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How much work is a marine aquarium?
One of the most frequently asked question is HOW MUCH WORK IS A MARINE AQUARIUM?
This is a relatively easy question to answer if the following parameters are known. How big is your intended aquarium? (bigger means more stability and thus less work). What do you intend to keep in this aquarium? (Fish only will be less time consuming, while coral setups need more attention, then there is fish and coral aquariums that need even more work) and then lastly do you have a descent protein skimmer, filter and lights? (Lighting is not important for fish only aquariums but very important when it come to corals, so is a calcium reactor) Let’s say for arguments sake your set up will be the following. Aquarium 1300x600x600, sump filter, correct size protein skimmer, lighting consists of a 1 x 150w metal halide and 2 x 54w T5’s and a calcium reactor. Your intention is to keep fish and corals in this aquarium. Then you will need to spend the following time on this aquarium. Daily – Feed the fish and corals, check the live organism’s health, check the salinity and ensure that all the electrical hardware is working. Then if necessary you would need to clean the protein skimmer cup and top the water level up. THIS SHOULD NOT TAKE MORE THAN 10 MINUTES. Weekly – clean the filter wool, do a small water change 5-10%, clean the glass and thoroughly inspect all the hardware. THIS SHOULD NOT TAKE MORE THAN 20 MINUTES. Monthly – clean the hardware that needs it, replace resins that have expired, clean all the power heads and do a thorough inspection of what is going on in the aquarium. THIS SHOULD NOT TAKE MORE THAN 30 MINUTES. Other – quarantine unit with new stock would need daily attention according to what is in the unit. Replace the lights according to the life expectancy of the type of light (T5 when blown or every 12 months and MH when blown). Clean the protein skimmer pipe when it is dirty.
The same aquarium with only fish, and no calcium reactor. Daily, weekly and monthly tasks would be faster as you would have less hardware and fewer specimens to inspect for health Other – quarantine unit with new stock would still need daily attention according to what is in the unit. The lights will only be replaced when blown.
If you can not spend at least 5 minutes on your daily aquarium maintenance, you should rather opt for a freshwater aquarium.
Setting up and maintaining a marine aquarium is easy if you have the knowledge. So BEFORE YOU START YOUR AQUARIUM, GET THE KNOWLEDGE.
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