Going on Holiday....what must i do?

bit of a long post so i apologize and hope you don't get to bored with reading it lol my father has decided we need to go on a family vacation :-/ and has already arranged everything from flights to accommodation etc all as a part birthday present/long awaited holiday hes sorted the cat out but forgot my fish tank (typical )

i have every trust in all the equipment etc and i believe it can run alone for 5 days without interference however there are a few things i would like a little advice on

1. heat: at the moment we here in the UK are having a little heat wave were its getting up to around 32C or 89.6F (which is very hot for were i live) and I've had to watch the tank as i cant afford a chiller i can keep the temp down by having the windows open the lid and lights propped up away from the tank etc however while were on holiday the windows will have to be closed and locked shut and i don't trust leaving the tank for that long with the lid open in case the fish decide they want to see what life is like outside of the tank with no one here to put them back in (they haven't jumped yet but knowing my luck it will be when I'm not here)

2. feeding: i don't have a auto feeder but I've told my father that as he was the one that set it all up and got everything ready for the cat but forgot my tank he will have to pay for it. anyway i don't like not feeding them for a day or two as i get a guilty when there all starring at me when I'm sitting next to the tank when they haven't been fed at least once a day (but it is only small amounts enough so they don't just stare at me and do nothing else) i would ask someone to come and look after it but there isn't anyone who is free to do it as there ether on holiday or busy

3. skimmer: I've had mixed results with this as sometimes it seams to get nothing and doesn't need emptying for weeks at a time were as other times i need to empty it every few days or so (and there's no difference in what I'm doing to the tank between them) and again knowing my luck it will fill up in one day then be worse than useless for the next 4-5 days with no one here to sort it

4. water levels: i dont every really have a prob with this as it can be left quite a long time before it needs topping up but with this heat it needs topping up a lot more and i don't want the levels getting so low that the salt level gets affected or pumps and filters stop working (but i do very much doubt that that much water will be lost in just a few days!)

the rest of the tank seams to run perfectly fine without me ever having to do anything to it and i will give it a once over before we go e.g. making sure all the equipment is running perfectly no blockages the skimmer all cleaned out etc

i know the obvious one would be to just get someone in to look after it but annoyingly that's not an option but anything else you could recommend i do to help just make sure that nothing that could go wrong does go wrong would be greatly appreciated

 

Need one vital piece of info: How long will you be gone?

 

i said near the top about 5 days i think were going early on the sunday and coming back late on the wednesday possible early thursday

 

Well, if you're that worried about heat, you can leave the lights off the entire time. Everything will be OK with that.
I would see if you can get someone to come by your place once in the middle of it, and do a top off and a feed. Just set the water and food somewhere so all they have to do is come in, dump the stuff in the tank, and that's it.

 

Good luck dude.

 

i can try but as i said most of our neighbors around here are ether on there own holiday or busy but ill see if i can talk any of them into it if not i could try to get my father to pay out even more and buy me a auto top off i would like one of them anyway lol and get a auto feeder

 

Premeasured food. Yup. Otherwise disaster tends to strike.

 

well leaving the lights off wouldnt be a prob how much of a pH shift do you think there would be? i dont think i have high maintenance fish as i have 2x common clowns, 1x yellow tang, 1x regal tang, 1x three spot domino damsel, 1x emperor angle fish (juvenile), 1x humbug damsel and 2x horse shoe crabs. i prefer the idea of a over flow as well that way im not taking any chances and the skimmer can be left on would just simply drilling a small hole just below the top of the center tube and attaching something like airline tubing or something slightly bigger to allow it to drain be a good idea? and i dont have a sump yet i use a external canister filter

 

Drill a hole about 3/4 of the way up the collection cup. Then run a line to a bucket, milk carton, soda jug, whatever.
Bigger than an airline though. Use something like 8-10mm tubing, else it will clog easily and defeat the purpose.

 

fair enough ill go to the LFS and see if they got anything suitable prob in the morning if not tomorrow could i use any sort of glue or is it best to stick with the expensive stuff that is defo safe to use in a fish tank?