aztoza
Active Member
Vacations are one thing to deal with, but there will come a time I will have to be away from my tank for 4-6 months. That point is still years away but I’d like to plan and hear how others have handled an extended leave.
Have you ever had to leave your tank for a looooooong time? Successes failures tips please!
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I only l left my tank for a little over a month so not sure how applicable this would be for 4-6 months, but I was fortunate enough to have a really good local fish store that does maintenance. I ended up paying them to come once a week and do water changes. As well as I had a friend checking the tank every few day. The friend would check parameters, and I’d walk them through adjusting
I definitely switched over to much larger water changes 25-35% weekly and less complex dosing. I shut off my calcium reactor and swapped over to bicarb dosing as it’s less complicated and easier for someone else to manage “fill this container with this liquid”
I also got an auto feeder as well as a larger kalk bucket so it didn’t need to be filled as often.
I tried to get everything swapped over a few months in advance so I had time to dial it in and adjust things.
I also made sure to frag all the sps and other corals I could and put the frags as back ups in other people system
Best of luck
I definitely switched over to much larger water changes 25-35% weekly and less complex dosing. I shut off my calcium reactor and swapped over to bicarb dosing as it’s less complicated and easier for someone else to manage “fill this container with this liquid”
I also got an auto feeder as well as a larger kalk bucket so it didn’t need to be filled as often.
I tried to get everything swapped over a few months in advance so I had time to dial it in and adjust things.
I also made sure to frag all the sps and other corals I could and put the frags as back ups in other people system
Best of luck
Gumbies R Us
Certified Noob
I’ve only left my tank for a few weeks so I’ll give some advice
Invest in an ATO If you don’t have one
Have a tank sitter you can trust. I give a person from our family a list of things to check or do with my tank every couple of days and so far it’s been fine doing this
Get a camera to watch your tank, Amazon blink camera is a fine one to use
I use nori sheets to feed my fish on the days my sitter isn’t at our house, but when she is there she feeds frozen food on top of the nori.
Invest in an ATO If you don’t have one
Have a tank sitter you can trust. I give a person from our family a list of things to check or do with my tank every couple of days and so far it’s been fine doing this
Get a camera to watch your tank, Amazon blink camera is a fine one to use
I use nori sheets to feed my fish on the days my sitter isn’t at our house, but when she is there she feeds frozen food on top of the nori.
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aztoza
Active Member
We do have access to an lfs that offers maintenance…at first was thinking biweekly but weekly may be a better idea. Larger water change sounds like good advice since auto feeder probably feeds way more. Love the idea of fragging backup corals too, genius! Thanks =)
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aztoza
Active Member
Ok great, yes we will do a camera. Anyway I’ve heard stories of lfs maintenance guys fragging and selling your corals without permission! Nori clip might be a great alternative to auto feeder…we got an eheim but just seems like an extra complication in a way.
What sorts of tasks did you think it reasonable to ask of the tank sitter? And which ones should be left to the professional maintenance guys?
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Even when I’m not leaving town I try and have back up frags in other systems. just helps keep things alive in case anything happen, also really cool to see how the same acros grow so differently in different systems
mfinn
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Over the 35 years I've been with my wife she has stepped up and taken care of my tanks when I've had to "go out of town", for work. Sometimes that has been up to 5-6 months at a time.
To get ready for that situation, I included her with water changes, and routine chores, like cleaning the skimmer, and checking pumps to make sure they sound right ( little to no sound) and just appearance.
Then I made a check list of possible problems and what to do.
I also made a list of local reefers to call in case of an emergency.
She did a pretty good job considering it was my hobby and not hers.
To get ready for that situation, I included her with water changes, and routine chores, like cleaning the skimmer, and checking pumps to make sure they sound right ( little to no sound) and just appearance.
Then I made a check list of possible problems and what to do.
I also made a list of local reefers to call in case of an emergency.
She did a pretty good job considering it was my hobby and not hers.
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aztoza
Active Member
That’s awesome =)
Rusty_L_Shackleford
Active Member
Unless a tank sitter is a Reefer who knows what they're doing, I would just leave it to the pros. My tanks are fairly automated, ie I have auto feeders, ATOs, inkbirds, auto dosers, remote control camera, etc. I have my lfs check in every 3 or 4 days when I travel. Note they aren't actually doing anything, just stopping by to put eyes on it and do a quick check to make sure everything looks right, pumps are running etc. So I would split the difference. Maybe a couple of checkups and then a maintenance check. A good camera is absolutely worth the peace of mind.
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aztoza
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Thanks!
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