I’ve been asked a question about which tank is easier to maintain the Red Sea S650 ‘biggish tank’ or the very big one, and I thought this might help others considering an upgrade or new tank.
The very big tank is easier to maintain by far because everything is designed far better, simple as that, oh and bigger.
My maintenance on the big tank:
Change rowaphos every 6-8 weeks. I use around 1kg to keep phosphate locked down and this amount doesn’t need changing as often. The reactor size and water feed system is much better.
I change the roll In the X Filter 1.7 (roller mat) every 6-8 weeks
I refill the 425 litre saltwater tank around once a month, so just turn a tap, fill it back up and then add some salt. Oh the effort!
I test alkalinity once every week, and at the moment nitrate as it’s locked at around 8 so I’m just monitoring it, and the other parameters randomly because the calcium reactor and rowaphos keeps everything under control and in line.
So as you can see, I don’t have much to do, although I do monitor things daily and clean the glass every 2 days.
The S650 is mature, and doesn’t need much maintenance other than rowaphos changes every 2 weeks (because the reactor and method of water feed is different and clogs up quicker)
I have to change filter socks every 3-4 days so this is a standard biggish tank, that many on here will be aware of the sort of maintenance involved. I do more water tests with weekly alkalinity and usually calcium and magnesium because these are dosed with liquids and need monitoring
Because it’s mature, the biological filtration system is very robust. I tested nitrate for the first time a few days ago, in probably over a year because it was always around 20. And it was still 20.... For those paying attention, I dose Nopox on the S650 at around 20 ml a day. Over the last few weeks I’m reducing the dose by 1ml/day ever week/other week, so slowly. Because I don’t think it’s needed anymore. It’s currently at 16ml per day without any I’ll effect
Im actually considering a new sump in it so I can have an X Filter roller mat and then I won’t have the filter socks to change. Infact if it was an easy task I would swap the whole tank for a smaller version of the big one, and this may be on the cards at some point In the future.
To anyone reading this, and thinking about a big tank, planning every single system is the absolute key, it really is. Something as simple as automated water changes is a game changer for the hobby. I can do any type of change small or large, immediately at the simple press of a button on Apex DOS. Both systems are currently on around 5% per week in small daily amounts over a few hours.