Another new tank vacation question

Dan8812

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I'm new to the hobby and my tank has just completed cycling as I'm getting ready to leave town for two weeks. From what I'm reading, it looks like I don't have to worry about feeding the bacteria in this time period and there are no fish or corals to worry about yet. What I'm concerned about is keeping the water topped off so I don't end up running the return pump dry. The question I have is: can I turn off the pump/heater while I'm gone and just let the water evaporate naturally, topping off the system with fresh RODI when I get back or will the stagnant tank lead to a nasty surprise when I get back?
 
I'm new to the hobby and my tank has just completed cycling as I'm getting ready to leave town for two weeks. From what I'm reading, it looks like I don't have to worry about feeding the bacteria in this time period and there are no fish or corals to worry about yet. What I'm concerned about is keeping the water topped off so I don't end up running the return pump dry. The question I have is: can I turn off the pump/heater while I'm gone and just let the water evaporate naturally, topping off the system with fresh RODI when I get back or will the stagnant tank lead to a nasty surprise when I get back?
Add final dose as you depart, turn lights off (assuming no livestock- unplug heater as its the #1 component to fail when one goes away) and enjoy your trip
 
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Couldn't you just buy an ato and have a container with rodi in next to tank or in sump and that will sort out Any evaporated water ?

Edit: i personally wouldn't want to leave stagnant water in tank while on holiday,I would of just filled tank up ehen returned from holiday lol.
But you not mentioned if you have a sump but if you have you could take sump offline and all equipment and just leave a powerhead running in dt and put heater in dt also so you have flow and heat,but maybe don't need a heater in dt depending on your ambiemt room temperature as bacteria are very resilient
 
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Thanks for the feedback so far. I do have an ATO that tops off the sump, but my current reservoir only holds about a weeks worth of water and I'm concerned about syphoning overfilling the sump if I go with a larger reservoir. The powerhead suggestion is interesting. I have one but haven't set it up yet. Thanks.
 
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Thanks for the feedback so far. I do have an ATO that tops off the sump, but my current reservoir only holds about a weeks worth of water and I'm concerned about syphoning overfilling the sump if I go with a larger reservoir. The powerhead suggestion is interesting. I have one but haven't set it up yet. Thanks.
Can you show a picture of your current ATO setup? Whatever you do, it should be setup so it won's siphon.
 
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As other mentioned. Enjoy vacation turn all off and just add power power head well below surface. I would even put a plexiglass lid on to reduce evaporation. It just water at this point and the bacteria will live
 
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Cover tank with saran wrap to lessen evaporation and I do not trust ATO during extended absence. My luck, it keeps running
 
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Not sure on tank size or sump size so my next suggestion depends on this but if already got a ato set up and you say rodi reservoir only hold enough top up for about 1 weeks evaporation,then if possible you could drain some water out sump but ovniously enough to keep pump running then add larger rodi reservoir for top up then if ato sensor did fail and kept running,now you have extra space in your sump for the extra rodi water,ovbiously if ato fails and stops topping off then sump will go below return pump quicker and pump will run dry but above is option also.
But best bet in my opinion is turn temperature of tank down and dont run your sump and put heater in dt if needed and install a powerhead in dt for flow but don't aim powrrhead at surface therefore reducing surface agitation and therefore reducing evaporation and add some kind of lid so less heat,less surface agitation and lid will = less evaporation and bacteria really resident but if salinity rises a bit and bacteria go dormant or a few die or even if all dies then worse that will happen is just possible start your cycle again but there alot of depends in our answers as you not mentioning size of tank/ sump,size of top up reservoir,how long your holiday is for,how long tank need cycled for so far,plus lots of other info that could be useful.
All I do when go on holiday is fill up top up reservoir and make sure it's not higher water level than sump water level so a gravity siphon doesn't start and put food in bags and telly tank sitter to keep eye on things and tell them if top up reservoir gets really low and will run out before I get back to use some rodi water and unscrew lid on top up reservoir and use a funnel to put some more rodi water in and pit thermoter on front glass and tell them to keep eye on temperature and few other important things like powrrheads still breaking water surface and message me if some these important things are not how I want it then I will explain what to do on a video call ^_^

Edit: you could also drain sump and turn all equipment off in sump and put ato on dt Instead of sump and have larger ato and if ato did fail and stayed on then the extra rodi water would just flow down into sump drilling that up so wouldn't get flood from ato being left on ( ovbiously don't have such a large reservoir so could and ovbiously still would want powerhead in dt and maybe heater in dt.
Lots of ways you could work this situation but again only water and at most a bottle of bacteria in dt so of had start cycle again,not that big a deal in opinion ^_^
 
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Where is the filter at? If your filter is on live rock in the main tank you could shut down the main pump but keep a powerhead circulating the water in the main tank. Evaporation in that main hopefully will not dry out the tank in two week.

If the live rock in your sump, put it in the main tank before you go on vacation.
 
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To answer a couple of the questions, I have a Reefer 425 with the sump that comes with the tank. The ATO tank I'm using is 20 gal (I think), but it is a good bit taller than the sump, leading to syphoning issues if filled above the sump level. I can get 10-12 gal in it before the water level of the two tanks starts equalize. The filter is live rock/sand in the tank and some rock in the sump. As alluded to by someone else, I'm trying to enjoy one last vacation without needing a tank sitter.

I've got the powerhead installed so there will be flow in the DT and I think I've got some plexiglass big enough to be a cover. If not, I've definitely got Saran. Appreciate all the help.
 
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IF YOU HAD TO TAKE A REEFING EXAM, WOULD YOU PASS?

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