Suggestions to help avoid the vacation curse

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Efranco

Efranco

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So in 2 weeks I'm driving down to Orlando from New Jersey, I'm going to be gone for over a week (longest I've been away since I started in the hobby). I have my Niece coming over to feed and monitor the tank, how she's done in the past but longest ive been away prior to this up coming vacation is a weekend... just looking for any recommendations anyone might have from their own experiences while going away for a trip and if anyone knows of some LFS in the Orlando/Kissimmee area. Thanks in advance :D
 
Deltec
Efranco said:
So in 2 weeks I'm driving down to Orlando from New Jersey, I'm going to be gone for over a week (longest I've been away since I started in the hobby). I have my Niece coming over to feed and monitor the tank, how she's done in the past but longest ive been away prior to this up coming vacation is a weekend... just looking for any recommendations anyone might have from their own experiences while going away for a trip and if anyone knows of some LFS in the Orlando/Kissimmee area. Thanks in advance :D
Click to expand...

My reccomendation is to train them in person beforehand and have them feed even lighter than you normally would. Last time I went on vacation my light timer malfunctioned and my whites stayed on for over 150 hours straight. My fish looked terrible, corals were pretty bleh and I had a cyano and hair algae outbreak.
World Wide Corals is in Orlando, I suggest you check it out!
 
Dont make any big changes, write up a great report on how to do ALL normal tasks. Have spare fresh and saltwater nearby if needed. Leave phone numbers for locals who can help if something goes wrong with the tank.

Having an APEX or a webcam is pretty handy.

good luck!
 
Top Shelf Aquatics
I just happen to be in my vacation condo as I type this... here for 10 days. I don't really have anyone to be able to come over and routinely check my tank... but would in an emergency. So I have an automatic fish feeder to feed pellets while I'm gone. Any other time I feed LRS, but luckily my fish seem to like a pellet mix I made consisting of pellet fish food, Coral Frenzy and a couple of other coral foods. I have my Apex to tell me if anything gets out of line and I have a WiFi camera set up so I can monitor the level in the sump etc.
 
Tidal Gardens
I am in a similar boat! Leaving in a couple weeks to drive across country to view the solar eclipse! I will be gone for at least 2 weeks, and I will be having my 22 year old daughter care care for the tank while I'm away. I am nervous to say the least but the tank is very lightly stocked right now since I rebooted everything about 2-3 months ago and have purposefully not added much livestock yet. I am waiting till I get back to get it stocked, though I was at Reefapalooza NY and HAD to buy something :) .

But a couple things I'm doing to help ensure nothing crazy goes on:
1) Thorough tutorial of the tank and how everything works beforehand...just so she has an idea on how things work overall.
2) I dose kalkwasser with my ATO, and I use a 10 gallon ATO reservoir, which I usually have to re-fill about every 4-5 days. So I will be making up pre-made buckets of kalkwasser solution and all she should have to do is pour it in when needed.
3) Only other 'physical' task needed is to empty the skimmer cup, but I just ordered a new skimmer because my old one needs replacing, so it has an emptying outlet that I can put into some large container so she shouldn't have to worry about it
4) Of course, feeding, but like I said the tank is extremely light on stocking (1 fish) for now, so she only needs to put in a little flakes every couple days or so...

I also have everything on an Apex controller, and a dropcam webcam that I can look in on whenever I need from the internet. At least that way if I notice anything going wrong I can shut it all down...Also have everything set to the appropriate alarm thresholds...

I know I'm kind of fortunate that the tank is fairly new and lightly stocked so *IF* anything terrible happened, losses would be minimal...BUT it's been killing me to wait to stock the tank! :)

Good luck!
 
Chewy.com
The biggest advice I can give is instruct the tank sitter on how to turn off equipment safely, in the event of a failure. What turns off what and where, until a phone call can be made. Safety first, then the tank.

As others have said, feed lightly and have contact numbers at the ready.

And as others have said, make no major changes to the tank days prior to leaving. Make sure your ATO is topped off and if it's not large enough to make it through the duration of the trip, have water ready for the tank sitter to pour into it.

Great advice by everyone above. Happy reefing!:)
 
Deltec
Flippers4pups said:
The biggest advice I can give is instruct the tank sitter on how to turn off equipment safely, in the event of a failure. What turns off what and where, until a phone call can be made. Safety first, then the tank.

As others have said, feed lightly and have contact numbers at the ready.

And as others have said, make no major changes to the tank days prior to leaving. Make sure your ATO is topped off and if it's not large enough to make it through the duration of the trip, have water ready for the tank sitter to pour into it.

Great advice by everyone above. Happy reefing!:)
Click to expand...
Should I continue my reg water changes...i do 20% every 2 weeks and the day I leave falls on the day I would do a water change.. my tank is 90g
 
Yeah id do the waterchange why not. I did the day i left. I just got bAck yesterday was gone for 3 weeks. I got a nest cam and was best thing i did. Also have a reefer friend number handy in case of emergency.
What happened to me in middle of my vacation i wake up in morning with my nest cam and apex alarming me there is a power failure. I call my friend to check the apt and he runs some extension cords to get tank running again. Thank God i plugged an mp40 on another line in house just in case a fuse trips to keep circulation. In the year and half i have tank running never has the fuse tripped. I go on vacation and boom fuse trips. Had a reefer buddy stop by next day to see any damage. Thank God nothing.
 
For feeding, get a couple of those daily medcine container thingy, put what you would feed each time in those, and tell your sitter use one at a time.

Also, make sure leave the house in a condition that won't get overheat. If normal ways of ventilations, like turn on AC or open windows, won't happen when nobody home, you will want to make sure the room won't get too hot during the day for your tank's cooling to handle.
 
Tidal Gardens
Efranco said:
Should I continue my reg water changes...i do 20% every 2 weeks and the day I leave falls on the day I would do a water change.. my tank is 90g
Click to expand...

I believe the thinking is if you change too many things and you leave, then you won't be around to see if the changes had a negative impact. I would do the water change a couple days prior, just in case something went wrong. Hey, if anything it gives you piece of mind.
 
I'm right there with you...leaving to Colorado for a week today...have my brother feeding my fish and keeping an eye on my tank...he has a fresh water tank but is clueless about reefing.... nervous and anxious as hell... I feel ya buddy...fingers crossed for both of us[emoji482][emoji482]
 
A web cam is good but I don't have one on my tank. I leave my tank on a regular basis, I use an apexand it can really only check ph, temperature. The rest is just bs to me but I use it for ato and light schedule and dosing ca, alk.
The thing I do is have a person clean the glass and feed the fish lightly every 4 day. I feel the less human intervention the less likely they'll mess up the tank.
 
Last month I went on an 11 day Alaskan sea- land cruise. My light schedule, feeding and ATO were all automated. My brother- in -law was going to check on things but he is not a reefer. I set up a web cam on the display tank and sump. Wherever I had cell coverage I could get a real time video feed of the tank. At day nine I noticed bubbles in the return line . I had my brother- in -law add 4 gallons of distilled water to the tank and 5 gallons or RO water to the ATO reservoir. I had no losses of corals, clams or fish
 
I used the Zmodo webcam and it came with a free App. It only cost $35 on Groupon and was easy to set up
 
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