vacation advice

What does everyone recommend to do with your tanks when you go on vacation? I have had some serious bad luck in the past (when it was a FOWLR) and some good luck. This is my first "reef" vacation. It will be for 9 days and I'm having a very trustful college student house sit.

So, I was thinking on putting the tank in sort of dormant mode with just intermittent lights on and feeding every other day. I only have one SPS and the rest of my corals are softies.

I have nothing automated (please check name). What do people do? I know those with fully automated systems may say nothing but if one doesn't have an automated system, do you think my idea is ok?

Really interested in input on this. Thx in advance for input!

 

Well Since you have a trust worthy person coming over to house sit, could you not make a to-do list that they would be able to follow for a simple regime while your away?

The last times i had to travel for work I've taught my GF to be able to run the tank. Simple feedings, she even knows how to dose. Ive switched most of my system to run by itself, ATO, and a controller keeps everything in check.

As for lights why would you alter their schedule? cut back on feedings is a good idea, do you have to worry about evaporation? top offs etc...

 

to minimalize the regime for the sitter and to cut back on any potential algae growth from nutrients if something happens. I do have to top off with one gallon a day so that will be all laid out and pretty easy to do.

The other issue I have is that my skimmer cup needs tweaking a lot. I know I can't really teach that skill so I want to minimize maintenance as much as possible. Would there be harm in having my lighting schedule reduced substantially?

I should also add we have two dogs, several plants that need regular watering, and a pond to maintain.

 

I would set your skimmer to run dry so the skimmer doesn't overflow. Keep the lighting the same and feeding every other day to hopefully keep overfeeding down. If you feel the house sitter is competent then I think you should be able to teach them how you want the tank fed.

 

If you can avoid feeding frozen in the time your gone that will help cut back on nutrients. I would go with a high quality dry food like Elos or Fauna Marin.

+1 to what 2in 10 said. If your skimmer cup overflows its worse than not feeding in my opinion. Drier skim shouldnt hurt.

Not sure if you have an ATO but I would get one. Its really good at keeping your parameters. Also it will help your skimmer maintain proper water level. As a note I'm wondering if this will also help you with your having to adjust your skimmer all the time.

I would teach your house sitter how to dose once a day. Its not hard, just needs to get done. At least calcium and alk.

Do a water change the day before you leave. Why not the day of? Reason for this is so you can monitor tank conditions and you can have peace of mind when you leave that parameters are where they should be.

Change your filter sock the day you leave. Who knows if the house sitter will over feed on accident. 9 days is a long time to go without changing your sock in any case. Perhaps a mid week sock change can be taught to the sitter.

Thats all I can think of. Other things can wait till you come back. Hope this helps.

 

I would not do anything different with my lights. 9 days is a long time for the tank to run without proper lighting. I would personally take skimmer off line and have the sitter feed every 3 days. Honestly, your tank would probably be ok without feeding the entire time but I wouldn't risk it plus that's a little cruel. I think, with minimal feeding, the age of your tank, and the stock list, you would be just fine. That's just what I would do. You don't want someone without any experience tweaking on your skimmer or anything like that.

 

I would send all your livestock to my address and I'll just put them in my tank. Problem solved

 

As far as the lights go, it sounds like you manually turn them on and off? If so, go down to Home Depot and get yourself some timers They have an 8 outlet one, with 4 being on a timer for relatively cheap.

Otherwise, all of the other advice is solid

 

I know it's hard to believe that yes, I do manually turn my lights on and off. As bizarre as it sounds, I like doing things manually. The timer for vacation makes total sense though. Home Depot here I come