vacations and maintaining your tank when your gone.

[mike werner]

i'm not much of a vacation kinda guy.i have always had a 3 day weekend so we just do short stints.i can leave the tanks unattended for 2 or three days no problem.ato,auto feeder that's about all I rely on but still worry a little while i'm gone. I feel confident that when I return all will be ok.
i read most recently spr1968 went to Italy and that got me to thinking how do you go away on vacation with a reef tank at home?with the summer vacation season fast approaching I think your answers will help out our fellow reefers prepare for a trip.maybe i'll even go someplace for a week but please don't tell the wife I said that.i look forward to your replies.

 

[ReefAddiction34]

I’m actually on vacation right now in Hawaii. Leaving the tank is definitely a stress. I think the easiest thing is to ask someone to check on the house and tank every few days, and if it’s someone who knows tanks that’s even better. I have an apex so it helps ease my mind when I see temp and pH stable when checking up on the tank. If you trust your local fish guy they might be willing to help you out.
It’s a pain if the person helping you out doesn’t know tanks, but you can show them how to manage the basics of the tank at least for feeding and make an instruction list to ensure things are being done right.

 

[SPR1968]

We have 2 threads the same here Mike so I’ll post on both! Lol

What I tend to do is get the system in a state we’re I don’t touch or mess with anything major the week before I go, so that everything is running smoothly.

My ATO will last around 2 weeks and I use the Tunze Osmolator as primary and then the Red Sea inbuilt system as backup so in total it will last 2- 2 1/2 weeks.

The Apex autofeeder deals with feeding but my parents also check the tank every 2 days and add some frozen food and change the filter socks as needed.

I have to say Apex is a great system for piece of mind when your away and mine is only set up for basic functions but it’s well worth having. Well until the salinity shows 54ppm just after you settle into your hotel! Lol.

I also have a camera pointing at the tank and leave the sump doors open so I can see if what Apex is telling me is correct or not, and I can also see the fishes etc are well.

To be honest I love the tank so much I only tend to go away for 7 days these days apart from maybe 10 over winter (those Caribbean/Indian ocean beaches just need me lol!).

 

[mike werner]

thanks,yea I asked rev to remove one of them.i guess I had sticky fingers.i did just finish bbq'n some chicken so that could have contributed to the problem.

 

[Bob Weigant]

I have my lfs come by everyday I’m gone

 

[fishybizzness]

Just came back from a 6 day trip and all went well! I installed a Apex Jr about a month ago with a fmm module. I also have an auto feeder hooked up. The 1" flow meter is plumbed into the return and I have an ATO as well. I have a display sump and I have a webcam pointed at it so I can monitor everything. Having the Apex and being able to see what was going on real time definitely gave me peace of mind. I don't have filter socks but run a filter pad I a tray after the sump. I removed the pad before I left. The skimmer normally takes about 5 days before needing a cleaning but with the reduced feeding of only the auto feeder it can go a week. When I got home I did a water change, cleaned the skimmer and I was good to go!

 

[fishybizzness]

My sump set up. Also, I took the advice and didn't change anything for at least 2 weeks before I left so everything was stable!

 

[daytonajim00]

I have a smaller system so the process is simple. I cover up about 95% of both sump and tank open tops. Set an auto feeder. And worry. Lol

 

[gabeJLFT]

wow my vacation is going to be stressful as hell. i’m going away for a month and i have 3 tanks all without ato or automatic feeders[emoji27][emoji27]

 

[KMench]

I’m away now gone for 9 days. I did all major maintenance before leaving, WC, emptied skimmate, cleaned powerheads, etc. I also proportioned our frozen food meals since I only feed my fish frozen food. We have someone house sitting because we have two dogs and the fish. I have a friend staying for the first half and then my girlfriends mother is coming to stay and take care of the dogs/fish for the second half. I left fairly detailed instructions but it is also easy for them to contact me if needed. I have two local friends who are reefers who could stop by if a more complex problem occurred that needed their intervention.

 

[fish farmer]

I have a dog/cat/fish sitter who stays at our home. One thing I did with an older set up is providing photos with my instructions, like a picture of the sump and where the water level should be so they could manually add water if ATO doesn't work, etc. My tank is pretty small and low maintenance, just an ATO and currently dripping kalk. My ATO could probably cover a week and the kalk dripper a weekend or longer with a slow drip.

I clean a bunch before I leave...the tank will probably be missing a WC change when I'm gone. I cross my fingers on other mechanical breakdowns that my sitter couldn't handle. I did have a complete tank meltdown when I did have a good sitter, but no air conditioning in the newer apartment. If the heat wave had come just a few days later.

 

[Tiger-Paws]

The whole house inside and out along with the property is on CCTV, streamed live and stored offsite in Iceland 24/7 with proximity sensors both inside and outside. When I am away for more than 72 hours I pay a LFS (not local because there are none so it costs more) to come by every 48 hours and service the tank. I have a very specific set of guidelines of what they are expected to do and they are made aware that they will be under continuous recorded video monitoring from the time they open the gate to the driveway (1/2 mile long) until they clear the property.

So far there has not been any issues.

 

[Mark Gray]

I leaveine often Apex takes care of mine. it feeds it takes care of the ATO it will turn on the RODI if the 100 gallon tank gets low. the new one will have Does and I will have the gyre on my Apex too

 

[swimer499]

I have a 180 with an apex, auto feeder and auto top off. Web cam that points directly at the tank and display sump. Nest thermostats to control house temp should there be a temperature issue. Standby auto back up generators for the whole house and the best thing anyone could ever have while on vacation is reefer friend who knows my entire system. We just trade watching each other’s tanks while on vacation.

 

[fishybizzness]

Just came back from a 6 day trip and all went well! I installed a Apex Jr about a month ago with a fmm module. I also have an auto feeder hooked up. The 1" flow meter is plumbed into the return and I have an ATO as well. I have a display sump and I have a webcam pointed at it so I can monitor everything. Having the Apex and being able to see what was going on real time definitely gave me peace of mind. I don't have filter socks but run a filter pad I a tray after the sump. I removed the pad before I left. The skimmer normally takes about 5 days before needing a cleaning but with the reduced feeding of only the auto feeder it can go a week. When I got home I did a water change, cleaned the skimmer and I was good to go!

I also have a whole house back up generator. Power goes out and 10 seconds later it kicks on. I have the Apex and gyre plugged into an APS so the tank never shuts down!

 

[vetteguy53081]

have a trusted club member and friend come after work each day while im gone on vacation.

 

[tony'stank]

I have gone on vacation for as long as 11 days. I don’t have any body who is Reef savvy to watch my tank. I have a Eheim auto feeder. My skimmer drains to a gallon job. I use a 20;Gal aquarium as a temporary ATO reservoir. I set up a Zmodo webcam so that I can remotely monitor my tank via smartphone. On my last vacation I was in Alaska when my webcam showed me that my ATO reservoir was empty and I was get bubbles in my display tank. I was able to get my brother in law to add distilled water to the tank. I watched him the whole time in the webcam so I could coach him

 

[recess62]

Also have an apex to be able to monitor remotely. I have 2 dogw so we have a house sitter. Having backup new heaters, return pump in boxes that can they be easily swapped out if there is a malfunction is a good idea. If there is a big issue FaceTime is my friend

 

[gcrawford]

Practice run - go "On Vacation" while being at home and don't touch your tank for a week - or however long you plan to be gone - and see how it does. You can always have a return pump jam up on you, so clean it thoroughly a few weeks before leaving. Have a backup heater as well and use a controller. I also use web cams to monitor.

 

[Dragon52]

I have an ATO & that's pretty much it, I don't have anyone that I know to keep an eye on it for me while I'm gone & don't trust the LFS people enough to ask them to keep an eye on it for me. I do turn down the return pump a little to keep the ato from going dry when we go on Vacation (usually 7 nights 2-3 times a yr & have not had any issues yet. knock on wood