Taking care of your tank while on vacation

[le9569]

Frontier Reefers,

When it comes to the time that you need to be away from home (vacation, business, ...) more than 10 days, how could you maintain the tank? How do you feed the fish, keep the subtances(NH4, NO3, PO4.....) within ranges, water level and so on...

Please do share your experience.
Thanks.
le9569

 

[jake65]

Thats an easy one for me...my neighbor has a reef tank also so I just have him watch over mine

 

[Meche]

A very tough one for others though. :doubt:

Nitrates, Nitrites, Ammonia, and Phosophates should be stable (at 0) in an established system. What do you have in your tank? My tank will easly go 10 days without a water change, but I don't have anything very sensitive to nitrates. If you can eliminate someone adding any chemicals or doing water changes to your tank while you are gone, that would be a good thing.

I would invite them over for a few days before you leave to show them and have them practice (in front of you) any special feeding procedures, water top-offs, and skimmer cleaning.

 

[bc_slc]

There are many things that can be automated so that you can be gone longer. However, if something bad happens and someone isn't around then trouble can follow. I say this, sitting a 2 hr plane flight away from my tank with nobody watching over it. I would recommend doing a water change before you go and then get as much automated as possible.

Top off and feeding are the biggest drivers of daily maintenence. An autotopoff set up and automatic fish food feeder will help this. Calcium can be managed by a calcium reactor, add a drainage reservoir for the skimmer and the rest can pretty much be managed by timers.

 

[Krish]

I have someone that comes to top off each day and feed, but not everyone is that fortunate when going away. A friend of mine that lives on the other end of the island went away today until the new year and he kept it simple...He DIY'd his own top off using (2) 5 gal buckets of water and and aqualifter on a timer to keep the water level up seeing he doesn't evaporate much and has someone come to feed every few days till he gets back. It is times like these you want to keep it kinda simple as leaving your tank in the wrong hands can cause major issues. I keep it simple as well with minimum feedings and photo periods etc. Seems to work well for me whenever going away

 

[DonW]

There are many things that can be automated so that you can be gone longer. However, if something bad happens and someone isn't around then trouble can follow. I say this, sitting a 2 hr plane flight away from my tank with nobody watching over it. I would recommend doing a water change before you go and then get as much automated as possible.

Top off and feeding are the biggest drivers of daily maintenence. An autotopoff set up and automatic fish food feeder will help this. Calcium can be managed by a calcium reactor, add a drainage reservoir for the skimmer and the rest can pretty much be managed by timers.

Agreed, I can walk away from my tank for a month or so as long as the power doesnt go out for more than a day.

Don

 

[forsaken541]

I have an auto top off and have timers for the lights and my skimmer drains into an old salt bucket. What is everyone here using for an auto feeder? I had one for a while to feed pellets but it fed too much and I came back last time to an algae problem from it over feeding. Is there a good reliable unit out there that isnt too spendy? Or has anyone ever made an auto feeder?
Erik

 

[DonW]

I have an auto top off and have timers for the lights and my skimmer drains into an old salt bucket. What is everyone here using for an auto feeder? I had one for a while to feed pellets but it fed too much and I came back last time to an algae problem from it over feeding. Is there a good reliable unit out there that isnt too spendy? Or has anyone ever made an auto feeder?
Erik

I have a Ehiem feeder that works well. I did mod it to run off my tanks 12v supply. I also have a diy nori feeder. I moded and motorized a joint roller, mounted in a acrylic box. It feeds sheets of nori down into the tank a little at a time. For extented periods I just stack 5 sheets and cut back the roller advance time by 4/5.

Don

 

[Meche]

I moded and motorized a joint roller,

:lol: ROFLMAO :lol: I love this place

 

[Nu2SaltH2O]

What abou those who will be away for 4 days ? Can fish survive without any feedings that long ? Just a thought once I get my tank up and running in the next year or so.

 

[Vicki]

I have a Ehiem feeder that works well. I did mod it to run off my tanks 12v supply. I also have a diy nori feeder. I moded and motorized a joint roller, mounted in a acrylic box. It feeds sheets of nori down into the tank a little at a time. For extented periods I just stack 5 sheets and cut back the roller advance time by 4/5.

Don

Don, you amaze us.... I did a search on the Internet for a Joint Roller and learned how I could roll my own.

Do you already have a thread on this one? I'd sure be interested in trying this out too.

Reef Frontiers should start a Forum of Don's Inventions!

Vicki

 

[trido]

I return home tomorrow from a week long trip. My tank is 6 mo. old and I thought that I had the bugs worked out. LOL. Mt brother has called me with questions everyday. From kalk drip rates to malfuntioning ATO switches (due to the open bag of carbon).. Nothing that was serious but I'm sure he was more stressed than me over these little issues. It will be interesting to see what the Alk/Ca. levels are at. If you can get someone (even the friendly neighbor) to just check on things occasionally (not to feed) you will likely sleep better on your vacation.