Question: Cost aside, is a smaller reef tank easier to care for than a larger tank?

[asylumdown]

my 4 gallon pico in my signature is the easiest tank I've ever had to care for. 100% water changes, no sand, no fish.

I ignored it for 3 weeks because I got busy with school and the glass got so covered in algae I couldn't see inside. When I finally did a water change I just took the rock and corals out, put them in a bucket, and scrubbed down the tank in the sink until the whole thing looked brand new again. 24 hours later and it's pristine again. It's more like a piece of modern art than a tank though, I would never put fish in it the way I maintain it.

my big tank is 'easy' to maintain in that all the grunt work has largely been automated, but it's still a tremendous PITA in terms of time and money. When something does go wrong, or it needs extra attention, it's easily half a day's worth of work that I could probably spend on something more productive. Also, it goes through $100/month just in salt, so... there's that.