preparation for a vacation
- Thread starter viodea
- Start date
GrantMeThePower
New member
A good friend to stop by once a day and check on things?
Capt_Cully
Active member
At the least, I'd find someone that can look in on it. ATO's are great, but not without fault. Could overflow you, or burn out a pump if it runs out of water.
You might wanna turn down your lighting just incase it overheats. Just run actinics or something. That'll cut down on evaporation as well.
Anyway, just a thought. Good luck.
You might wanna turn down your lighting just incase it overheats. Just run actinics or something. That'll cut down on evaporation as well.
Anyway, just a thought. Good luck.
Capt_Cully
Active member
:thumbsup: killer avatar and occupation!!!!!!!!!!:lolspin: :lolspin: :lolspin: :lolspin:
I live kinda far away from family and friends for everyday check. I'll have friends or family come by twice in those 8 days.
I'll only turn on 1 set out of 3 of my lights.
skimmer cup takes a few weeks to fill, as long as I clean it before I head for vacation should be alright.
seems like my only concern is reliability of ATO.
I'll only turn on 1 set out of 3 of my lights.
skimmer cup takes a few weeks to fill, as long as I clean it before I head for vacation should be alright.
seems like my only concern is reliability of ATO.
Last edited:
Harley Fish
New member
mmm my freinds ato decided it wanted a vacation too and flooded my mates house out!!
hes had a dehumidifier going for 3 weeks and its still as damp as f**k.
I recomend trying to get some freinds.(not in a rude way)
hes had a dehumidifier going for 3 weeks and its still as damp as f**k.
I recomend trying to get some freinds.(not in a rude way)
FishNFun
New member
If you have any powerheads or anything using suction cups I'd suggest you replace them with magnets. Why you ask? Well, say for instance that you go the Walt Disney World for 10 days and your powerhead pops off and decides to point in an odd direction. How odd you ask? Well, picture it pointing at the top of your hood and shooting water at it like a fire hose! Luckily, we had someone staying at our house while we were gone and the powerhead was the one I had placed up high in the tanks. It emptied about 1/4 of the tank's water on the floor. Now everything is attached via magnets. I also use the Eheim autofeeder. If you're technically inclined you could set up a webcam so that you could view your tank while you're away. I've even gone so far as to remove the heater from the tank (doesn't really fluctuate much anyway) just to make sure I don't come home from vacation to reef stew! That takes some planning and you really need to know your tank's highs and lows. I had to keep the A/C on while we were gone but I felt better about it. Good luck!
intenseimage
Active member
We are going away as well (vegas baby!) and have the following setup:
1. JBJ ATO with a large enough reservoir to ensure a pump doesnt run dry. The JBJ also has a timer that will prevent the pump from running longer than 3 mins (so no flooding). If a switch should stick and not turn the ATO on, my sump does have enough water to run the week we will be gone without cavitating the pump. Salinity will rise but not beyond a "safe" level. I am also going to bypass the ATO right before we leave and have the water level slightly higher than normal to give it a bit more time before the ATO has the option to turn on anyway.
2. ACIII to control basically everything and will also send emails/text messages if any of the "alarm" functions trigger
3. Eheim auto feeder
4. PS3 and PSP (more in a bit)
Leading up to this week we have done water changes, testing out the behind, and beefed up feeding to get everyone a bit more plump so they can easily go the week without frozen and just rely on some flake from the auto feeder. Also swapped filter socks (will remove the day before we leave). Keeping tabs on the skimmer and will clean again before we go. And also changed carbon and phosban so its fresh while we are gone.
Now, for this week, we are leaving the tank alone without doing a single thing to simulate conditions while we are gone. Next week we will do simple maintenance (feeding, wiping the glass, cleaning the skimmer). Again, no big changes
The best part .... the PS3 and PSP!
First off the PSP ... since it can connect to Wi-Fi I am able to use it to log into my ACIII and check on tank params while we are away and also manually turn items on/off as I see fit. Thats a great thing to have but what would be even better --- SEEING the tank while away! Enter the PS3!
The PSP and PS3 have the ability to communicate over the internet via a feature called Remote Play. Accessing RP via the PSP will turn my PS3 on/off and will basically display the PS3 menu on my PSP. There is a webcam for the PS3 (EyeToy) that I have hooked up and run over to my tank and setup with a FTS. I can initiate a video chat via the PSP and see my tank live
1. JBJ ATO with a large enough reservoir to ensure a pump doesnt run dry. The JBJ also has a timer that will prevent the pump from running longer than 3 mins (so no flooding). If a switch should stick and not turn the ATO on, my sump does have enough water to run the week we will be gone without cavitating the pump. Salinity will rise but not beyond a "safe" level. I am also going to bypass the ATO right before we leave and have the water level slightly higher than normal to give it a bit more time before the ATO has the option to turn on anyway.
2. ACIII to control basically everything and will also send emails/text messages if any of the "alarm" functions trigger
3. Eheim auto feeder
4. PS3 and PSP (more in a bit)
Leading up to this week we have done water changes, testing out the behind, and beefed up feeding to get everyone a bit more plump so they can easily go the week without frozen and just rely on some flake from the auto feeder. Also swapped filter socks (will remove the day before we leave). Keeping tabs on the skimmer and will clean again before we go. And also changed carbon and phosban so its fresh while we are gone.
Now, for this week, we are leaving the tank alone without doing a single thing to simulate conditions while we are gone. Next week we will do simple maintenance (feeding, wiping the glass, cleaning the skimmer). Again, no big changes
The best part .... the PS3 and PSP!
First off the PSP ... since it can connect to Wi-Fi I am able to use it to log into my ACIII and check on tank params while we are away and also manually turn items on/off as I see fit. Thats a great thing to have but what would be even better --- SEEING the tank while away! Enter the PS3!
The PSP and PS3 have the ability to communicate over the internet via a feature called Remote Play. Accessing RP via the PSP will turn my PS3 on/off and will basically display the PS3 menu on my PSP. There is a webcam for the PS3 (EyeToy) that I have hooked up and run over to my tank and setup with a FTS. I can initiate a video chat via the PSP and see my tank live
We went away for 8 days in June and I left my 90g unattended. My ATO reservoir lasts about a week, and the return section of my sump can go three days before the water level gets low enough for the return pump to start sucking in air. Anyway, everything went well while we were gone.
Some tips:
- I had a feeder that dumped pellets in twice each day. A few weeks leading up to our trip, I got the feeder setup and had it run daily, supplementing my normal feeding schedule. This was so that I could get my livestock used to eating these particular pellets, and so I could dial-in the amount of food that was dumped in.
- Don't change anything major in your tank for the days leading up to your trip. It's best to have a tank that's running stable before you go. Changing any plumbing last-minute might cause a hose to pop-off because you didn't put it back on tightly enough, etc.
- setup a webcam as has been suggested already. I had one running off a laptop, but the laptop bluescreened the first evening we were away. I was left to wonder what the heck went wrong for the duration of my trip. :-/ I didn't know it had bluescreened until I got back, and Windows was still doing its data dump (7 days later).
Some tips:
- I had a feeder that dumped pellets in twice each day. A few weeks leading up to our trip, I got the feeder setup and had it run daily, supplementing my normal feeding schedule. This was so that I could get my livestock used to eating these particular pellets, and so I could dial-in the amount of food that was dumped in.
- Don't change anything major in your tank for the days leading up to your trip. It's best to have a tank that's running stable before you go. Changing any plumbing last-minute might cause a hose to pop-off because you didn't put it back on tightly enough, etc.
- setup a webcam as has been suggested already. I had one running off a laptop, but the laptop bluescreened the first evening we were away. I was left to wonder what the heck went wrong for the duration of my trip. :-/ I didn't know it had bluescreened until I got back, and Windows was still doing its data dump (7 days later).
Harley Fish
New member
my windows 95 computer used to take 3 days to restart!!!
but i played top end xp games!!
but i played top end xp games!!
Similar threads
