tank feed

Temperature is going to be a major factor. Your refill behaviour can help avoid it. Also, assuming the fertilizer doesn't cause the stink of some esoteric organic hydro stuff, lol. If it's warm, nothing will last long. Fill to use within 3-4 days and that's it - when i'm irrigating daily it's refilled every 3 days. You'll have to clean it more frequently too, if it's warm. Just a breeding ground for microbes in that case. You don't always have to fill it up. When my water use is much lower early on, i fill 1/2.. basically enough water for ~3 days is my goal. Early on i may only get 2 irrigations between refills, but also not irrigating each day... how long it remains at a low level is a factor. I do it in a way that minimizes it relative to volume of water used per day. I keep a 55-gal rez. It sits in an adjacent room in winter that keeps it in mid to upper 60F -- This is the primary reason i can go as long as i do without biofilm or stank. I stick to monthly cleanings, but could go longer - no stink, no bio film. I found the key was not leaving it with minimal water - I use a power head to aerate. It warms up the 8-12 gallons at the bottom or simply the reduced surface to air ratio seems to speed up bacterial growth. So, each irrigation uses about 25% of my rez. After the third, i refill. I don't wait for the next day. I do it immediately after irrigating. So the rez never sits for long under 50% filled and regularly gets 75% fresh water added (with nutes) every 3rd day (when irrigating every day - as i said above i fill to a lower level if water use is lower). The constant fresh water and not sitting at low levels has created a nice lengthy time between needing to clean the rez. It stays clear and no stank. I do wipe down the hose that leads to the pump. that gets slimy in between. If you don't have one, the cheap +/- 5% water meters you attach to an end of a hose works really well. Think some list +/-3%. In 3+ years using one i've yet to have a problem with accuracy. Makes refilling simple. Water use is so consistent, you will learn how much to add. I use dry nutes, but keep some pre-dissolved matching my typical refill volume. Refill, dump pre-dissolved nutes in, and walk away. you don't have to do that with liquid nutes. Whatever you got agitating the water will mix it in quickly. use a salt water powerhead (aquarium device, 'wavemaker' is another moniker) over 'bubble' in a rez of this size. the effeicacy of aerating is significantly improved, and most people don't perceive this unless they've taken a few chemistry classes to understand why. The churning at surface will dissolve more gas than bubbles floating to the top and give it a good stir, which will more effectively slow microbial growth than bubbles which do nothing in that regard.. The ones with the magnentic base are what you want. Also, have it shut off for 30-60mins per day -- not anytime near when you irrigate, obviously. Some bacteria actually thrives in constantly moving water, and having it shut off for 30-60mins helps prevent that type of growth.