Aquarium Maintenance — Every 10 Days
Three visits a month, one every ten days. It is the odd-looking cadence on the sheet, and it is the one I would put most marine systems on. The arithmetic is simple.
On a fortnightly schedule your tank goes fourteen days between anyone trained looking at it. Fourteen days is enough for an auto-top-off to fail, a heater to stick, or alkalinity in a stocked reef to drift far enough to burn coral tissue. At every ten days the unseen gap never grows past ten — short enough that problems get caught while they are still adjustments, not losses.
What every visit includes
- Full parameter panel — logged, trended, and sent to you after every visit
- Equipment checked and consumables swapped on schedule, before they fail
- Livestock delivered and installed into your system from our quarantined-to-order program
- Priority answers and unlimited between-visit callouts
The guarantee
Livestock our team installs on this plan carries a 2-month live guarantee. We chose the animal, quarantined it, installed it, and we see the water it lives in three times a month — so we stand behind it, full stop.
Pricing — by system type and water volume
All prices are per month.
| Water volume | Planted & freshwater | FOWLR | Reef |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–20 gal | $177.99 | $221.99 | $265.99 |
| 20–40 gal | $265.99 | $309.99 | $398.99 |
| 40–60 gal | $354.99 | $442.99 | $531.99 |
| 60–80 gal | $442.99 | $531.99 | $663.99 |
| 80–125 gal | $486.99 | $619.99 | $796.99 |
| 125–200 gal | $619.99 | $752.99 | $929.99 |
| 200–300 gal | $663.99 | $840.99 | $1,062.99 |
Travel zones
| Zone | Towns | Per-visit premium |
|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 | New Milford, Bridgewater, Brookfield, Sherman, Roxbury, Washington | Included |
| Zone 2 — ~15–30 min | Danbury, Bethel, Newtown, New Fairfield, Kent, Southbury, Woodbury, Litchfield | +$45 |
| Zone 3 — ~30–50 min | Ridgefield, Redding, Waterbury, Torrington, Watertown, Oxford, Warren | +$85 |
| Zone 4 — ~50–75 min | Stamford, Greenwich, Norwalk, Westport, greater Hartford, northern Westchester NY | +$125 |
Prices shown are Zone 1 (New Milford and immediate neighbors). Other zones add the listed per-visit travel premium — the drive is real time, so it's priced like the rest of the visit. Not sure of your zone? Ask, or book the on-site consultation and we'll confirm it.
Over 300 gallons and multi-system homes are quoted per project. Prices cover our core service area around New Milford; further out, ask and we will quote you one blended number.
Every plan begins with a System Audit & Reset — deep clean, full workup, equipment audit, written plan — credited toward your first month when you start service at that visit. Livestock orders over $350 ship free as standard.
Weekly buys the shortest gap there is; all four cadences sit side by side on the services overview.
Ten days is not a compromise between weekly and biweekly. It is the point where a reef's chemistry stops being able to surprise you.
Expert guidance
Have a question about this piece?
Cameron draws on 25+ years in the hobby and a marine biology background to help you choose the right fit for your system.