Traveling and quarantine

Ruckus16 · Mar 12, 2018

Hello all!

I'm ready to start purchasing fish for my new build and have setup my quarantine tank. I plan on following humblefish's post and treating with prazipro then cupramine. The tank is a 50 gallon frag tank, heater, HOB, couple powerheads and I put one bottle on biospira in at setup.

My issue, I travel for work. I am gone for eight days and home 6. My wife will be home but is not involved in the hobby but is capable of feeding and checking on the fish. My main concern is an ammonia spike. I'm not sure she could/would be willing to do water changes. How do I combat the ammonia?
If anyone has any experience being a traveling reefer or has some ideas I'm very interested!

sfin52 · Mar 12, 2018

You are going to have to train your wife. Incase of emergencies she is going to have to know what to do.

Ruckus16 · Mar 12, 2018

It's my first time doing quarantine as well. I have always had 1 or 2 fish in the past so I have no experience to train her

ihavecrabs · Mar 12, 2018

Ruckus16 said:
It's my first time doing quarantine as well. I have always had 1 or 2 fish in the past so I have no experience to train her

What you could do is have a bucket with 5g of water already treated with CP on standby. If she sees ammonia on the alert badge, add the 5g bucket to the tank and take out the same 5g.

I take a try erase marker and mark water level among other things on my QT glass. Maybe this is a good first step?

CopperSafe may be a better option as it doesn't break down as quickly as CP especially in the presence of light. Something to think about.

Just an FYI, I am pretty good about only feeding what is consumed and about grttin detritus out once weekly and have had no issues with an oversized hob with filter floss. You'll likely be OK but she should know what to do just in case.

Good luck!

Robink · Mar 12, 2018

Once the biological filter is set up in the qt you shouldn't have any ammonia spikes. But she does need to know what to do just in case.

I travel occasionally and my neighbor feeds the fish for me. Had one in qt the last time I went out of town.

sfin52 · Mar 12, 2018

When I go on vacation I have food in freezer labeled for each day of week and the tank it’s for.

I like the idea of having a bucket of water ready to go and a empty bucked to put the tank water in. That’s a really good idea.

Ruckus16 · Mar 12, 2018

That is a great idea. The tank actually has bulkheads in it that I capped off. I may plumb one with a valve the empties directly into a bucket.
How many fish would you be comfortable treating in a 50 gallon at one time?

HotRocks · Mar 12, 2018

Ruckus16 said:
That is a great idea. The tank actually has bulkheads in it that I capped off. I may plumb one with a valve the empties directly into a bucket.
How many fish would you be comfortable treating in a 50 gallon at one time?

I always just have a brute can premixed and heating, so if I'm away, either my wife or most likely my buddy @4FordFamily can do a quick change. My wife did great while I was in Vegas for 5 days, even got a regal angel eating all on her own! Quantity of fish will depend on what type and size. 6-10 fish would be my guess depending on what you are getting.