Vacation time !! what to do about my tanks

[chilli_reef]

Johns aquarium service
4927 Robinhood Dr,*Willoughby,*OH*44094
440-975-9090

Aquarium services inc. Also in Willoughby.

Aquarium systems in mentor

 

[ryeguyy84]

What ato do you recommend

If you end up going with an Apex use the apex as a top off.

Camera's are great when you're away but if you have apex you can actually take action.

 

[Ohioreef1700]

I'm in the process of getting one right now for my main display tank

 

[ryeguyy84]

If you have more than one tank you can run up to 100 feet of aquabus cable (I think it's 100) to control a power bar on another tank

 

[Daniel62]

I would like to add. Do not make any changes to your system before you leave. If you do the apex, make sure you have some break in time learning how to use it before you leave. The only thing I do before I leave is empty the skimmer cups. You will always hear horror stories about people who added something new or did a major equipment clean right before they left. And something always seems to go wrong with the stuff they messed with have a nice trip

 

[CoralBeauty13]

I'll try to keep this short. I have four tanks and as blessed as I have been to always have someone home to look after three of them. I have one tank in my Bedroom that I keep with my bedroom door locked. I top that one off as high as possible, put the glass covers on, turn the temp as low as it is possible and point all powerheads to the top for gas exchange , all that is to help with evaporation. Also adding a large old school bubbler helps with oxygen since I put the skimmer and pump on low as possible.

Run my auto fish food dispenser on it's settings and I do this a full week before I leave to be sure everything is running properly. I change the batteries in the food dispenser once to have fresh batteries before leaving. I leave a pretty nice size gap in the feeder so that evaporation doesn't clog the dispenser, yes that has happened, not sure when it did that, but fish were fine. I go two weeks at a time and knocking on wood all has been good so far.

I pretty much put everything as low as possible and say my prayers before heading out. Good luck and be sure to chose what fits you best and have an emergency number on hand in case you do go the camera or fancier route to let someone know to run over and handle any situations you may have.

 

[Reef_junkie91]

If you have that much worth in coral I wouldn't think twice about getting an apex. I love mine! Can control anything from anywhere it can send texts and alarms when things are wrong and also you can hook a webcam up to view the tank at any time. Also you can add modules for leak detection, auto feeders.

 

[Reef Frog]

None of my friends & family are competent to do virtually anything on my reef tank. And quite frankly I am not comfortable with most people or any strangers in my house when I'm away, without me being there.

I do request 4 neighbors to text/call me in the event of a power outage. My brother is capable of setting up a vehicle & AC inverter if necessary. It would take no longer than 2 minutes. I even send him a video of the procedure before I leave and everything is left out in the kitchen table. He can also see if my neighborhood is having power problems on line if I'm away during bad weather like ice storms This gives me peace of mind, as this is by far the most likely disaster scenario I would likely experience. But the main vulnerability here is if it's a blizzard and he can't get here in time.

FUTURE PLAN
But I still want more control and I won't have an Apex anytime soon. But I may get one of those Canary wifi cameras. It has a simple app for multiple video views and it shows room temperature. I would be able to see the tank temperature as well and could visually see the chiller working and its status in a high heat emergency. It would also allow me to let a LFS person into the house at a specified time and under supervision in the event if something really strange was going on. But I may encounter problems if I'm overseas or somewhere with no wifi, so nothing's 100% safe I suppose.

 

[ericp351]

I am extremely fortunate to have my brother within a mile of my house. I take my family to Aruba every august for 3 weeks. My brother has been keeping multiple freshwater tanks for well over 40 years. With a few simple instructions the week before we leave, he has no problem caring for my tanks. Plus the cats. I also have a generator in the garage on a manual transfer switch.