Reef Tank Preparation for Vacation

Casket_Case · Jul 18, 2020

I’m gonna be heading to the beach for three days, and I have a forty gallon reef. And am kind of clueless as to what to do. I was just thinking drop my salinity as low as possible and make sure my skim cup is empty and the filters are clean. Does anyone have any suggestions of other precautions I can take?

Mattman1977 · Jul 18, 2020

Auto feeder and auto top off. 3 days isn’t long but maybe a reef sitter. No big changes before you leave as well.

Casket_Case · Jul 18, 2020

Mattman1977 said:
Auto feeder and auto top off. 3 days isn’t long but maybe a reef sitter. No big changes before you leave as well.

Sounds great! Thanks for the input

WIReefer · Jul 18, 2020

Would highly recommend the ATO anyways, the fish will be fine for three days no food. Have a wonderful trip!

ZoWhat · Jul 18, 2020

Yes, a long weekend isn't a long enough time for anything major to happen.

* DIAL BACK your skimmer so it's mostly oxygenating the water and barely skimming.

* do a routine WC the day before at whatever % you usually do

You'll be fine.... I just came back from a 2 WEEK vacation and managed my water tipoff via my Apex. I had my sister in law come load a veggie clip every 2-3 days. No issues to report after coming home on the 15th day! I love Apex and the ability to real time monitor

Casket_Case · Jul 18, 2020

WIReefer said:
Would highly recommend the ATO anyways, the fish will be fine for three days no food. Have a wonderful trip!

The thing is I don’t have ATO... I leave in a few days and thought of dropping salinity now gradually so the change won’t be so sudden and then I won’t have to worry about evaporation and the salinity getting dangerously high

Casket_Case · Jul 18, 2020

skimjim said:
Yes, a long weekend isn't a long enough time for anything major to happen.

* DIAL BACK your skimmer so it's mostly oxygenating the water and barely skimming.

* do a routine WC the day before at whatever % you usually do

You'll be fine.... I just came back from a 2 WEEK vacation and managed my water tipoff via my Apex. I had my sister in law come load a veggie clip every 2-3. No issues to report after coming home on the 15th day! I love Apex and the ability to real time monitor

Thank you so much!!! I hope this doesn’t sound rude I’m just extremely curious haha, why should I dial back the skimmer?

WIReefer · Jul 18, 2020

Frigus Reef said:
The thing is I don’t have ATO... I leave in a few days and thought of dropping salinity now gradually so the change won’t be so sudden and then I won’t have to worry about evaporation and the salinity getting dangerously high

You should be okay but maybe you could pick one up before you leave? I’m not sure the type of corals you have and the evaporation rate your tank has, but It should be all good.

JCTReefer · Jul 18, 2020

I always top off my ATO reservoir. Feed the fish well. If gone for an extended period, have someone feed. 3 days isn’t long. I’d skip having someone feed. Make sure the Dosers have plenty of two part. Make sure all equipment is in working order. Heaters, pumps, etc... Thats really about all I do.
Might even check your ac filter and change it if it needs it also. Thermostat set a good temp for tank.

dwest · Jul 18, 2020

If you do not have an ATO now, I wouldn’t do anything. Your tank will be fine for 3 days. Many “helpful” helpers cause more problems IME. When you get back, add an ATO system.

ZoWhat · Jul 18, 2020

Why dial back a skimmer?

Well.... in my system my skimmer and topoff system work off each other. If I'm away and for some reason the skimmer pulls out more water than normal, the system-water-level drops....and my topoff system replaces that water with pure 0.000 salinity water........ my tank would get flooded with RODI dropping my salinity to 1.020 or 1.015 or worse.

That floodout event that could wipe out the whole tank losing thousands of dollars in stock

Now... on vacation 800miles away, could Apex alert me? Yes a flooded tanks pH would drop drastically bc I believe the pH of RODI is like 7.2~7.5. My pH alert would be going crazy.

I would have to hire a LFS owner to do an Emergency Service run with a relative letting them in my house while I'm 800miles away. I'm sure an Emergency call would run me $200-$300 easy

Casket_Case · Jul 18, 2020

WIReefer said:
You should be okay but maybe you could pick one up before you leave? I’m not sure the type of corals you have and the evaporation rate your tank has, but It should be all good.

I can’t afford it lol I’m sixteen and in highschool so I’m on a budget. I have Gorgonians, BTAs, Zoanthids, Mushrooms, Palythoas, Duncans, Montipora, Kenya Tree, Cloves, Xenias,

JCTReefer · Jul 18, 2020

Frigus Reef said:
I can’t afford it lol I’m sixteen and in highschool so I’m on a budget. I have Gorgonians, BTAs, Zoanthids, Mushrooms, Palythoas, Duncans, Montipora, Kenya Tree, Cloves, Xenias,

Well, we never know what age group we’re replying to!!! Haha! Maybe a birthday coming up?
That would be a good gift! And you’ll wonder how you went with out it!!! Enjoy the vacation.

Neoalchemist · Jul 18, 2020

As a rule learned the hard way. When I plan on going out of town for any length of time I do a full system check over and regular water change ONE WEEK ahead of the trip.
That gives you a full week to smooth out any issue you have. Regular water changes are when something unforseen happens, and the worse thing that can happen is for something to need your immediate attention the day before you leave. What if you find out your alk is really low the day you are supposed to leave?

Casket_Case · Jul 18, 2020

JCTReefer said:
Well, we never know what age group we’re replying to!!! Haha! Maybe a birthday coming up?
That would be a good gift! And you’ll wonder how you went with out it!!! Enjoy the vacation.

That’s how I got decent lights last year hahaha!! And thank you!

Casket_Case · Jul 18, 2020

Random question: my heater has been really weird lately. Should I be able to use a different heater that’s been sitting on the back porch for a while? Also is it better to have a heater under-heat or over-heat?

Bosreef · Jul 18, 2020

There is alot of presumptuous comments in here.

How often do you top off? Don't want your return section running dry. You could look into a cheap d.i.y gravity fed a.t.o

What climate do you live in how do you keep the tank cool or warm?

Fish will be fine without food for three days sure it's not there favorite thing but they will survive.

Can't stress enough tho do not make any big changes prior to the trip.

And you tank could absoulty die in that short amount of time. Not to scare you but just being real

Casket_Case · Jul 18, 2020

Bosreef said:
There is alot of presumptuous comments in here.

How often do you top off? Don't want your return section running dry. You could look into a cheap d.i.y gravity fed a.t.o

What climate do you live in how do you keep the tank cool or warm?

Fish will be fine without food for three days sure it's not there favorite thing but they will survive.

Can't stress enough tho do not make any big changes prior to the trip.

And you tank could absoulty die in that short amount of time. Not to scare you but just being real

I live in West Georgia so it’s warm. I keep a box fan running under my tank that pushes air up around it and I use an in tank heater to warm it. I know it could die, but I’m just taking every precaution and praying and trusting it’ll be okay.