weekly. ATS is a rain 4x so all I have to do is lift the cover off and pull the algae out and done. I feed the algae I harvest to my tangs. I manually dose two part each day, ATO, heat on an inkbird. I run a little rowaphos in a reactor changed out every 3 weeks to keep PO4 below 0.9 so I can get a number on my Hanna ULR tester. NO4 runs 25-40 I do a 25g WC every Sunday which takes about 45 minutes including cleanup and rolling the brute to the bottom of the basement stairs and pumping the new water up using a pond pump on a $10 remote controlled outlet. I refill all tank ATO containers using the same pump after doing the WC.
I keep two 32g brutes full of fresh mixed saltwater and rodi so I always have some on hand for emergencies if needed.
I get to spend way more time just sitting and watching the tanks than performing maintenance. I don't try to control every little thing. No auto testing gadgets or controllers to fiddle with or worry about failing. I have a lot of individual pieces of equipment like ATO and heat controllers that can fail but those are easy fixes with stuff laying around and nothing that is going to wipe out a tank when something fails. Spare return pumps for every tank are on hand as well.
