Weekly Maintenance

[reeferpdx415]

Working with a company to service my mixed reef tank 1x per week. Does anyone have a standard checklist of what I should expect each week vs what may be beyond scope of what would normally be provided on a weekly basis?

 

[Fish Fan]

@Troylee

 

[Troylee]

Check all parameters “alk,cal, mag, nitrates, phosphates, fill your top off leave you rodi water, change water 10%-15% every 2 weeks or so. Check your dosers is applicable. Clean skimmer, change roller mat etc. hard to say without seeing your setup. Hope that helped

 

[mmorrison55]

What are they charging you and what are they doing for that fee?

Or is this where you have to set your expectations and then they give you the cost of meeting them?

How big is your tank and how’s it stocked?

 

[reeferpdx415]

Check all parameters “alk,cal, mag, nitrates, phosphates, fill your top off leave you rodi water, change water 10%-15% every 2 weeks or so. Check your dosers is applicable. Clean skimmer, change roller mat etc. hard to say without seeing your setup. Hope that helped

Thanks. It's not an overly complicated setup. 110g mixed reef. Skimmer, ATO, Trident and a TridentNP, Dosing Alk, Ca and Mg. Media Reactor with GFO and a couple of filter socks.

 

[Alexander1312]

Why are you not doing maintenance yourself?

This could help inform the extend of work you expect them to do.

 

[PharmrJohn]

Why are you not doing maintenance yourself?

This could help inform the extend of work you expect them to do.

I'd curious as to why as well. Is this something along the lines where you feel your LFS can ultimately do a better, more comprehensive job?

 

[jonsreef2reef]

For a 110 with that setup, the stuff I'd expect on a standard weekly visit:
- review the Trident and NP logs
- spot-check alk/cal/mag with a hand kit so you know the probes haven't drifted
- top off the ATO and refill the doser containers,
- nudge doser rates to whatever consumption's been running,
- clean the skimmer cup and neck,
- swap the filter socks,
- wipe the glass, and a
- general once-over for anything off.
- A water change usually rides along too, though plenty of services do 10-15% every other week rather than weekly.

What I'd treat as beyond a routine weekly — and worth pinning down in writing before you start — is the deeper stuff: probe/Trident calibration, pump and powerhead teardowns, RODI filter and membrane swaps, GFO changes when it's spent, and anything event-driven like a cyano or dino outbreak, dips, or coral work. That tends to be as-needed or add-on, not baked into the weekly rate. I'd get it itemized either way — "weekly maintenance" means pretty different things shop to shop.

 

[exnisstech]

Are you unable to do the maintenance yourself? I've never trusted anyone to care for anything of mine. I won't even buy water. The more you know and can do the better off you'll be when an emergency arises at an inconvenient time.