How to handle a one month vacation?

[albertski]

I usually take a one-week vacation, but I want to see what options are for a worst-case scenario for a 1-month vacation. My plan is to make one month's worth of RODI water and have it ready. I'll teach someone (or a couple of people) how to mix it so they can come once a week to do a water change. I'll also add an automatic feeder. I wasn't going to have them do any testing because there won't be anything they will be able to do anyways. Will this work?

I know it may differ based on what type of aquarium and livestock. I haven't purchased the tank but I am leaning towards the Marcin X 60.2 (36 gallons) with beginner items like clone fish and soft corals but not sure what I will get in the future.

 

[albertski]

I usually take a 3 week holiday twice a year, (I’m self employed and work 6 or 7 days a week, that’s my excuse anyway)
I have set up my tank to run automatically all the time and I then feed some frozen food and Reef Roids occasionally as a treat.

my setup includes a sump with ATO, dosing pump for calcium, magnesium and alkalinity And an auto feeder.

I have found that by running automatically most of the time I can keep a very stable tank and amy small fluctuations are usually caused by me adding extra food but these settle after a few days.

I do perform a water change the day before I go as I don’t get anyone to do anything. when I’m not away I usually do water changes every 2 weeks, this helps me monitor a similar situation and the change from a 2 week to a 3 week water change isn’t drastic.

I have a Seneye, but only for monitoring temperature and water level, so will get an email if there is a problem.

my built in ATO isn’t big enough for more than 2 weeks so I set up a second 25l water tub next to it at the same height with a syphon tube into the ATO tank, atmospheric pressure keeps the water level the same so it automatically tops up the ATO without a pump.
I set this up a week beforehand to ensure it is working happily and top up the top up water the day before we go so the is plenty.

I’m running Ecotech lights, and pumps on Reeflink so get emails if anything stops working.

When I set up my feeder the first time I set it up a 2 months before we went so I could monitor the setup and get a stable environment.
i auto feed into the return pump chamber and found I had a dead space causing some of the feed to remain in the sump and eventually gather and fester in a corner so added a small cheep water pump that runs fur 10 minutes at each feed to keep the food in suspension and as it is the smallest sinking pellet I can find it easily passes through the return and feeds the fish over a few minutes at the top of the tank.

My final safeguard for emergency only, I have an Alan, he lives just around the corner and waters our tomatoes and the rest of the garden if it is in need, he has kept Marine fish but has now left the hobby. If I was to get that dreaded email from Seneye or reeflink then Alan would hopefully stop my tank crashing with some reassuring and guidance on the phone from me.

My tank is well established and I have been doing this method for about 5 years now, so 10 or 12 trips. I find my phosphate and nitrate raises slightly over the trip so am currently experimenting with adding 30mins to the time my refugium light is on to see if this will combat it.

not had any problems so far.

Wow. Glad that

I usually take a 3 week holiday twice a year, (I’m self employed and work 6 or 7 days a week, that’s my excuse anyway)
I have set up my tank to run automatically all the time and I then feed some frozen food and Reef Roids occasionally as a treat.

my setup includes a sump with ATO, dosing pump for calcium, magnesium and alkalinity And an auto feeder.

I have found that by running automatically most of the time I can keep a very stable tank and amy small fluctuations are usually caused by me adding extra food but these settle after a few days.

I do perform a water change the day before I go as I don’t get anyone to do anything. when I’m not away I usually do water changes every 2 weeks, this helps me monitor a similar situation and the change from a 2 week to a 3 week water change isn’t drastic.

I have a Seneye, but only for monitoring temperature and water level, so will get an email if there is a problem.

my built in ATO isn’t big enough for more than 2 weeks so I set up a second 25l water tub next to it at the same height with a syphon tube into the ATO tank, atmospheric pressure keeps the water level the same so it automatically tops up the ATO without a pump.
I set this up a week beforehand to ensure it is working happily and top up the top up water the day before we go so the is plenty.

I’m running Ecotech lights, and pumps on Reeflink so get emails if anything stops working.

When I set up my feeder the first time I set it up a 2 months before we went so I could monitor the setup and get a stable environment.
i auto feed into the return pump chamber and found I had a dead space causing some of the feed to remain in the sump and eventually gather and fester in a corner so added a small cheep water pump that runs fur 10 minutes at each feed to keep the food in suspension and as it is the smallest sinking pellet I can find it easily passes through the return and feeds the fish over a few minutes at the top of the tank.

My final safeguard for emergency only, I have an Alan, he lives just around the corner and waters our tomatoes and the rest of the garden if it is in need, he has kept Marine fish but has now left the hobby. If I was to get that dreaded email from Seneye or reeflink then Alan would hopefully stop my tank crashing with some reassuring and guidance on the phone from me.

My tank is well established and I have been doing this method for about 5 years now, so 10 or 12 trips. I find my phosphate and nitrate raises slightly over the trip so am currently experimenting with adding 30mins to the time my refugium light is on to see if this will combat it.

not had any problems so far.

Wow. This is great. Thanks for sharing. I’m glad that there is an option but it won’t happen over night.

 

[4kidsandapug]

I usually take a one-week vacation, but I want to see what options are for a worst-case scenario for a 1-month vacation. My plan is to make one month's worth of RODI water and have it ready. I'll teach someone (or a couple of people) how to mix it so they can come once a week to do a water change. I'll also add an automatic feeder. I wasn't going to have them do any testing because there won't be anything they will be able to do anyways. Will this work?

I know it may differ based on what type of aquarium and livestock. I haven't purchased the tank but I am leaning towards the Marcin X 60.2 (36 gallons) with beginner items like clone fish and soft corals but not sure what I will get in the future.

I went away for 3 weeks earlier this summer. I do have a coralvue wifi feeder, backup battery power for my hydros controls. But I also had a friend come every 3 days and drop a reef popsicle in for me.

smarterreefs.com has a pretty nice 'change-n-go' system. I ordered the vacation pack plus an extra popsicle tray. All my friend had to do was put the holder on, slide in a pop and walk away. Next time in, put the holder in the freezer, grab the second one to replace, drop in a pop and walk away. The wifi feeder I mixed several pellets in... NLSprobiotix, NLSalgae pellets, and some dried oyster eggs. I have the feeder set to 3 times a day when I'm home, I turned it to twice a day while I was gone.

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

can you post a pic of your tank? Every tank is different. Some can easily ride a long vacation out while others wouldn't. Either way, +1 on a wifi camera and labeling everything. I have one in the sump and one on the DT and they've saved me multiple times during our vacations. Make sure it has audio as well it makes it easier to communicate with whoever is tanking care of tank. also, +1 on not doing any major additions or changes at least one week before the trip...adding a nem two days before you leave and watching it move ever so closer to a powerhead on your wifi camera app while on a beach 3000 miles away is not how you want to spend your vacation...trust me!

 

[albertski]

can you post a pic of your tank? Every tank is different. Some can easily ride a long vacation out while others wouldn't. Either way, +1 on a wifi camera and labeling everything. I have one in the sump and one on the DT and they've saved me multiple times during our vacations. Make sure it has audio as well it makes it easier to communicate with whoever is tanking care of tank. also, +1 on not doing any major additions or changes at least one week before the trip...adding a nem two days before you leave and watching it move ever so closer to a powerhead on your wifi camera app while on a beach 3000 miles away is not how you want to spend your vacation...trust me!

I was in the planning phase when I originally posted this. I ended up getting the Marine X 60.2. Might not get it for 4 - 6 weeks because it is backordered .

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

@albertski those are nice looking tanks and the prices are great too! There seems to be more options today for high end tanks than when I got my RSR 350 several years ago...

 

[Gardis]

I usually take a one-week vacation, but I want to see what options are for a worst-case scenario for a 1-month vacation. My plan is to make one month's worth of RODI water and have it ready. I'll teach someone (or a couple of people) how to mix it so they can come once a week to do a water change. I'll also add an automatic feeder. I wasn't going to have them do any testing because there won't be anything they will be able to do anyways. Will this work?

I know it may differ based on what type of aquarium and livestock. I haven't purchased the tank but I am leaning towards the Marcin X 60.2 (36 gallons) with beginner items like clone fish and soft corals but not sure what I will get in the future.

I am thinking of starting this hobby, but I am planning to be a snow birder - spending winters in a warm climate. I live in CT. Am I dreaming about the wrong hobby here? This sounds like an utterly total commitment hobby, but how can so many people be doing it if that is the case. I hate to give up easily. Please advise. I mean the water changes etc, are they really that necessary? I need advise.

 

[elcapitan1993]

I am thinking of starting this hobby, but I am planning to be a snow birder - spending winters in a warm climate. I live in CT. Am I dreaming about the wrong hobby here? This sounds like an utterly total commitment hobby, but how can so many people be doing it if that is the case. I hate to give up easily. Please advise. I mean the water changes etc, are they really that necessary? I need advise.

Yes water changes are arguably one of the most important things you need to do in this hobby, but there are so many ways to automate this now, I have my water changes automated and it’s one of the best things I did for my tank, I would suggest vacuuming your sand bed at least twice a month to keep it looking nice

 

[dwest]

I am thinking of starting this hobby, but I am planning to be a snow birder - spending winters in a warm climate. I live in CT. Am I dreaming about the wrong hobby here? This sounds like an utterly total commitment hobby, but how can so many people be doing it if that is the case. I hate to give up easily. Please advise. I mean the water changes etc, are they really that necessary? I need advise.

Honestly, it would be a tough to have a reef tank being gone a lot. It’s tough to do and usually doesn’t end well.

 

[GARRIGA]

I'd keep it simple. Turn off the skimmer. Remove the socks. Lights on a timer. ATO needs to be sized to go long periods. Perhaps some additional biological filtration. Preparation of RO a smart move. Sitter should do nothing other than feed sparingly and top off the ATO. Doubt nitrate and PO4 will rise to dangerous levels in one month. Might be one of those rare occasions to bring those levels to zero prior to departure and in time for the skimmer to remove any excess bacteria.

My work could take me away for a week or two at a time. Why I'm working on a solution that does both nitrification/denitrification naturally without mechanically removing detritus or use of skimmer. All about biological media volume and reduced flow. I'm in the early stages and it's already showing promise. Something I started in the mid 80's but didn't fully comprehend. The hobby evolves because our knowledge grows with time and experiments. Many of which often fail to get one to a final working solution.