Channel size depends on what you want your node to be for. I try not to open anything lower than 100,000 but if you're going for a routing node you probably want 1,000,000 sat channels.

I balance things out whenever I notice anything is way too lopsided or if I start having payment problems both sending and receiving.

As long as three blocks take depending on the fees you paid.😛

I'm my past experience and really want to route a substantial amount, channels should be minimum 3-5 million sats... You can automate rebalancing with programs like LNDg (for LND) or CLBOSS (Core Lightning)... The time to open a channel depends on the fee you broadcast at

Channels really shouldn’t be smaller than 1,000,000 sats, otherwise the fees you pay over time become too high a percentage of the overall transaction value.

Channel partners matter more then you initially realize, only open channels to places you intend to send sats. If routing sats is an intention, not only should they have a high chance of needing to send sats, but also should have a high chance routing sats back your way to maintain balance.

Managing channel liquidity should only be done when absolutely necessary, to never. Good channel partners should be routing sats both ways often enough to maintain balanced liquidity. Some exceptions apply depending on your use cases.

Channels take as long to open as a bitcoin transaction takes to confirm. More importantly is how long they can take to close, if you use low fees when opening the channel, and fees raise by the time the channel is closed(especially force closed by your partner), your liquidity could remain trapped for a long time until the fees lower to your initial opening fee rate.

I second Austin’s recommendation.