2 week trip prep

[kolosy]

i'm going out of town for about two weeks. in the mean time i will have a friend come by and feed the fish, but that's all she's going to do.

i hope to have my ATO and a controller installed prior to then.

The plan is to use a larger top-off reservoir (i have an 18G rubbermaid) with kalk to keep the Ca in check, do a 20% water change before going away, and a powerhead + secondary heater on an APC UPS (just in case, basically)

anything else i can do?

 

[an411]

AS long as you have the top off and someone stopping by to check and feed the fish you should be fine. What about emptying the skimmer cup will it fill up in 2 weeks? I know that mine needs to get changed at least every 3 days

 

[kolosy]

mine seems to not be that bad... i think the cup will last me ... at least the two weeks. i've got a DAS EX-1 for 55g of total volume

 

[billdogg]

I have a list of "aquarium How To's" typed out that covers every aspect of my tanks. It may be overkill, but you never know when something might happen that you forgot to mention to your tank sitter beforehand, and it is much easier this way rather than trying to tell them over the phone after the fact. included is a description of how things may begin to change if there is a problem starting. My list is just over 4 pages long!

 

[kolosy]

hah. i'm not sure i'd want to impose a 4 page list of stuff on my friend that's doing me a favor.

but that's not a bad idea for relatives and such

 

[FishNFun]

Here's what I did before I took a two week vacation:

1. I still had a couple powerheads with suction cup holders so I replaced them with magnets. The reason is that one time I left and one popped off and proceeded to shoot water out the top!

2. I removed the heaters. Sounds extreme but at the time I wasn't using a Ranco and I tested the temp fluctuation for a week before (it's was only about 1.5 degrees). I can live with that - better than the heater sticking and cooking everything. Otherwise, go with a controller like a Ranco.

3. I used a large Rubbermaid container as a bigger ATO supply. I use the Tunze Osmolator and I've very confident in it.

4. I purchased an Eheim fish feeder and tested it for a week to see how I liked it. This was a FOWLR tank so coral feeding wasn't an issue.

5. I had my neighbor stop by every other day to check on things and empty the skimmer cup if needed (another good reason to have it plumbed to a drain).

Since I'm an IT guy, I considered setting up a webcam so I could check on the tank remotely. It's not difficult to do and, given how much we spend on our tanks, probably not a bad investment. My new tank has a Reefkeeper so I can check on things.

Another thing to consider is power failures. We're currently in the middle of some major power outages in my area (central Ohio) due to the remants of hurricane Ike and lots of people are losing their tanks. Having a good plan for such a thing would be a wise thing and maybe some steps for the tank sitter to follow. Otherwise, enjoy your trip!

 

[heyfredyourhat]

I am leaving town for a week starting tomorow. Things i have done to prepare are
Rubbermaid bin roughly 20G for top off with osmolator that i also trust
Drain on skimmer cup into another rubbermaid bin!!
Everything run with reefkeeper and battery backup timers

Only thing i need to worry about is feeding, which will be done by a friend who can stop in everynite, also have battery airpumps installed now so friend can turn them on if power goes out.

 

[Leandrae]

When I went on vacation for a week, a family member stayed at the house and kept an eye on things (I have more than just fish...cats, dogs, snakes...)

For the food, I cut up the frozen food and put single meal portions in a ziplock bag so it was as simple as thawing 1 bag of food in tank water each day and dumping it in. For top off, I don't use an ATO, I just put a piece of tape at the level in the sump where it should be at and asked that she fill it to that line every day. I did make about 30 gallons of topoff water in a barrel next to the tank.

I did not have her worry about suppliments to the tank as my tank is not dependant on them (read, I don't use much in the way of additives and my tank does awesome for what it has in it, primarily BTAs at this point, not that much coral)

I put a one page 'cheat sheet' on the front of the aquarium with instructions on feeding and such including what to do if the GFI pops (which it did once while I was gone) The lights and heaters are on an RK2, so I didn't have to worry there.

My sister in law had no problems whatsoever!

As far as putting a webcam on a tank...personally, I wouldn't unless you can easliy get back home if something goes wrong. That would just ruin a vacation to see your tank meltdown on your computer and be on the opposite coast and unable to get back to do anything about it! It'd be like a car wreck...you know you shouldn't, but you stare at it anyway.

-Janel

 

[sundancer]

The one thing you don't want to do before going on a trip is make mods to the system like adding auto top off this and a larger doser that. Changing up the system components without a sufficient testing and settling in period is always risky. Things may not work the way they are supposed to and the end result is usually water on the floor.