Would you wait?

[Ocicat]

I'm taking forever to get my first tank, a 180, all put together. Right now I expect to have everything I need by mid-April; the main hold-up is that I'm having a stand & canopy custom-built.

However, this summer I'm going on vacation for 3 weeks, 6/17 to 7/9. Finding someone knowledgeable to care for the tank for that long would be very difficult.

Would you wait until after the trip to put water & rock & sand in there and fire it all up? It seems like the safest, wisest course... but ... JULY?! It's so far off!

Considering that I started on this crazy path back in September, that's like almost a year.... I never would have believed it could take me until Halloween, much less July of '06...

 

[artful-dodger]

I would recommend that you go ahead and set it up but not stock it with anything other than the rock/sand until you return. it will take that long to get a good live filtration bet working. Then whoever you recruit would only have to worry about topping off water...if you aren't running lights full time the evaporation would be minimal. You'll be able to estimate how much water is needed how often during the first part of July. Somebody would probably only have to stop by once or twice a week.

 

[Meloco14]

I agree, use the 3 weeks to your advantage and let it be the end of your cycle. You can use the time before to make sure everything is set up and running smoothly. Then in the beginning of June, or even earlier, put in your sand and rock and let it cycle. When you go on vacation just have someone top off the tank, nothing else is really needed. By the time you get back hopefully the cycle will be near completion, and you'll be good to go.