Vacations?
 

I am considering setting up a reef tank in the not too distant future.

However, my wife and I will be spending 3 weeks in the UK next summer.

How do you reef keepers maintain your tanks over lengthy vacations? Any tips to prevent coming home to a dying "cesspool"?

If I cannot figure something out, my build will likely be cancelled (for the sake of my marriage and my health). Lol.

Two things that would come right off the mind: ATO with enough reserve for double the time you will be out. And a controller so that you can look at the tank's condition through internet. And maybe a wifi camera just to add a bit of relaxation :D

For food: maybe ask someone to come every three/four days to drop off some food into the tank. To me, asking someone to dump food everyday is a bad idea. Also don't keep any anthias.

ATO and a automatic feed with someone coming by once a week to refill the feeder.

Spend the money on good automation with lots of fail safe, backup, webcam and text alerts....Its possible if you plan right. Or maybe you would want to wait. Personally I always thought if I couldnt go on vacation with a reef tank I wouldnt have one. So I just go on vacation and I've always had good luck pretty much. Of course my trips are usually only a week long (no one watches the tank), not 3.

I also typically go for a week at a time, leaving the tank on it's own. For three weeks, I'd arrange a sitter to feed the tank. Everything else is fine on it's own.
I did once go to SE Asia for 6 weeks, I sold my tank before going :) Bought a bigger one when I got back!

3 weeks a bit long to stay away from your tank without having someone with good knowledge for what your system will be.
I would look into getting someone in the hobby to watch over the system not just any joe from any LFS.

I should add that my 3 sons will be staying behind so the tank can be monitored daily (just not by someone necessarily knowledgeable).

My 14-year old is very responsible and has a real interest in aquariums. I would likely task him with some very simple tasks such as pre-portioned feedings every 3-4 days, topping up my ATO container and ensuring that all pumps are running.

I am also hoping that I could ask a reefer in my area to act as "emergency" contact.

I kinda feel like if something is going to fail during that 3 weeks, it will fail whether I am home or not.

Thanks for your feedback so far. Any additional thoughts?

Get a tank sitter! There are businesses / LFS that will do this.

Have you used one? I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with a stranger looking after my tank etc.

I've had a couple of different tank sitters. Both of which I met on canreef. They've worked out quite well. You definitely should develope a relationship with them first if you are unease letting strangers sit your tank.

I've never used a commercial service but have friends that do. There are reputable services in town.

i am 14 years old i turn 15 in 2 months i own and maintain 2 salt water tanks a 20 and a 29 i own and maintain a 125 fw and a 10 gal shrimp tank keeping in mind my mom does feeding and only feeding wate no some times when we go shoping she will split the cost of a coral but ya there my tanks i clean them test them frag corals the whole deel


i think if you teach your 14 year old how to maintain the tank there will be no bugs he will be abel to do it just make sure to go over every thing and dont asume any thing
o ya and have lights on timers

cheers scott

+1

If you've got someone in your house the whole time anyway, I think you're going to be fine. I'm leaving tomorrow for two weeks by my roommates will be home for all but 4 days of it. They don't know how to 'operate' the tank (as in they'd be lost if I asked them to do a water change using my semi-automated system), but they know what a protein skimmer is, where the top off water comes from and how it gets made, and how to put the tank in to feed mode. I'm not worried about it at all.

Other advice:

- Set the tank up as far in advance of your trip as possible. It can take months to identify and rectify all the potential unforeseen points of weakness or failure in your set up depending on it's size, complexity, and level of 'completeness' the day you add water to it.

- If you've got a sitter coming to feed them (or even a child who doesn't normally do the feeding), invest in a whole bunch of small glad food storage containers and pre-portion out enough food to last for the whole time you're gone. No risk of over or under feeding that way.

- do all your vacation tank preparation at least 48 hours before you go. If you've got reservoirs to refill, or major maintenance that you want done before you go, don't do it the day before or the day you leave. I once hurriedly refilled my dosing reservoirs the day I left for a 2 week trip to California and in the process unknowingly activated a timer on one of my outlets. I got a panicked phone call from my roommate as I got off the plane 3000km away that the pump I used for water changes was uncontrollably pumping from a 50 gallon drum of water on to my office floor and she didn't even know enough about the tank to give me a good description over the phone of where the water was coming from. That could have been a total disaster.

- as per above - never use a timed outlet because you can't find a regular switched 3-pronged outlet. Generally, don't cut corners.

- Automate as much as possible, but keep it simple for the person looking after them. If they have to unplug three things, press a button, and turn a valve to put the tank in to feed mode, you are inviting disaster. The less buttons they have to press, the better.

- try to design your tank so that it has enough capacity to go three weeks without needing you to change anything major about the way it functions. In my first tank I had an undersized ATO vessel, so when we'd leave for more than 4 days, I'd have to bring out a 20 gallon garbage can, fill it up, and completely re-arrange my ATO system. It took forever to set up and break down, and it was major jury-rigged point of weakness that lead to an accidental flood more than once. If you can't design a big enough ATO container, have someone refill it before you re-work the ATO system.

All the automation in the world is never as good as having someone home to keep an eye on things, so you're already ahead of the game there. Your older son knows how to use the phone I'm sure, so there's not much that can't be dealt with in the event of a problem. Since he has an interest in the hobby, you might even get him to sign up for a Canreef account for help & advice while you're away.

I'm fortunate to have my daughter & son in law to look after things when I'm away. They don't own a salt water aquarium, so aren't super knowledgeable, but I can trust them to know what to do when something goes awry. Longest I'm ever gone is a week to 10 days & that's usually during the winter at a remote backcountry lodge with limited communication service other than 'real' emergencies.

Anyone know any good tank sitters that are private? Some of the big companies cost a fortune. We are gone all summer...

Thank you all for your feedback. I think this will help ease my wife's mind considerably.

BTW Scott, great to see someone your age so involved in the hobby. Thanks for taking the time to reply too. :mrgreen:

I have had Ryan from Big Al's come to my house and he is AWESOME!!! Except Big Al's charges 100 for the call out charge...wondering if I could find someone less expensive for my longer term times away...Sorry to hijack your forum...

don't you already know, if you own a reef tank there are no vacations! :D