What do you do when you go out of town?

siege

Active Member
Supporting
Messages
335
Reaction score
34
Location
Flowery Branch
So, as I settle in for vacation, I find myself thankful to have always had a roommate and/or family members at home to help care for my pets and freshwater setup. For these, just two feedings a day and an occasional test-strip read are more than sufficient, so it's easy enough for someone else to manage.

But then I think about the reef I'm about to build and how these can sometimes be a lot more demanding. I've already planned my livestock list to avoid anything with especially high feeding needs, mostly for my own sanity. Still, there’s so much more to a reef than just feeding, and you can't always predict what might crop up in your tank when you’re away: especially with something unexpectedly (still) in QT when you didn't expect it.

I'm curious how other ARC members handle these situations. Do you rely on preparation and automation? A friend or family member you can train? Do you hire a service? Rely on connections made through ARC? Or have you ever had to cancel plans because of your tank’s needs?
 
It’s best to build at least one relationship with someone who knows what they are doing. Even if that person isn’t the one who is doing the daily feeding, having that contact for the person doing the daily routine in case something does go wrong, is huge.

I don’t go out of town often. The few times I have, I have had the woman I’ve been seeing feed my tanks and my cats for me. I have weekly prescription drug containers that I portion out dry food into each day for her. Simple enough. I make sure I do a water change and top off all ATO reservoirs/water bottles for the gravity one before I leave. It has worked well so far for the handful of 3-7 day trips I have taken.

I also, have @scuba steve who lives 8 minutes from my home, and I’d venture to guess knows more than most of us about this hobby. His shop just so happens to be directly between our homes, and I have been taking care of the fish there for him anytime he needs to go out of town. I know if something were to happen, and he was around, I’d be able to have him come try and figure things out for her.

I’d love to have more people I could not only rely on, but also trust in my home. You never know what might pop up while you’re gone, and that’s usually the time when something decides to go wrong. It’s also just nice to have people to talk reefing with. I live in Smyrna and work in Roswell. I have no problems ever helping anyone out, if they ever need it within reasonable distance from either place.
 
I really set everything up to run on its own. My tank is pretty self sufficient as it is. Leading up to a trip I’ll feed less and do a water change a day or two before leaving. I typically have a 6g ATO container but I’ll bust out a 15g tote. This will leave me covered for a least a week. I have an apex that I can keep an eye on things with. The longest I left it was 10 days without any issues.
 
I am fortunate to have that option, actually, @ichthyoid, as I've got the controller, and I have a Power Bar 8 hopefully being held for me until I get back in town that I managed to find on a good deal.

How much are you automating?
 
I am fortunate to have that option, actually, @ichthyoid, as I've got the controller, and I have a Power Bar 8 hopefully being held for me until I get back in town that I managed to find on a good deal.

How much are you automating?

Monitoring is ok.
Programming timing functions like lights is ok.

While it ‘may’ be possible to have control function ability over many things, I wouldn’t trust some enough to use it.

Example: don’t use closed loop feedback to control dosing things that can wipe out a system. Like using a Trident to monitor chemistry and then control the dosing amounts based on those variable Trident readings. (I would want 2x APEX systems to do that)

Instead,
Use a peristaltic dosing pump to deliver fixed doses just below what is needed, then tweak it on occasion. Much safer, imo.
 
I only go out of town for treatment, so 3 days, max. I have my daughter and granddaughter come by for feeding and to check in. Notes for each tank, and labels on the foods for each one. I make sure any tasks like testing, top offs, water changes, etc., are done before I go. I don't know any other reefers in the area, and there are no stores or services nearby. I would like to eventually have a more automated system, though, especially now that I have a bigger tank. I suspect some level of automation will be necessary. Mo' gallons, Mo' problems lol.
 
I use a combo of full automation (Apex) and cameras. I go out of town for as long as 3 weeks at least 2-3 times a year. 2 cameras are on my equipment cabinet and tank and 3 mini cameras in my sump. The cameras in the sump monitor water level, how much is left on my fleece roller, and how full my skimmer cup is. It’s a lot but it works and i no longer lose sleep and i can enjoy my vacations.
 
Most everything is automated but I do have a person that comes by to feed when I'm out of town for more than a few days. I also have a bunch of relationships with folks on this forum. There are a few people I can (and have) called when something gets out of whack and nobody is home. I've exchanged numbers with a few folks to call in case of Emergency.

For worst case scenario situations you can find someone relatively close and be one another's back-up. It's worked well for me in the past.
 
I travel quite bit for work. Usually few days to few weeks every month.


Only thing my wife do is feed my fish twice a day with feed mode on. I feed frozen food only. I prepare 1 week worth at a time and feed.


If I am going out of the town for longer than a week, my wife will have to make 1 week worth of frozen food and change the kalkwasser bucket (5Gal solution last 1week) to the new onee I have made already. (This new bucket is my ATO’s.

I don’t check my tank when I’m out of town. I let my wife let me know if she think something is wrong.

When we both go out of town, I use auto feeder to feed to tank. But last time (3days away), I didn’t feed the tank.
 
I left feeding my tank to my daughter and my sister in law. DESPITE me leaving a sample of how much to feed and written instructions they still forgot to feed for several days and tried to compensate by over feeding when they remembered. That was almost a disaster. After that, I fully automated. My wife and daughter have no interest in my aquarium. I can’t trust them to do what’s needed.
 
Monitoring is ok.
Programming timing functions like lights is ok.

While it ‘may’ be possible to have control function ability over many things, I wouldn’t trust some enough to use it.

Example: don’t use closed loop feedback to control dosing things that can wipe out a system. Like using a Trident to monitor chemistry and then control the dosing amounts based on those variable Trident readings. (I would want 2x APEX systems to do that)

Instead,
Use a peristaltic dosing pump to deliver fixed doses just below what is needed, then tweak it on occasion. Much safer, imo.

This is really good advice. I might have been tempted to get fancy and try do something like that at some point - especially if I suddenly realized I had the option, but you pointing it out reminds me right away of some of the issues I've seen in SCADA/HMI systems done that way. Plus, reliable and consistent dosing of something close to but less than what you need gives you that margin of safety, as it's easy to add a little more, but not so easy to take it back out again.
 
Last edited:
I use a combo of full automation (Apex) and cameras. I go out of town for as long as 3 weeks at least 2-3 times a year. 2 cameras are on my equipment cabinet and tank and 3 mini cameras in my sump. The cameras in the sump monitor water level, how much is left on my fleece roller, and how full my skimmer cup is. It’s a lot but it works and i no longer lose sleep and i can enjoy my vacations.
Ooof. I can see losing sleep over a tank, even with my roommate or my mother home. I have LOTS of cameras tho, lol. I can definitely see myself putting a few on my ATO and Kalkwasser, etc., though that's a nice thing about an AIO - I have to admit I do really appreciate not having to worry about a sump box. I have a downstairs I just finished remodeling that I don't want to flood.

[...] Notes for each tank, and labels on the foods for each one. I make sure any tasks like testing, top offs, water changes, etc., are done before I go. I don't know any other reefers in the area, and there are no stores or services nearby. I would like to eventually have a more automated system, though, especially now that I have a bigger tank. I suspect some level of automation will be necessary. Mo' gallons, Mo' problems lol.
Notes. I should leave notes. And my wife loves labes, we have tons. I believe I'll be doing that in the future - my freshwater tank is simple, so has never required it, but a reef is a different animal. I do always do rounds of testing and at least a small water change before I go.

Shame you don't have anyone local! Does seem automation is really the name of the game anyway. At least it's gotten easier over the years, it seems.

Most everything is automated but I do have a person that comes by to feed when I'm out of town for more than a few days. I also have a bunch of relationships with folks on this forum. There are a few people I can (and have) called when something gets out of whack and nobody is home. I've exchanged numbers with a few folks to call in case of Emergency.

For worst case scenario situations you can find someone relatively close and be one another's back-up. It's worked well for me in the past.
Relationships are important, and can be life- (or reef-) savers for certain.

I left feeding my tank to my daughter and my sister in law. DESPITE me leaving a sample of how much to feed and written instructions they still forgot to feed for several days and tried to compensate by over feeding when they remembered. That was almost a disaster. After that, I fully automated. My wife and daughter have no interest in my aquarium. I can’t trust them to do what’s needed.
My mother I can trust, implicitly and absolutely, fortunately. My wife as well, on the occasions I go out of town for business. My roommate... I believe I can? I've never had any reason to believe she has done less or more than directed, but the more I can automate, it seems, the less I have to worry about.
 
I forgot to mention the camera in my fish room that’s on my ATO/mixing station. Use to have it set for endless water going to the ATO tank so it never ran out but since decided that the 55 gallon ATO tank was a safer way. My tank and fish room are in a finished basement.
 
This is really good advice. I might have been tempted to get fancy and try do something like that at some point - especially if I suddenly realized I had the option, but you pointing it out reminds me right away of some of the issues I've seen in SCADA/HMI systems done that way. Plus, reliable and consistent dosing of something close to but less than what you need gives you that margin of safety, as it's easy to add a little more, but not so easy to take it back out again.
I don’t do Trident controlled dosing. It is Waaay too unreliable to do that. If you do, you should also do manual testing a couple times per week IMO.
 
This is really good advice. I might have been tempted to get fancy and try do something like that at some point - especially if I suddenly realized I had the option, but you pointing it out reminds me right away of some of the issues I've seen in SCADA/HMI systems done that way. Plus, reliable and consistent dosing of something close to but less than what you need gives you that margin of safety, as it's easy to add a little more, but not so easy to take it back out again.
I learned from experience in industrial automation. Nice catch!
 
I don’t do Trident controlled dosing. It is Waaay too unreliable to do that. If you do, you should also do manual testing a couple times per week IMO.
I admit I haven't looked too deep into Neptune's product line, mainly as a result of sticker shock when looking at their site. I wasn't aware of the Trident piece until it was brought it up. Still, I can see myself having come across one on a deep sale and thinking to try to integrate. The note on the system not being fully reliable for accurate measurements and/or dosing however will save me that investment and head-/heart-ache, thanks!
 
only think I did coming back from vacation was clean the glass
 
Back
Top