OP
OP
I wrote this up in the question of the day, but thought people in this thread might find it helpful as well. What do I do when I leave for vacation? If I'm gone 5 days or less I don't change a thing. A week or more and I get my tank set up for the trip.
A few of the things I put in place:
Power - Our home is backed up by Tesla powerwalls. I also hard wire my Apex to prevent any possibility of losing connection.
Wifi Thermostat - In case it gets crazy hot during the summer or crazy cold during the winter, I can monitor room and tank temps and adjust the thermostat remotely if needed.
Feeding - We have a pet sitter who stops by every other day and drops in frozen food. I add a floating cone to the tank and have pre-filled bags in the freezer that she just pours one in the ring each visit. I DO NOT allow sitters to decide what and how much to feed. I also set up an auto feeder to feed NLS pellets once a day into a separate floating ring.
ATO - I put a brute next to the tank and fill it with more than enough RODI to cover the length of time I'll be gone. I zip tie the tube/cables together as well as to the brute so they can't be bumped off or pulled down by our cat. I also have a backup ATO pump that I just leave on top of the brute. It's an easy swap out should the original stop working.
Auto Waste Collector - I use an auto waste collector for my skimmer. This allows collection of up to a month of skimmate and will automatically shut off my skimmer if it fills up.
Monitoring - I have a camera facing the tank from two different directions so I can see at a moments glance what's going on. I can direct my sitter in realtime if something needs to be fixed.
Labeling - I've labeled all key items under the tank, dosers, ATO, skimmer, top off , etc. Along with the cameras, this helps me direct whomever is watching the tank what to do. Instead of saying, drain that big white and clear thing with the gunk on top, I can just say "skimmer" and they see the label and know what it is.
Remote Testing & Control - The biggest stress anxiety reducer for me has been Alkatronic. When we leave home, within a day or two CO2 in the house will equalize and the pH goes up and levels off. This in general causes Alk to go down. With my Alkatronic and Apex, I can monitor my Alk and make adjustments to my doser pumps to balance it out. Once balanced it generally stays very steady for the duration of our trip.
Here's some pics of some of the things I do. Note: these are old pics so if my corals look different, that's why!
A few of the things I put in place:
Power - Our home is backed up by Tesla powerwalls. I also hard wire my Apex to prevent any possibility of losing connection.
Wifi Thermostat - In case it gets crazy hot during the summer or crazy cold during the winter, I can monitor room and tank temps and adjust the thermostat remotely if needed.
Feeding - We have a pet sitter who stops by every other day and drops in frozen food. I add a floating cone to the tank and have pre-filled bags in the freezer that she just pours one in the ring each visit. I DO NOT allow sitters to decide what and how much to feed. I also set up an auto feeder to feed NLS pellets once a day into a separate floating ring.
ATO - I put a brute next to the tank and fill it with more than enough RODI to cover the length of time I'll be gone. I zip tie the tube/cables together as well as to the brute so they can't be bumped off or pulled down by our cat. I also have a backup ATO pump that I just leave on top of the brute. It's an easy swap out should the original stop working.
Auto Waste Collector - I use an auto waste collector for my skimmer. This allows collection of up to a month of skimmate and will automatically shut off my skimmer if it fills up.
Monitoring - I have a camera facing the tank from two different directions so I can see at a moments glance what's going on. I can direct my sitter in realtime if something needs to be fixed.
Labeling - I've labeled all key items under the tank, dosers, ATO, skimmer, top off , etc. Along with the cameras, this helps me direct whomever is watching the tank what to do. Instead of saying, drain that big white and clear thing with the gunk on top, I can just say "skimmer" and they see the label and know what it is.
Remote Testing & Control - The biggest stress anxiety reducer for me has been Alkatronic. When we leave home, within a day or two CO2 in the house will equalize and the pH goes up and levels off. This in general causes Alk to go down. With my Alkatronic and Apex, I can monitor my Alk and make adjustments to my doser pumps to balance it out. Once balanced it generally stays very steady for the duration of our trip.
Here's some pics of some of the things I do. Note: these are old pics so if my corals look different, that's why!
Try to enjoy yourself!
