Vacation Care

[lazluvtoo]

What is the best way to keep my 90 gl reef maintained while away on vacation and keep the pet sitting fees down! I could cut back on the lighting, which may cut down on glass algae growth...what is the least amount of lighting that the corals need to survive?

I love my reef, but I must say, I am not traveling as much for fear of the care it will not receive while I am away.


Looking for ideas to make my travel plans a bit easier.

TIA

 

[vanmo92]

an auto top off really helps me when i go on vacation.

 

[lazluvtoo]

Thanks, yes! I run one from my R/O sump via a litre meter and it works out well!

 

[Blazer88]

How long are you going to be gone for? I pay someone to stop by my place every other day to feed while I am on vacation. I don't see any reason to cut back on the lighting though. BTW, I have an ATO and I don't think I could have a reef without one.

 

[lazluvtoo]

ATO...automatic top off? If so, I have one as well, and I agree with you! Planning to be away for a week. In the past, I have had sitters come every day just to make sure equipment was function properly, etc. To "eyeball" everything, per se. However; this can get costly...especially if we are away several weeks.

 

[cyclgrl]

With an auto topoff and auto feeder in place, there's no reason why you can't travel several weeks without problem.

I've gone 2-3 weeks on my 90 with little hassle--I usually do have a friend stop by once or twice during that time for a sanity check. No need to turn down the lights. The algae growth in 3 weeks isn't bad IMO.

The only additional insurance that I have (for peace of mind) is an AC2 which does send me a text message if certain parameters get out of whack (the text message gets sent to my designated caretaker when I leave the country). Never had a major problem, however, knock on wood, and I'm gone travelling quite a bit.

 

[archie1709]

I guess it also depends on the types of specimen you have, and also the size. I can't speak for your size of tank coz mine was only a 55G.

I only have a few LPS and a lot of soft corals.

I was gone to the west coast for a week. All I did was do a 20G water change, feed the fish like what, then install an auto feeder. I have timers installed on the lights so I didn't have to cut back or anything. Since they only eat flakes most of the time, I was able to use auto feeder.

I don't have a sump or fuge so I have less problems. I only have two HOBs, a cheap Prizm skimmer, and three powerheads with filter attachment.

I don't recommend that. Nonetheless, I didn't really worry too much because I have live mysis and a lot of pods in the tank. I topped off the water before I left, then put my glass top on just one side.

I came back and everything is alive. I just topped back off first thing.

Since you have an auto top off, you are one step ahead. Good luck. The trick is, don't worry too much about your tank when you're gone. Just enjoy your vacation. If something happens to the tank, too bad. But don't ruin your vacation over it.

 

[lazluvtoo]

Thanks for the great advice! Just a few more questions...what is an AC2? Sounds like a greate device! Also...one time when the tank went unattended for several weeks, I had a severe outbreak of hair algae. Any ideas how to prevent that from happening again? And...are there automatic food dispensers for pellet foods?

TIA

 

[cyclgrl]

I use the Eheim auto feeder. Works for flake or pellet. Not sure what to say about your hair algae except be sure not to overfeed.

The AC2 is the Neptune Aquacontroller 2. It does lots of stuff like control my lights, chiller/heater, CO2, etc. It also has a serial output which I attached to a laptop on top of my tank. That said, if you are seriously considering setting up a similar system, I would go for the AC3. It has an ethernet port.

 

[LOTUS50GOD]

What made traveling easy for me was an aqua controller. I am vacationing right now... my tank sends me emails (to my phone) when parameters are not in the zone.

 

[gweezpie]

don't you guys have friends?

 

[kappaknight]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8213759#post8213759 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gweezpie
don't you guys have friends?

LOL!

 

[lazluvtoo]

Plenty! But none who know reef tanks!

 

[JmLee]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8219463#post8219463 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lazluvtoo
Plenty! But none who know reef tanks!

Yeah im like the only one into saltwater/reeftanks out of all my friends. It kinda sucks sometimes.

 

[lazluvtoo]

Yeah, you're right...it sure does! They are very willing to care for our dog, kitten, and birds...but they always say "I can't take care of that reef tank!" Sigh...