How Much Time

[KieranBoyne]

Oohhh.... Are you going to make a journal?

 

[EGFishKeepers]

Thinking more like a log than a journal.....Excel

 

[eduller]

Gosh, what am I doing wrong that I'm not spending hours per week?? Maybe I'm just not adding my time up right.
 
I have five tanks: 54 gallon community tank, 20g long tank divided for 3 bettas, 5 gallon tank with one betta, 5 gallon tank with 1 dwarf puffer, and a 4 gallon tank with a betta.
 
Let's see. 54 gallon tank. I feed once a day - takes about 5 minutes (all feeding times will include time to thaw and/or prepare and frozen or live food for each tank). I add the ferts/carbon/iron when I first wake up - takes about 5 minutes. I do about a 60% water change once a week. I use a python and clean the sand using that for about the first 10 minutes of the water change, then I just let the water run out the window (into the garden) for about 20 minutes. Then I hook up to the sink and fill it back up for about another 20 minutes. So total maintenance time = about 2 hours, counting the water change. Maybe I am spending more time than I thought!
 
20g long. I feed twice a day - takes about 5 minutes total counting both feedings because they are pigs and eat in 5 seconds. Water changes via python, I do about 70% once per week. It takes about 25 minutes total, including vacuuming gravel/sand, draining, refilling. So that's about an hour total per week.
 
5 gallons. I feed twice a day. Takes about 5 minutes total for the betta. Takes a little longer for the puffer because she takes her time, so let's say 5 minutes a day ( because I only feed her once a day). Water changes via python, I do about 70% once a week. It takes probably 25 minutes for each of them. So that's about 2 hours total.
 
4 gallon tank. I feed twice a day. Takes about 2 minutes because he is the piggiest pig who ever pigged. I do two water changes per week, one about 25% and one about 75% because he's on my work desktop and I feel like I need to set an example of the cleanest water in the world for all the people who walk by my desk and comment on how clean it is compared to their own disgusting, neglected fish tanks. I'd say 30 minutes total for the two water changes since it's fast. I just use a regular gravel siphon with a little 3 gallon garbage can to drain into. So that's 45 minutes.
 
Then Wednesdays are water test days. I test each tank, including each section of the 20g divided tank. Let's call that 25 minutes total including rinsing time.
 
For a grand total of: wow just over 6 hours!!! Although I do the water changes on the 20g and the 5 gallons while the 54 gallon is draining and/or filling, so that kind of combines the time.