house sitting close call.

[wishntoboutside]

well, i went to my buddies home last night. to feed his fish and such, due to being away at the river until the 4th. i do the walk in go to grab the food, go back to the tank. hmm something is wrong. no power for the tunzes. no power for reactors and many others. good news was the tank was still turning water over and skmimmer was on. OH crap i think as i run around the home looking for a flash light. i call my friend no answer, but i did leave a msg. 10 min later i found the problem. one of the circuits have tripped. got it fixed. finnally got the call back from my buddie. he was in a frantic. no to worry all fixed i say. but i can tell your house keepers where there. he states " i told them to only plug vaccum cleaner in certian plugs. with a few cus words.
closer inspection of the tank appeared to be ok except top off water was all pumped into tank. dropping salinty points off by .03. kinda alot for a sps tank. well 10 gallon water change and following up this morning and evening to dail it in some more. he is forever thankful that i assisted in keeping his tank alive. i am happy that i will stil have frags from his tank some day. it also would have killed me to see his tank crash.
so the moral of this tale is if you go on vacation, and even if you think your tank is bulletproof. it doesnt hurt to have a housesitter for your reef tank. the potental of losing 60+ colonies to me is devastating.
please think about this before you go on your summer vacation.

 

[Sk8r]

Tell him he owes you a steak and lobster dinner!

 

[Bebo77]

^^^^ for real....

 

[ReefMeister2]

Absolutely!
fellow hobbiests/friends are crucial when going on vacation

Sharkdude has saved my A _ _ many times!!!

Hail Cassandra! :beer:

Uhhh, I mean Chris

 

[noschmo]

The main downside to keeping anything alive when away from home.

 

[Captain Quirk]

My Monster in Law housesits for us all the time. The first two times we left the tank for over a few days I remember going over the sump and proper water levels with her, showing her where I applied the RED tape on the sump for max and min.

About 5 days into our first trip I called and asked "how's the water level; have you been keeping it topped off?" She says "why top it off - the tank is full". I say "uh, mom, have you looked at the sump?". She says "what's a sump?".

*gasp. choke. gag. tremble*

"Uh, mom, that's the tank underneath."

"Who cares about the tank underneath when the one on top is full?"

*steam pours out ears*

"Mom, could you check the tank underneath, please?"

"There's only an inch or two in the bottom."

"Could you add some please?"

"Where'd it all go? I think you must have a leak!"

*struggling to maintain my composure*

"Mom, turn on the power strip on the left. As soon as it gets to the top tape turn it off again."

"Why don't I just fill it back up all the way to the top?"

"Please, mom, just do as I ask."

"It seems like a waste of time to not fill it all the way up."

"Mom, just do it to the top marker, please. If you do it any higher and there's a power outage, you could flood the house."

"This thing is stupid."

*expletive deleted*

"Just do it, please. I'll stay on the phone with you..."

A few minutes later we were done and I was able to relax for a bit more. The next time we had the issue it wasn't quite as bad, but too much like the first time for me to forget it...

So, yeah, a tank sitter is REAL important... Especially one with a clue.

As for the steak and lobster dinner, I dunno... Seems to me that's kinda what friends are for.

 

[Reefski's]

dedicated circuits for your electrical, and a knowlegable friend. that is the ticket.

i am writing this from poolside on vacation in Hawaii. i spoke with my tank sitter a couple of hours ago. she wanted to know where she could find more food. i was surprised as i left enough in the freezer door. seems she left it on the table for a minute and that's all it took for the 85 pound dog to eat the whole baggie full of fish food.



Carl

 

[Charles99]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7666941#post7666941 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by carloskoi
dedicated circuits for your electrical, and a knowlegable friend. that is the ticket.

i am writing this from poolside on vacation in Hawaii. i spoke with my tank sitter a couple of hours ago. she wanted to know where she could find more food. i was surprised as i left enough in the freezer door. seems she left it on the table for a minute and that's all it took for the 85 pound dog to eat the whole baggie full of fish food.



Carl

LOL. My American Bulldog is crazy for dried krill!

 

[Orochimaru]

Dulce, wishntoboutside, bigalow...

 

[SteveOhh]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7666773#post7666773 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kernelangus
As for the steak and lobster dinner, I dunno... Seems to me that's kinda what friends are for.

I'd gladly buy ANYBODY a steak & lobster dinner if they saved my a$$ like that!!!!

Steve