Is an Autonomous tank even possible

[geddavis]

So I will be leaving for school next year and there is no way I can keep a 100 gallon rsr 350 in my dorm. So I have done everything I can to make my tank autonomous. All that has to be done is refilling the ato and awc every 3 weeks and refilling the dosing containers. And of course daily feedings my parents will do. I will also have a professional come every 2 weeks to do other things like testing and cleaning equipment. So will this work for 4 years or should I sell off my livestock and restart the tank when I graduate?

 

[reefwiser]

Many have tried. An aquarium is a dynamic system and while one can automate equipment. The life within the aquarium has other ideas.

 

[MSB123]

So I will be leaving for school next year and there is no way I can keep a 100 gallon rsr 350 in my dorm. So I have done everything I can to make my tank autonomous. All that has to be done is refilling the ato and awc every 3 weeks and refilling the dosing containers. And of course daily feedings my parents will do. I will also have a professional come every 2 weeks to do other things like testing and cleaning equipment. So will this work for 4 years or should I sell off my livestock and restart the tank when I graduate?

I would get an automatic feeder- look at the unstoppable hopper- https://www.customaquariums.com/information/unstoppable-hopper.html
I would also increase the size of the AWC container- For my new tank, It will be 200 gallons- 1 box of IO salt and fill it with RODI and its done.

 

[geddavis]

My awc and ato are 2 40 breeders. I do a 10gallon weekly change so in theory it should last 4 weeks do you think that is enough. My idea is that tanks in restaurants and companies are often taken care of by a company so why not a residential tank.

 

[reefwiser]

You can have a service company come in and do maintenance on you tank. I wouldn't rely on equipment to do all the work just leads to failure down the road.

 

[Waters]

In a perfect world, yes, it can be done. Unfortunately equipment fails and things go wrong.....as long as your parents can act on any dire issues (and you use a maintenance company) I don't see why you can't do it. I personally would just start over though.....4 years is a long time lol.

 

[harthag12]

I'd say it can be done, but 4 years while away at college, I'd sell it. You never know where life will lead you after college & if a 100g tank fits into that. Also while I love my tank I wouldn't want to be handicapped by it preventing me from enjoying my early 20's. Just my opinion.

 

[Turtlesteve]

I ran a tank like this through college. I only saw the tank once every 2-3 weeks on average. The tank was moderately stocked with a few fish and some easy SPS, LPS, clams, etc. My parents fed the fish and added water to the ATO container, and called me if anything was amiss. The tank got maybe 2 water changes a year and other general maintenance when I was in town (mostly, cleaning the ATO float switches and the effluent line on a homemade Ca reactor).

The tank went into a slow decline during college. It was set up with a deep sand bed which failed on me in slow motion. I ended up losing maybe half of the corals in total. I had a few clams survive the entire ordeal, one 7-8" Squamosa was the largest. I ended up taking the tank down anyways as I opted to go to graduate school after college.

I think it's do-able, depending on what you have stocked and how robust the system is.
It was not worth it, because I ended up taking the tank down anyways.

Steve

 

[ca1ore]

College is an awesome experience - focus on that!! Sell your livestock and restart when life allows.

 

[Millimylilly]

College is an awesome experience - focus on that!! Sell your livestock and restart when life allows.

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