What are your laziest habits?

[Roks-Sharky]

I was once appalled when I saw straight salt dumped into the shark tank at the LFS.

Of course, then I started doing it myself at home. Well, not buckets full, just a cup here and there into the sump to keep it regulated.

My live rock has long since bleached, and rather than scrub clean from brown algae, when I do a water change, I simply turn the rocks to hide the slimy part, underneath is nice, white and clean.

Now, I am NOT promoting lazy habits, I have three kids and haven't had much time to enhance my tank lately, I'm just here keeping the ones I got alive.

[ReefLady]

Why would you add salt directly to a tank or sump? Not only is it a very dangerous practice, but typically over time, the concentration of salt in tank water will become higher, rather than lower, due to evaporation. Most people are adding FW as topoff.
There are "easy" ways vs "lazy" ways to maintain a tank. Reduce nutrient levels (don't overfeed, rinse food in RO water, etc), export nutrients & organics (WC's, skimming, etc).
Maintaining proper water params (temp, salinity, ca, pH, alk) - is not difficult if regular water changes are done.

If your rocks are bleached, and you have slimy nuisance algae, you probably have high nutrient levels and out-of-whack water parameters. It just takes a little TLC to bring the tank back to "life".
When's the last time you tested the basic parameters?
Many of us here have kids. It's fun teaching them about the tank, what lives in it, how to care for it.

[BigAl07]

Surely this is a joke? If you simply "Add Salt to the tank" you're just waiting to a HUGE crash to happen.

Are you even testing at all?

Do you realize what a HUGE SG change that creates?

If you're not cleaning the "slime" from the work you're just hiding it and allowing it to grow and grow and grow.

SW tanks aren't "set up and forget" but once set up and stable they are close to it. They are a "commitment" and if someone isn't willing to do what's needed for bare minimums I honestly feel like "they" should just get a really cool Salt Water Screen Saver and then you don't have to do ANY work at all

[framerguy]

My lazy habit is I rarely test anymore. I just watch the tank for signs that I need to.

[BillW]

Originally Posted by BigAl07

SW tanks aren't "set up and forget" but once set up and stable they are close to it. They are a "commitment" and if someone isn't willing to do what's needed for bare minimums I honestly feel like "they" should just get a really cool Salt Water Screen Saver and then you don't have to do ANY work at all

Boy did you hit the nail on the head. That's exactly why I shut mine down a couple of years ago. Between work, rebuilding my son's car and my father in law having terminal cancer there was no time. I found a good home for my fish and a buyer for my equipment. In hindsight I wish I kept the equipment but what's done is done.

[BigAl07]

Originally Posted by BillW

Boy did you hit the nail on the head. That's exactly why I shut mine down a couple of years ago. Between work, rebuilding my son's car and my father in law having terminal cancer there was no time. I found a good home for my fish and a buyer for my equipment. In hindsight I wish I kept the equipment but what's done is done.

Bill you have to be commended for that decision. I'm sure it wasn't easy or any fun at all but it was the "right" decision. KUDOS to you.

[goldenmean]

Originally Posted by framerguy

My lazy habit is I rarely test anymore. I just watch the tank for signs that I need to.

Greg, that is my lazy habit too!
I watch the tank for signs that I need to test then I do a big WC or two.

[BigAl07]

I admit that once you have a solid "foundation" under your belt it is indeed easy to watch the tank and let it "Tell you" what's happening. That's how I do it day in and day out but I still test at least weekly when I do water changes just to make sure. Part of it is to make sure the New Salt Mix matches the tank conditions. I do this now because I didn't for a while and it came back to haunt me. It took probably 3-4 MONTHS of testing, dosing and re-testing. I got a bad batch of salt and skipped some testing. No more for me (yeah right).

[cindyp]

my laziest habbit is sittin on my butt reading all the threads after my tank has been tended to

[chipmunkofdoom2]

My laziest habit is waiting more than 7 days to do a water change

Do no take this as a personal attack, because it is not meant to be, but what you are doing is not laziness. It is a complete disregard for the protocol and procedures aquarists have developed over time to create healthy and stable environments for their marine livestock and should not be kept "alive".

[Disciple882542]

My laziest habit deals with water changes and consistent testing.

I test about every two weeks to 1 month...basically whenever the coraline stops growing on the glass.

The water for my next water change has been mixed, circulating and heating for the last couple of weeks...just waiting on me to change out about 35 gallons from my display.

[faust]

my laziest habit is neglecting everthing else. my tank comes first

[SeaLover]

My laziest habit is dumping the skimmer cup and cleaning it out! lol

[Neptunesghost]

That's an easy question...laziest habbit is not changing my light bulbs as frequently as I should. Unfortunately, I forget about them until the algae starts.

[BLAKEJOHN]

My laziest habit would be water changes and cleaning the tank. Not that I dont do it on a regular basis but I procrastinate on it throughout the day. The water is still changed every week and tank is cleaned every two weeks.

Oh yeah and I rarley test any more. Just SG and temp at water change .