*Leaving for a week - what to do about the tank??*

[DocPalmer]

S

Don't have any friends that would be willing/able to come all the way out here.

It will also be a military based camp, so I won't have any phone or be able to use anyone else's.

Sounds like you don’t have much of a choice my friend.

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

Well, my tank definitely isn't complex, lol.

Here is the livestock:

• 2x DaVinci Clownfish
• 1x Diamond Goby
• 1x Scarlet Hermit Crab
• 1x Turbo snail
• 1x... other snal (forgot the name ;Facepalm )

Coral:

• 1x Mottled Hammer
• 3x paly colonies
• 2x zoa colonies
• 2x ricordea mushrooms
• 2x 'bounce' mushrooms

----

The hammer is what concerns me the most. I just got it today, and I don't really want to leave it? :/

Whoever watches it will most likely not notice if something is wrong and they only will if somethings extremely wrong. Just have backup plans. What would you do right now if something bad happened to it? Then apply that to paper if possible for they can do it. They may not be able to fix the problem because they don’t have years of experience. When I say complex, I mainly mean needs to be dosed very often and some fish need to be fed more than once a day. From what you have said above, it doesn’t look like anything needs to be dosed or feed multiple times. Still may want to be prepared just in case though. Ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

i would say ask your neighbor but put all the food you would feed for the day in one bg and if its frozen put them in the freezer and mark each bag with a day "monday, teusday etc. " and show her how to do it once and then just text her everyday to remind her. you could ask a friend to do the same thing if you really dont trust your neighbor

^This. Create containers of allotted food for each day. Good idea

They haven't fully decided yet, but they are leaning towards no.

Trust me. This means no

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

I have a lot of experience in this so I’m adding all my expertise. I typically go away from my tank for 5 days every two weeks so it’s a constant battle. Make sure to do all the weekly maintenance (replace filters, dump protein skimmer if you have one, pick off algae, do water change, etc) before you leave. Even if it isn’t the traditional day you do those things, do it right before you leave. If one of those needs to be done during one of the days you’re gone (like a water change) you definitely can’t trust them doing one for you in that time. And it just makes taking care of your tank easier for them.

 

[sfin52]

Don't worry about the glass you can scrape whe you get back. Kiss. Pre measure food and mark days to be feed. And top of water with tank or sump marked.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

They haven't fully decided yet, but they are leaning towards no.

As a parent who was not too long ago a teenage boy myself James let me insight on you some wisdom. Your parents are never more full of crap than when they say maybe / I haven't decided yet.

 

[Gtinnel]

If you have a ATO that can go a week I agree with just getting an autofeeder to feed the fish while you are gone. I'll be gone for a week at the beginning of July and that is my plan, although I do have family close by who would go check on the tank if I asked.
I've had my parents watch my tank in the past and I just had them take care of the tank for a week before I was gone so I could oversee and make sure they were doing it right.

 

[Stellar Aquatics]

It's only a week, how stocked is the tank? Before I went fully automated, I measured out cups of top off RODI for each day, with 2 part already distributed, marks on the sump to make it foolproof to see water level, and a frozen cube or two a day. Also left a simple "TODO" list for my mom when she'd come over to check on the cats. Best of luck!

 

[willieboy240]

This is what I would do. Buy a wyze or something similar. You can monitor, listen and talk thru that device.
add a automatic feeder and ato 3 days before.
then don’t touch anything and observe until you leave.
check the aquarium everyday. If something goes wrong. Call the neighbor and have her come over. You can instruct her thru the wyze camera.

 

[HB AL]

With the light stocking you have I would just have the neighbor feed a couple times pre portioned by you in small cups as mentioned and mark a line in your sump and just have them top off. Tune your skimmer way down so it skims very dry if at all so it won't need to be emptied. Everything will be fine you'll just come home to algae on the glass. Kiss as much as possible for the neighbor. Option one would be ideal if you really trust them and have known them for many years, as I understand your parents concern.

 

[dank reefer]

I think as long as you have a way to top off your tank, being gone foe a week will should not affect your corals or fish.

Check your equipment out thoroughly but don't perform maintenance on it unless it really needs it.

 

[threebuoys]

I think as long as you have a way to top off your tank, being gone foe a week will should not affect your corals or fish.

Check your equipment out thoroughly but don't perform maintenance on it unless it really needs it.

I agree, the tank should survive 1 week as long as evaporation doesn't force the salinity level very high. If you have a lid on your tank, evaporation should not be a problem. If you have an auto top off, you should be fine if you don't have a lid.
If the fish have been eating well, they should be able to go a week with no problem.

If you have a skimmer, I would consider turning it off for the week to avoid any potential overflow from occurring while you are gone.

A problem with asking an inexperienced person to monitor, what are they going to be able to do if a problem arises anyway?

 

[dkeller22]

In my past experience having inexperienced people "take care" of your tank while you're away does more harm than good. Have your neighbor keep the water level at some mark you make on your sump, check the temp, and feed the fish once in the middle of the week. Nothing is going to starve in 7 days.

The only other advice is that you should have a plan on how someone would notify you or you're parents that something is very wrong with the tank. Like there is water on the floor, the heaters failed, or the pumps aren't running.

 

[PhilMStudy]

I know I'm cutting this REALLY close, but I need help.

I'm going to a week long 'summer camp' next week, and I leave Sunday. Normally, I would ask one of my family members to take of them. However, all my family is coming. That means no one at the house.

What should I do??

My mom suggested I ask one of my neighbors to do it, but 1) I don't trust her with anything alive (she takes pretty bad care of her farm animals/pets), and 2) she is NOT experienced whatsoever.

Now, my LFS does do home tank maintenance, but my parents don't want anyone coming in the house, because "They just don't feel comfortable with a total stranger coming in the house while we are gone". It is however, the OWNER of my LFS. He's a really chill guy, and does ALL of home tank maintenance.

----

Should I:

1) Try to convince my parents to trust the owner of my LFS to come take care of the tank. (Because he knows what he's doing, super knowledgeable)

OR

2) Go with the neighbor... 0-0

I would do nest cameras and the LFS owner

 

[WVNed]

I would get the neighbor to look at it twice during the week. Only feed twice and add water. Touch nothing else.

 

[James_O]

I would get the neighbor to look at it twice during the week. Only feed twice and add water. Touch nothing else.

If it just had fish, I wouldn't be so worried. However, I just got new coral.

The softies don't concern me, it's the hammer that concerns me. (It is my very first LPS)

 

[James_O]

If you have a ATO that can go a week I agree with just getting an autofeeder to feed the fish while you are gone. I'll be gone for a week at the beginning of July and that is my plan, although I do have family close by who would go check on the tank if I asked.
I've had my parents watch my tank in the past and I just had them take care of the tank for a week before I was gone so I could oversee and make sure they were doing it right.

I think as long as you have a way to top off your tank, being gone foe a week will should not affect your corals or fish.

Check your equipment out thoroughly but don't perform maintenance on it unless it really needs it.

This is what I would do. Buy a wyze or something similar. You can monitor, listen and talk thru that device.
add a automatic feeder and ato 3 days before.
then don’t touch anything and observe until you leave.
check the aquarium everyday. If something goes wrong. Call the neighbor and have her come over. You can instruct her thru the wyze camera.

Don't worry about the glass you can scrape whe you get back. Kiss. Pre measure food and mark days to be feed. And top of water with tank or sump marked.

Will they be OK eating dry food for a week? It's New Life Spectrum.

(I usually mix up their feeding, going from frozen to dry every other day)

 

[James_O]

As a parent who was not too long ago a teenage boy myself James let me insight on you some wisdom. Your parents are never more full of crap than when they say maybe / I haven't decided yet.

 

[Frizzy reefnewb]

I know I'm cutting this REALLY close, but I need help.

I'm going to a week long 'summer camp' next week, and I leave Sunday. Normally, I would ask one of my family members to take of them. However, all my family is coming. That means no one at the house.

What should I do??

My mom suggested I ask one of my neighbors to do it, but 1) I don't trust her with anything alive (she takes pretty bad care of her farm animals/pets), and 2) she is NOT experienced whatsoever.

Now, my LFS does do home tank maintenance, but my parents don't want anyone coming in the house, because "They just don't feel comfortable with a total stranger coming in the house while we are gone". It is however, the OWNER of my LFS. He's a really chill guy, and does ALL of home tank maintenance.

----

Should I:

1) Try to convince my parents to trust the owner of my LFS to come take care of the tank. (Because he knows what he's doing, super knowledgeable)

OR

2) Go with the neighbor... 0-0

When I went away I left my lights on low intensity for 5 days ...everything was fine but massive algae build up....didn’t feed the fish either

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

Will they be OK eating dry food for a week? It's New Life Spectrum.

(I usually mix up their feeding, going from frozen to dry every other day)

Just make sure they eat it first while you’re there. If they don’t eat it while you’re there, you may want to find another alternative of stick with what you’ve got. It’s always good to mix up your food too.

 

[WVNed]

Forget about what you usually do. Think along the lines of life support until you get back. A non fish person feeding your fish can kill them all.
I am not sure what your concern over the hammer is. All it needs is for the light to come on and everything to work.

If you already feed dry have 2 premeasured portions out and have them feed that and add water if you don't use an ATO. If you do have them refill it.