leaving on vacation

[sergifed91]

how does everyone get there tank prepared before going on vacation. I plan on doing a major water change, turning off my skimmer for a week and putting in an air pump for that week. and leaving instructions with the fiancé on what to do with feeding and the red mangroves. what are the thoughts on this. not to worried about power outages since My generator will kick in if the power goes out.

 

[Retro Reefer]

Turning off skimmer is probably a good idea.. other than feeding the other big issue would be topping off your tank because of evaporation or keeping your ATO full and I would assume you have made sure your sump wont overflow because of back syphoning in case of pump failure. Oh BTW air pumps can create a huge amount of salt creep so you may want to keep that in mind when placing your air stone

 

[pugcrush]

how does everyone get there tank prepared before going on vacation. I plan on doing a major water change, turning off my skimmer for a week and putting in an air pump for that week. and leaving instructions with the fiancé on what to do with feeding and the red mangroves. what are the thoughts on this. not to worried about power outages since My generator will kick in if the power goes out.

How big is your tank? How many fish? Turning off skimmer might not be the best idea. I don't do a water change the day of. At least 24 hrs prior to leaving (what happens if its bad water/bad batch of salt/etc). Can you get a tank sitter to check on things one day? I usually have my fish fed once if I'm gone 5-7 days. Unless you have fish with special needs or have to be fed multiple times a day (anthias or possibly tangs), they'll be fine. But I've gone 5 days without feeding. They get fed well year round.

 

[sergifed91]

How big is your tank? How many fish? Turning off skimmer might not be the best idea. I don't do a water change the day of. At least 24 hrs prior to leaving (what happens if its bad water/bad batch of salt/etc). Can you get a tank sitter to check on things one day? I usually have my fish fed once if I'm gone 5-7 days. Unless you have fish with special needs or have to be fed multiple times a day (anthias or possibly tangs), they'll be fine. But I've gone 5 days without feeding. They get fed well year round.

60 g tank.fiance will be feeding.6 fish in all and a few frsgs.

 

[pugcrush]

60 g tank.fiance will be feeding.6 fish in all and a few frsgs.

Ah even better if you got someone home. I'd give some relatively detailed instructions (on paper) over the basics (check water level to make sure ATO/overflow is working/check powerheads still going/account for all fish/etc) and then go over it. I'd still cut down on the feeding.

Also, if you've got an old smartphone laying around, you can download an app like 'presence' which you can get a live look at your tank. Granted it's not an HD look at it, but you can still get a look at your fish when you want and its free!

 

[sergifed91]

Ah even better if you got someone home. I'd give some relatively detailed instructions (on paper) over the basics (check water level to make sure ATO/overflow is working/check powerheads still going/account for all fish/etc) and then go over it. I'd still cut down on the feeding.

Also, if you've got an old smartphone laying around, you can download an app like 'presence' which you can get a live look at your tank. Granted it's not an HD look at it, but you can still get a look at your fish when you want and its free!

I Actually have a web cam that I'm going to be using. it's HD and then from there have to try to figure out how I can view it from my pc to phone.

 

[Mical]

When we go on vacation (usually winter time) A couple weeks prior I test both tanks w/glass lids on to slow down evaporation. I watch temps and PH w/Apex, have cameras on both sumps aimed at skimmers, make sure ATOs are full and sensors on ATO are clean and auto feeders are topped off. Doing this in advance gives me idea of evaporation rate and PH results. Plus I have a house sitter check on place every other day