As my tank has matured, I've found it easier to keep out of the tank. When the tank was new, I was righting fallen corals, re-arranging rock that some creature had just moved for me, and so on. I would try and try, but just couldn't afford not to get my hands in the tank. Now, I'll go weeks without putting my hands in the tank. The only reason I get in there now is to flip over the occasional astrea snail (which is extremely rare nowadays), or maybe to make a frag as my corals grow together, though I can usually do that without having my hands enter the water. I just use the turkey baster, or a shish-kebab skewer, and tap the tip of a branch to break it, and let it fall into the sandbed where it won't survive (Did I just admit that? Is that humane?)
Anyway, I just got back from being out of town for 4 days, and noticed significant growth and better looking corals after those 4 days than I'm used to. Sure, the glass needed to be cleaned pretty bad, but this tells me even my current regiment has problems.
