reid@decwrl.UUCP (12/02/87)
I am the happy owner of a 50-gallon freshwater aquarium, in which I keep a
random mixture of happy and healthy fish. I am a tremendous believer in
overkill technology to save labor, so my little 50-gallon tank has all manner
of outboard filtering, precision temperature controllers, automatic feeders,
timers to control lights and bubbles, and so forth.
I spend about 1\-2 hours a week working on the aquarium, primarily in changing
the water, cleaning algae off the glass, pruning the live plants, and so
forth. 1\-2 hours a week is not very much work, and if I miss one Saturday's
partial water change, the fish will not notice the difference if I wait until
the following Saturday, or even the week after that. The fish are robust, the
tank is large, and the filtration/purification systems keep the water
relatively clean.
I would really love to start a tropical marine aquarium, but I'm afraid that
I might not be able to devote time to it as regularly as the saltwater fish
need. I've read about 10 books about marine aquariums (don't you hate the
word "aquaria?") and although they all spend a lot of time talking about what
you have to do and how careful you have to be, none of them really gets down
to the nitty gritty.
So, I have these questions:
1) How many hours a week will I need to devote to the maintenance of a
100-gallon tropical marine aquarium if I stay away from the more frail
species? I'm willing to put a lot of time into getting it set up, but
I'm afraid that in the steady state it will need more time than I
will be able to give it. 2 hours a week I can handle. 5 hours a week
I can't.
2) How long can it go without attention? I travel a lot, and my wife isn't
particularly excited about tending to my fish. Could a tropical marine
aquarium be set up with automatic gizmos so that it could go a week
without my attention? I'm willing to do a lot of custom engineering,
building controllers, and that kind of thing, but if there is some
measurement that needs to be made and there isn't a sensor for it, then
there's no way to make an automated system.
Brian Reid
DEC Western Researchrichard@gryphon.UUCP (12/03/87)
In article <164@bacchus.DEC.COM> reid@decwrl.UUCP (Brian Reid) writes: >I am the happy owner of a 50-gallon freshwater aquarium, in which I keep a >random mixture of happy and healthy fish. I am a tremendous believer in >overkill technology to save labor, so my little 50-gallon tank has all manner >of outboard filtering, precision temperature controllers, automatic feeders, >timers to control lights and bubbles, and so forth. Sure is overkill. If you only had a dozen fish in the tank you wouldnt need ANY of that gear. But, with a "normal" biological load, all that stuff helps. >I spend about 1\-2 hours a week working on the aquarium, primarily in changing >the water, cleaning algae off the glass, pruning the live plants, and so >forth. 1\-2 hours a week is not very much work, and if I miss one Saturday's >partial water change, the fish will not notice the difference if I wait until >the following Saturday, or even the week after that. The fish are robust, the >tank is large, and the filtration/purification systems keep the water >relatively clean. > >I would really love to start a tropical marine aquarium, but I'm afraid that >I might not be able to devote time to it as regularly as the saltwater fish >need. I've read about 10 books about marine aquariums (don't you hate the >word "aquaria?") and although they all spend a lot of time talking about what ^^^^^^^^ You'll get used to it. >you have to do and how careful you have to be, none of them really gets down >to the nitty gritty. Have you read _The Salt Water Aquarium In The Home_ by R.P.L. Straughn ? Also, read five years back issues of FAMA. >So, I have these questions: > > 1) How many hours a week will I need to devote to the maintenance of a > 100-gallon tropical marine aquarium if I stay away from the more frail > species? I'm willing to put a lot of time into getting it set up, but > I'm afraid that in the steady state it will need more time than I > will be able to give it. 2 hours a week I can handle. 5 hours a week > I can't. If you display the same common sense with a marine set-up as you have with freshwater you have nothing to fear. You should spend about the same amount of time. The time you save by not having to prune plants (unless you get calerpa to grow like crazy) you pay back to mixing up salt water. Basically though, everything else is similar. Really. > 2) How long can it go without attention? I travel a lot, and my wife isn't > particularly excited about tending to my fish. Could a tropical marine > aquarium be set up with automatic gizmos so that it could go a week > without my attention? I'm willing to do a lot of custom engineering, > building controllers, and that kind of thing, but if there is some > measurement that needs to be made and there isn't a sensor for it, then > there's no way to make an automated system. Zero attention ? 2 weeks to a month. Just don't feed them. >Brian Reid "Celebrity night in alt.aquaria" :-) -- Richard J. Sexton INTERNET: richard@gryphon.CTS.COM UUCP: {hplabs!hp-sdd, sdcsvax, ihnp4, nosc}!crash!gryphon!richard "It's too dark to put the keys in my ignition..."
reid@decwrl.UUCP (12/05/87)
In article <2469@gryphon.CTS.COM> richard@gryphon.CTS.COM (Richard Sexton) writes: >>Brian Reid > >"Celebrity night in alt.aquaria" :-) ... >Richard J. Sexton Ah, but it doesn't matter who is notorious for what outside of the newsgroup. Here in alt.aquari* it looks like you are the celebrity. Ask Mr. Science.