My first vacation while having a reef tank.

[WisconsinReefing]

So I’m going on a 7 night cruise. And for all intense and purposes will be gone for 8 days.

My LFS offers a service to come check on things and feed, but it’s $75 and there is no way I can pay for that for 8 days. So I was thinking about having them come once, half way though.

I’ve been told that the first fan to 2-3 days without feeding, but I’ll just feel guilty the whole trip if I feel like they are starving.

My question is do those time release fish food things work? If so is there a particular brand that is better than others? I certainly don’t want to put anything in the tank that can screw with water chemistry etc. but if they can eat daily I’d be awfully happy.

Thanks for help

Shawn

 

[P-Dub]

$75.00 a visit?!? I'd look for an aquarium maintenance company first. The auto feeders do work when they work. I have a Neptune Apex with the Auto feeder connected. It worked for me my last time away.

 

[lkriley]

Ugh..what a spot to be in. Don't you have a friend or family member that can help out? Or even offer the $75 to a local HS or college kit that could use the $$ You can teach them what to do for time you are gone??? Better option than them not getting fed, or worst yet overfeeding and dealing with ammonia spike. You could even pre-portion the feedings for that person??

 

[boacvh]

I am a newbie and from my experience they won't starve. I think you have a good plan. I was gone for 17 days this year. Fish were completely fine on my auto feeder. I lost some corals due to alk drop though. (I didn't have a doser, now I do)
I installed a larger ATO just for while I was away. And I had one person come right on middle of the trip to check my alk.
My recommendation is to do a test before you leave. I.e. set everything up as if you were leaving but don't touch your tank (unless necsesry) for 7 days and log how your tank behaves w/o you.

And then set all up and enjoy your cruise!!!! Sounds like you'll have lots of fun

 

[krbnsol]

Auto feeders are fine - but you need to calibrate them to ensure they aren't dumping a ton of food in there each time it goes off.

I'd be concerned about the ATO and skimmer as well - as long as the life-support of the tank continues to work the fish should be fine.

Whatever you do --- make no changes or add any new stuff to the tank before you leave

 

[dwest]

So I’m going on a 7 night cruise. And for all intense and purposes will be gone for 8 days.

My LFS offers a service to come check on things and feed, but it’s $75 and there is no way I can pay for that for 8 days. So I was thinking about having them come once, half way though.

I’ve been told that the first fan to 2-3 days without feeding, but I’ll just feel guilty the whole trip if I feel like they are starving.

My question is do those time release fish food things work? If so is there a particular brand that is better than others? I certainly don’t want to put anything in the tank that can screw with water chemistry etc. but if they can eat daily I’d be awfully happy.

Thanks for help

Shawn

I use an eheim auto feeder. A cheap internet camera will also make you feel better. I just got back from being gone 3 weeks. No issues. A reliable ato is the most critical IMO. If you get someone to check in, make instructions very clear. In general, I don’t have anyone check unless there are extreme circumstance. Good luck and have fun.

 

[tehmadreefer]

I do a cruises every year.

Try to find a neighbor, friend, pet sitter type to watch/feed tank. If you just cannot find anyone either get an auto feeder for pelleted or just don’t feed. Your fish will be ok for that amount of time as they wil eat pods and such.

i always make 30g of top off water and put it in a brute trash can next to the rank and stick the ato pump in it. Haven’t had an issue yet on longer type vacations.

 

[Phildago]

Wyze Webcam and a 20 dollar wifi auto feeder. For less than 50 bucks you can set it up and literally watch them eat. Then you can trigger the feeder if you don't think they're getting enough. I'd set it all up and let it run for a week before even going. Refill the food before the trip and let the auto feeder feed small amount 6 or 7 times a day. That way if it doesn't feed enough 1 or 2 times out of the 6 or 7 it'll be fine.

 

[tehmadreefer]

A webcam isn’t gonna do the op any good since would be on a cruise.

 

[Phildago]

A webcam isn’t gonna do the op any good since would be on a cruise.

Why not? I can't imagine cruises don't have wifi. I mean that's pretty cool if they don't because it forces you to disconnect, but it's too isolating for some people.

 

[tehmadreefer]

Why not? I can't imagine cruises don't have wifi. I mean that's pretty cool if they don't because it forces you to disconnect, but it's too isolating for some people.

Kinda... You are limited to what you can connect to and in order to even be able to try to connect to a webcam you have to pay for the premium WiFi and even then it most likely wouldn’t work. The cruise lines controls what app/websites you can or cannot connect to and it’s slowwwwww.

personally I completely disconnect, my phone goes in the safe and is only used to take pictures. my wife gets the mid tier WiFi that is able to connect to WhatsApp and Facebook.

when your in port you can get on traditional WiFi.

 

[DSEKULA]

I'm in a similar situation with a trip right around the corner that will be my first time away from the reef for an extended time .
Thankfully I do have someone that can stop by a few times to feed.
I plan on pre-portioning out feedings in disposalable shot cups with days of the week sharpied on them. There will be very specific notes posted on the tank itself. I even write things on my tanks with wet erase markers when necessary (I do it for myself through qt to keep track). I've been gone up to three days before for an extended weekend and never had a tank sitter so I'd think having someone do a visit once or twice should be fine as long as you don't have any specialized eaters etc.
I use a very hands off reefing approach so wc, dosing, and topping off the tank happen without human interaction. I understand that not everyone can or wants to automate however if possible I'd at least recommend an ato if you don't have one. Unless I had a very experienced trusted fellow reefer near by I wouldn't trust anyone to dose my tank, a sitter would do the absolute minimum with everything pre-portioned and labled, obviously what's necessary will change with what stock is in the tank but I'd just keep anything as simple and minimal as possible if it's just feeding I'd say your fine with one or two visits while your away. Good luck and enjoy your vacation

 

[dwest]

Kinda... You are limited to what you can connect to and in order to even be able to try to connect to a webcam you have to pay for the premium WiFi and even then it most likely wouldn’t work. The cruise lines controls what app/websites you can or cannot connect to and it’s slowwwwww.

personally I completely disconnect, my phone goes in the safe and is only used to take pictures. my wife gets the mid tier WiFi that is able to connect to WhatsApp and Facebook.

when your in port you can get on traditional WiFi.

I usually check things out on my camera when in port. Cruise WiFi is definitely slooooow.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Keep in mind that not all fish will take to an auto feeder right off the bat. I had to put some pellets in garlic to get my puffer to even acknowledge them.

I would be everything in your power to have someone check in about 4 days in for top off/alk dosing/checkup. Not sure of your automation level right now but If $75 is your best option for tank security then bite the bullet.

 

[WisconsinReefing]

Why not? I can't imagine cruises don't have wifi. I mean that's pretty cool if they don't because it forces you to disconnect, but it's too isolating for some people.

WiFi is Incredibly expensive So we don’t get it. Also, I have a corporate job, and own a side business so once a year the complete disconnection doesn’t hurt lol

Anyone live in Wisconsin and want to make some extra cash? Haha

 

[piranhaman00]

WiFi is Incredibly expensive So we don’t get it. Also, I have a corporate job, and own a side business so once a year the complete disconnection doesn’t hurt lol

Anyone live in Wisconsin and want to make some extra cash? Haha

I live in Wisconsin, near madison, where you at? I would definitely help out!

 

[Duff]

Where about do you live? If it’s close I might stop in and check things and feed your fish

 

[WisconsinReefing]

Oh man! You guys are amazing. Piranha unfortunately a bit far from you, I’m just west of Milwaukee.

 

[All Mixed Up]

I have used a family member in the past to check on my tank during vacation.

The key is to overload them with information.

All of my plumbing lines are labeled, ie: drain, emergency drain, return line, skimmer, literally everything has a p touch label on it. All of my plugs are also labeled. That way if there is an issue I can walk them through by asking what they are looking at and what the label says.

Only had one issue with a skimmer cup overflowing, which was labeled skimmer cup lol, and had them remove it, empty it, and replace it.

I also used weekly pill containers that are divided by the day, and just placed flakes and pellets in each day, and all they had to do was open that days food section and dump it in the tank.

Hope this helps.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

If you have not written a detailed tank sitter guide, its worth it to have it on a cloud/saved to just send in a flash. Agree with above about labeling and overloading information. I have my entire tank history and instructions documented in like a 4 page guide in case I am incapacitated for a long time frame or need to leave town.