Vacation Prep- Newbie needs advice

[Russell Bennett]

I am going to go away the end of May for 10 day vacation, and was wondering if you folks had any advice for vacation prep.

I wanted to see if anybody sees something I am missing

I will have some we visit every few days-
1. Check Top water make sure it is sufficient
2. Dump skimmer collection cup
3. Feed fish- going to put selected amount in pill by day sorter
4. maybe unsure if they will think it is gross change filter floss once
5. Do dosing for Alk and Calcium

Concerns
1. What if something goes wrong could they fix (mother in law). I might need to get uncle in law up to speed on whats what.
2. Would they know what something going wrong looks like? aka no top pump running dry etc.
3. I don't run my ATO because I have been disallowed from another bucket in living room (how long would you run ATO to make sure it was working right) two weeks enough?
4. What did I not think of?

 

[njtiger24 aquariums]

one I am following cause I would like to see what other suggest.

Second I personally would be concern about having someone dose my tank. I seen a couple of people run into issues cause their tank was over dosed (not saying it will happen in this situation).

Have you thought maybe setting up a IP camera on the tank? You can pick up a PTZ cameras for around $60 on Amazon. I am thinking of getting one soon myself. This allow you to remotely check the equipment for any issues.

 

[mnat]

Great move in measuring out the fish food, that is always the one that non fish people mess up.

I would be careful with dosing unless you can do the same and leave out exactly measured portions. Depending on your coral load 10 days might be ok. What is your daily dosing and how much drop off do you normally see if you don't dose?

I would want the ATO bucket, tell your wife you guys are going to be gone therefor she can't see it.

That is the problem with people who do not know tanks, they will not know if something is wrong unless there is water everywhere or a pump is loudly announcing to the world there is no water. If you have someone close by, you can use them as an emergency backup person. Basically, have your MIL taking care of the tank but if something feels off, call your backup person who can take a look.

Last bit of advice, don't to any major changes like the day before you leave. If you need to change out any media or water changes or anything give yourself a few days to see how the tank reacts. A lot of people like to do major changes right before they leave and then can't recover because they are gone.

IP cameras are a good idea, also you can facetime your sitter when they are there to check if something is wrong as well.

 

[Aeb1419]

Ill tell you what. Give me your address and keys to your house. I will take care of everything. Although a couple of coral might go missing......... it happens.

 

[jmags080307]

I just left my tank for the first time. I was gone for 6 days and chose to not have someone come to feed or topoff. I don't have an ATO so I ran my skimmer really dry. It's a 60 gallon mixed reef and came home and everything was fine.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[horseplay]

When I was out I try to keep the task minimum for a non fish person. So I ask them to feed only one cube of frozen food. My filter sock overflows but that's ok. I also run the skimmer dry to minimize overflowing. Mnat suggested ip cam. I have one I bought from Amazon for $40 and it's great to have. It pans and tilts so you not only can look at the fish tank but everywhere.

 

[Mark...]

Get a reefer to watch it, laymen can do the easy stuff, but if there are issues, you might have a problem.

If you don't have a controller it would be wise to have one. They are tank savers...

 

[Mark_C]

Russell,
Where are you located? Maybe your mother in law can let a club member in on day 5 or so to check on the tank for you. If youre in my area i'd be happy to check it for you.

 

[kschweer]

All great advice above. I would suggest having your tank sitter come over a few times before you leave. This way the can see and hear what the tank should look and sound like when running correctly. This gives them at least an idea so they can notice if something isn't quite right. Best of luck, it's never easy leaving your tank.

 

[Russell Bennett]

Thanks all- I don't have a very sophisticated setup - and only a few frags as I am new and just starting out. I think I can coach someone up. I do wonder how the big tanks do it. I am really looking for to the next meeting I think I can make it

 

[NyteGTI]

you've only got a few frags & are dosing? what's your dosing schedule right now? how much daily of wehat i assume is 2part?

 

[art13]

What kind of fish do you have? An auto feeder is a cheap and good investment, when i left my tank for 3-4 days i bought an eheim and had it feed the tank once a day with NLS pellets. If you don't have demanding fish like i did at the time, a once a day feeding would be more than enough, i believe most fish can go a few days without food. for top off, get a large bucket or something and put it next to the tank and use that, just make sure you put the tube higher than the bucket itself so you don't start a siphon. You can use a long pvc pipe and stick the end of the top off tube in that to make it work. As for dosing, if you only have a few coral, how high is your demand? You might possibly want to invest in a doser at least for alk, if you have low demand you can get by without dosing calcium. BRS makes a cheap and good doser. I think it's 80 bucks. Lastly, anything you hook up to the tank, auto feeder, bigger bucket for top off, test it all before you go to make sure it is working properly, maybe set it up a day or two ahead of time. That way you can tell if the feeder will work properly, or if your ato setup is good and it doesn't start a syphon and a flood.