REEF TANK = NEVER ENJOY A VACATION AGAIN???

[FraghouseCorals]

What’s vacation???

 

[Scott Ulrich]

I'm taking a 3 week vacation in July and I have a reef, 3 freshwater tanks and an indoor turtle pond. A neighbor feeds the tanks and watches our dogs.

I have 2 filters in every fresh water tank And 2 heaters / 2 return pumps in the reef... I feel pretty good that things are backed up. But the thing that terrifies me is a long power outage.

I have a generator but its no good if I'm not there to start it and plug everything into it and refuel it as needed...

 

[lba4590]

I’ve only been on one vacation where I couldn’t find help, over Easter weekend for 4 days. Had everything automated and all the equipment worked just fine. My copperband won’t eat anything but frozen, everyone else eats from the auto feeder just fine. Came home to $100s in dead corals.. absolutely devoured a big lobo, trachy, 10 head duncan was a ball of brown slime, big acan colony, 2 button scolys, probably more I can’t remember. Going forward I will always have someone stop by at least once a day, and maybe not another copperband...

 

[Emerson]

+1 on Apex.
Yes, the whole system can be expensive, and there is almost always something extra to add (Birthdays and Christmas are taken care of forever). I easily have $1500 in mine. But, I travel for a living. My family loves the tank, but there is no way I could have a tank without a monitor/controller. You mentioned the heater failing; I have two heaters set up on the Apex for that very reason, each with their own controller, one set 0.5 deg lower than the other. They are redundantly backed up for overheating by APEX (turns the power off to heaters if the temp exceeds a preset). I dose 2-part with the Neptune DOS. If the pH exceeds a certain level, Apex turns the power off to the dosing pumps. Do you need an Apex? No. If Murphy and his two cousins come to town will you still be hosed? Yes. It's all about risk mitigation. But if you stress about your tank, it will give you peace of mind if you take the time to learn how to use it.

 

[drblank1]

I'm not knocking Apex, I know it would be a good investment, as I already have a Seneye. But the day they make a little, Italian plumber wearing a red hat that jumps out and fixes leaks and plugs in ATOs and stuff...I will buy one that day!

I understand your point. Still glad for Apex. While away for Easter, got a run-dry error from my Apex/COR. I was able to do some troubleshooting with my nephew (who was coming over to feed display and quarantine tanks once a day) to discover my RODI filter was not feeding my RODI holding/ATO tank. Before I left, I had closed the supply valve to my RODI filter to do maintenance prior to leaving for vacation and forgot to reopen the supply valve. Nephew opened the valve and problem solved.

Lessons learned

1. Create a "Leaving for vacation checklist" knowing this will evolve over time
2. Add a low-level switch to my RODI holding tank
3. Keeping learning from my mistakes. #3 is really not a new lesson.

 

[Klyle]

I’ve only been on one vacation where I couldn’t find help, over Easter weekend for 4 days. Had everything automated and all the equipment worked just fine. My copperband won’t eat anything but frozen, everyone else eats from the auto feeder just fine. Came home to $100s in dead corals.. absolutely devoured a big lobo, trachy, 10 head duncan was a ball of brown slime, big acan colony, 2 button scolys, probably more I can’t remember. Going forward I will always have someone stop by at least once a day, and maybe not another copperband...

That's horrible! It almost happened to me. Lessons learned...