So what do you guys do when you have to go out of town for an extended period of time? I'm going on vacation for a week at the end of June and I don't trust any of my bonehead friends not to kill my tank.
Ideas?
Ideas?
Vacation care
- Thread starter mumra
- Start date
eheim auto feeder and a reliable ATO and maybe a large top off water container
I'll check those out. never heard of them before but I'm pretty new to this so there's that. what's an ATO?
thanks
I’ve used weekly pill containers to dose out food for whichever day I want them to feed my tank, leaving empty ones on days I don’t want the tank fed. It keeps those “boneheads” from over feeding.
I have an ATO so that's really helpful. I also only feed frozen food when I'm out of town. Typically I feed every 2nd or 3rd day when I'm gone and it only requires a house minder dumping food in the tank twice. I've got a handful of small cups that I put food it, thaw, cover with aluminum fool and write on top which day and which tank. For example, If I leave for a week on a Saturday, the fridge will have 6 small cups in it with (thawed) frozen food. On top I'll write "Big tank - Monday" and "Big tank - Thursday." The other cups will have a similar note for the other two tanks. The only requirement is that they don't come super early in the morning and feed the tanks when it's dark. If that happens, I figure it's no big deal since as long as the sun's out, there's some light but later in the day is preferable.
Perhaps the most important item is having friends. I have a few folks that I can call on to check on the systems if there's an issue. A general pet sitter can take care of feeding but if something goes sideways, I'll need to get someone with reef knowledge to come by and help me out. Since you're already on ARC, you've got plenty of friends! Find someone that's in your area and hit them up. You don't want a complete stranger to have access to your house but finding a cool person on ARC hasn't ever been an issue. Come to think of it, most of the folks I would call are currently on or have been on the ARC BoD. The easiest course of action would be to volunteer to be President and you'll really get to know some great people. Heck, that's what worked for me!
Perhaps the most important item is having friends. I have a few folks that I can call on to check on the systems if there's an issue. A general pet sitter can take care of feeding but if something goes sideways, I'll need to get someone with reef knowledge to come by and help me out. Since you're already on ARC, you've got plenty of friends! Find someone that's in your area and hit them up. You don't want a complete stranger to have access to your house but finding a cool person on ARC hasn't ever been an issue. Come to think of it, most of the folks I would call are currently on or have been on the ARC BoD. The easiest course of action would be to volunteer to be President and you'll really get to know some great people. Heck, that's what worked for me!
ATO is an acronym for automatic top off.
It’s a device that automatically adds fresh water, to maintain salinity.
fwiw,
I, and many others, like the Tunze 3155. It has redundant sensors, to help prevent under/over flow conditions. Its on sale here-
Osmolator 3155 Auto Top Off - Tunze
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I use jello shot cups to separate feedings. Just write on the lids. I've only been a few days away from the tank yet, so that has been pretty effective. In August we are leaving for 2 weeks. So now I have to teach someone to change the filter floss and tip off the ato. I'm interested in what others have done when they are away for a couple of weeks short of hiring a service.
Like others have said, an auto top off will solve your main issue. You could get an automatic feeder, or take one of the suggestions of the others. I have also used medicine containers in the past so +1 on that. Are your lights currently automated or do they require manual on/off?
lights are automated. AI
off, 2 ehiem feeders with tdo , tunze 3155 for ato , ring camera, apex , a good neighbor with no background on aquarium hobby and long prayer 
