Going out of town

[Europa]

I’m going to be out of town for three weeks during the holidays. I got an automatic fish feeder, and I can control the aquarium lights with my phone. I have a web cam to see the aquarium and have a neighbor on call for any emergency. I plan on doing a 20% water change before leaving and cleaning the filter. Anything else I am missing?

 

[Be102]

Auto top off? From evaporation

 

[Fishy212]

Be sure to compensate for any dosing!

I would have a backup installed just in case.

I never was a big fan of auto feeders. Bad experience.

 

[Phil D]

Yes a water topoff is necessary three weeks is a long time. How big is your tank, and how much water do you go through in a week. Do the math it's important.

 

[Auquanut]

Can't agree more about the ATO. Is there any chance that you could get this good neighbor to come over every couple of days to check vitals like temp, flow, etc...? Cameras are great, but you may not get alerted until there's already a problem.

 

[Europa]

It's 60 gallons. I normally don't have a lot of water evaporating, just top off every other week or so, but will look into that.

 

[Variant]

I travel a tone so here are things I consider for my tank.

1. Water evap
2. Webcam of sump levels with painters tape indicating normal levels, im case ato malfunctions I can tell and take action.
3. Skimmer collection cup, sometimes I will hook up to a skimmate collection cup. I also have a webcam for this in case I need to turn off the skimmer or have it run only half days.
4. Fish feeder
5. Dosing automatically
6. Monitoring alk, esp in my sps tank. When you are not home, PH rises and growth increases so your dosing may not be sufficient while you are not home.
7. Saltwater additions via doser. Sometimes my skimmer takes a ton of skimmate out plus I have an alk tester taking out cample water so I have a doser dosing back saltwater into the tank to maintajn consistent salinity.

Might be missing something but this is it. Most important thing is to never mess with your tank right before leaving. If you know youre traveling, make this changes way in advance so yoi can work out the kinks because there are always kinks.

 

[Mical]

Do you have a skimmer?

This is where a controller "earns it's keep".

 

[vetteguy53081]

+1,2,3,4,5 on ATO. Low water will invite micro bubbles and possible equaipment failure such as heater if not kept at level.
Add a small bag of Chemi Pure Blue also.

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

@Variant is absolutely correct on the list and webcams (one on display and one in sump). I can't count the number times I'm traveling and have noticed an issue in the sump area and was able to call home and walk through the solution with the tank sitter while watching on my cellphone via the camera. Best $30 I ever spent on my tank! Also label all your equipment in your sump so whoever is watching your tank knows that the "doo-hickey-with-bubbles-and-tubing-with-a-clear-cup-on-top-of-it" is called the skimmer....

 

[Be102]

@Variant is absolutely correct on the list and webcams (one on display and one in sump). I can't count the number times I'm traveling and have noticed an issue in the sump area and was able to call home and walk through the solution with the tank sitter while watching on my cellphone via the camera. Best $30 I ever spent on my tank! Also label all your equipment in your sump so whoever is watching your tank knows that the "doo-hickey-with-bubbles-and-tubing-with-a-clear-cup-on-top-of-it" is called the skimmer....

Care to link your camera?!

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

@Be102 my sump camera model is apparently discontinued but my display camera is the same price and has the ability to broadcast in HD...

 

[SashaM24]

Have to add a +1 for some sort of ATO. Even if its just a couple gallon jugs laying around with a mark on your sump for the "upper most" safe level of water for your tank sitter. Skimmer can also be something to think about just in case it goes haywire.