came home from vacation to a disaster , what is going on?

[ati70cutlass]

well i went to the caribbean for 2 weeks and i arrived home late this morning after a 5 hour drive. so i turn on the lights and about 6 colonies are either bleached or looking like they were stung to death. my brother came every day and was suppose to be checking on it. he told me my alk was at 9, turns out that 9 and 6 are the same. :angryfire:
so now i start poking around and my prized atlantic tang that i caught by hand is gone. after an hour of waiting for her to come out she is no longer anywhere in the tank, note the top of the tank is sealed off so she couldnt have jumped off. so now im out like 300.00 with fish and coral.
so my big question is how next time do i make this easier. i have been trying to automate my whole system but cant seem to get it tweeked out right

 

[Alkamist]

ohh man that really sux i'm sorry, but what i do if i go out of town is i ask some one from my local reef club or some one i know that knows how to take care of salt water tanks if they can watch mine for me while i'm gone.

 

[James404]

How are you supplementing alk, cal and mag?

 

[lolgranny]

I would get a controller / ATO / doser so you can pay attention to it while your away.

Sadly i had the same thing happen when i was gone to my 75g which i lost about 4k worth of coral and fish. The girl watching my tank somehow...dont ask me how, stepped on the power cord and my pumps turned off. Overflowed the tank as i did not have a check valve ( i was a noobie) Ruined the floor in the living room and since she topped the 10+ gallons with fresh water it killed everything.

Have to love going on vacation...

 

[thewire]

this is why i mostly rely on myself if i go vacation. I have everything automated, and remotely controlled. Also, move fish out to a buddy tank to reduced bioload

 

[newbie916]

Now your scarying me..I'm heading out to the Caribbean on a cruise next Saturday and my Mom is watching my tank for a 8 days. She's watched it before, but I made it easier for her by installing a Bubble Magus dosing pump and ATO. The only thing she needs to do is feed the tank sparingly, take the filter socks out and put clean ones in, and empty the skimmer cup. She also has two of my reefer buddies phone numbers, just in case something happens. I also have 30 gallons of saltwater mixed and ready to go, just in case something drastic happens. I'm shopping around for a controller right now, but not sure if I'll trust it if I set it up and leave a week later.

Sorry about your loss and I hope that doesn't happen when I get home....

 

[Easily Distracted]

Now your scarying me..I'm heading out to the Caribbean on a cruise next Saturday and my Mom is watching my tank for a 8 days. She's watched it before, but I made it easier for her by installing a Bubble Magus dosing pump and ATO. The only thing she needs to do is feed the tank sparingly, take the filter socks out and put clean ones in, and empty the skimmer cup. She also has two of my reefer buddies phone numbers, just in case something happens. I also have 30 gallons of saltwater mixed and ready to go, just in case something drastic happens. I'm shopping around for a controller right now, but not sure if I'll trust it if I set it up and leave a week later.

-Pre-measure out the food portions for each day.
-Put a drain on your skimmer cup and run it to a waste collector or even a bucket.
-Do NOT add a controller to your system right before you go away.

Enjoy the cruise.

 

[newbie916]

-Pre-measure out the food portions for each day.
-Put a drain on your skimmer cup and run it to a waste collector or even a bucket.
-Do NOT add a controller to your system right before you go away.

Enjoy the cruise.

Thanks, good idea on the skimmer cup

I'm shopping around for a controller which I'll add after we get back from our vacation. Any recommendations? I've been looking at the Apex, Apex lite, Reefkeeper Elite, and Reefkeeper lite. What's the difference and what one would you guys recommend. It'll come in handy when I leave on business trips or future vacations.

Sorry I don't mean to hijack the thread, but figured the OP may benefit as well.

Thanks.

 

[ati70cutlass]

ohh man that really sux i'm sorry, but what i do if i go out of town is i ask some one from my local reef club or some one i know that knows how to take care of salt water tanks if they can watch mine for me while i'm gone.

im here for college and my brother is really my only leg. i had a friend who does reef tanks but he got mad becuase my tanks were so much nicer and healthier. he also taught me how to keep sps.

How are you supplementing alk, cal and mag?

i only supplement alk. my calcium stays at 500 no matter what. that is with water changes ever other week. mag stays within range nearlly all the time.

I would get a controller / ATO / doser so you can pay attention to it while your away.

i have an APEX, a 2 channel doser, and an ATO.... i just didnt have time to dial in my alk before i left. i left very detailed instructions just dont understand how all this happened.

Enjoy the cruise.

Make sure you do this one, i didnt. i got to dive 3 times, and see Obama land in Puerto Rico. i also got to train at a brazilian jiu jitsu dojo with a grand master from brazil

I'm shopping around for a controller which I'll add after we get back from our vacation. Any recommendations? I've been looking at the Apex

the APEX is tried and truely the best controler on the market. they do have a jr. version that is 250.00 but only has 4 outleds on the energy bar but does not have all the extra features either.

 

[Stanley-Reefer]

check your overflow for your missing fish if it's covered.

 

[NyReefNoob]

2 weeks and if you have hermits and snails = fish eaten