Vacation tank maintenance

[melanie]

Just wondering what you do when you go on vacation and maintaining your tank. 

 

I've had the inlaws try to feed last time I went out of town and they totally over fed, somehow turned off the ato and the skimmer pump happened to also randomly break that weekend 🤨... needless to say one week out of town took months to recover. Heading to Hawaii next month and just want to see what others do? 

[reefcam]

I have the Apex A2 monitoring my tank and also have a webcam that I can watch my tank remotely.  My tank is hooked up to my house water for ATO.  For feeding, I have an Auto-feeder.  And most important part.  I have a couple of people to call on if my tank is sending alerts.

 

[LavenderTi]

After a similar problem with overfeeding, I now use pill organizers and autofeeders. My grindall worm culture can't be autofed, otherwise everything else is on autofeeders.

I have a 360 camera that I leave in front of the aquarium with the doors open. That way if I need to check something out I can. My Apex has also given piece of mind with temps and water levels. My recommendation is try out a week or so by using your vacation method.

Also labeling your equipment plugs so you can give better instruction to who's watching the tank.

[shaywood]

If we are gone more than 5 days, I have an employee at our LFS check the tank every 3 days. My son feeds the tank daily with food I prepare and put in the frig using small single-feed containers. 

Considering how much we invest in our tanks, having someone check the tank is a small investment. 

I also have an Apex and webcam to watch the numbers. 

[obrien.david.j]

I've got Apex and Wyze Cam Pan v3, which means I can check on things and pan around from my cell phone.

Besides watching the tank for abnormalities, I only have two tasks needed daily.

1. Feed the fish
2. Daily trace element additives

If I'm gone for a weekend, I don't do Anything.   No Fish food, no trace element additions.   Safer and more convenient

If I'm gone for up to a week, Fish Sitter time.   I ask them to feed Frozen Cubes, with written instructions how many per tank.  (usually less than normal)   six cubes in main tank, two cubes in 1st frag tank, 1 cube in 2nd frag tank.    And I tell them if they forget a day... No Problem - just skip it.

If I'm gone >1wk, Fish Sitter, with a bit more experience.    Same story on food.   I just buy a stack of frozen cubes.   But I have to train them on trace elements.  Each bottle is labeled, there are seven of them.   4 squirts of this, 2 squirts of that, 5 squirts, 7 squirts, 10ml this, 12ml that, 25ml last (Iron).   Same instructions, if they forget a day - No sweat, skip it.

At the same time, I've got 1-2 friends who I notify of being out of town - and leave their name and cell number for the fish sitters - In case of Emergencies/Big concerns.

 

I once got a call, after traveling international for around 30hours, from a fish sitter.   Didn't answer the first time (was asleep), didn't answer the 2nd time (woke up, but was TIRED), answered the 3rd call - which is the emergency signal.  I'll drop Anything if I get three calls in a row.   

[Kerbash]

I have my relatives/friends look over my tank, but its definitely not perfect. Last vacation my acro frag rank fell into my frogspawn frag rack, and my poor cousin had no clue what she was doing 😅. She said she put everything back but she essentially put dead rocks onto frag racks while leaving the acros on the tank floor... I lost A LOT of acros that day...

[chewyblunts]

i often travel for 2-3 weeks+ at a time.  best thing ive done so far is to set up a webcam so you can get visual confirmation everything looks ok.  helps if you have a friendly neighbor as well for emergencies.  

i also never make any changes for like a month before hand especially with equipment.   

 

[HereFishy]

To add on to the auto-feeder topic, I found that not all are created equal so doing a little research there doesn’t hurt. And it probably would be good to run it for a couple days before you go to make sure you have it programmed just right.  I wouldn’t wait until the last minute.  Also, I found that a feeding ring is great so that you have less food going down your filter.

[obrien.david.j]

14 hours ago, chewyblunts said:

i also never make any changes for like a month before hand especially with equipment.   

Oh this is one of the most important pieces of advice.     Don't make any changes the Day Before.   (especially not the night before you fly out, thinking you'll get that one last thing done before leaving) 

Don't make any big equipment changes for longer.  1week, 1month - your choice.   But big equipment changes generate opportunites for big disasters. 

 

[chewyblunts]

soooo many times ill make a tiny equipment adjustment here or there.  and like a week later i'll notice the side effect its having.  just because i happened to be near the tank when it happening.  

basically gotta leave the tank untouched the whole month before you leave to make sure it just runs.

[titus'reef]

If you need to clean equipment do so at least a week before you’re going in vacation.  Like the post above, things need to be stable. Don’t clean your skimmer the night before you have to leave. Don’t touch the return pump the day you’re leaving. Etc. What I do the day before vacation is simply check to make sure dosing lines aren’t clogged and I refill the dosing containers and the rest is in the apps I’m using. (There is an app for everything).  I also have a spare return pump on standby just in case.  A couple people you trust is a must in case things don’t show right on your apex and camera.   
 

At the end of the day if you don’t tweak anything for weeks in a row while you’re home you shouldn’t have issues. 

[islandVib3s]

i would say if you're only gone for a week, you should be fine without feeding, i would monitor just the ato and heaters. im in vancouver and can possibly do a check it.

 

[melanie]

Thanks for all the help everyone, I think my biggest problem in the past has been making changes too close to the leave date. I'll be gone for 5 days and I think if I can get some water changes in before leaving and put an extra ATO jug out for the i laws to switch, i think it'll be okay. I appreciate all the input and will definitely be referring back for longer trips!

[ClownF1sh]

If you have a furbo or any kind of camera that allows you to monitor your apartment while your gone they are your best friends in these situations. I put my furbo on my sump, then fill my ATO, and have a buddy that knows the correct feeding amount (bit of an an outlier they are into fish just don't have a tank), and then segment the food PER day so there can be no confusion. If you arent comfortable with a friend/family doing this I'd reach out to a reefer you trust or build a relationship with a few locals so you can cover each other when you go out of town. Offering to just cover gas or throwing them a frag goes a long day, just gotta make sure its someone you can trust!