Vacation?!!

[carnophage]

I need some advice. I am going on leave to NY for 2 weeks. i am alittle worried, i asked one of my friends to take care of my tank for me, he has a very basic knowledge of reef tanks. i have a 125 reef with some sun corals, trunpet, 2 short tent. plate, mushrooms, hammer, and a brain. i am not so much worried about the inverts and fish because if he can figure out how to put pellets into the tank they will be fine. i am worried about the corals. if i leave him with some marine snow, will the sun polyps and others get enough to eat. i will only be gone for 2 weeks. Any other ideas would be great, THanks!!!!!!

[Avi]

I have a 120-gallon reef and, what can I say...I can't get enough of Italy...so I frequently go for two weeks. Don't worry...two weeks won't be a problem, even for the sun coral. I have two of those and the tank's loaded with all kinds of corals; soft, LPS and SPS. I feed the sun coral a little more frequently than normal in the days before I leave and they do just fine over the course of two weeks. I'd say that the less you have your pals do while you're away, the better. I wouldn't even have them add any Marine Snow or other "coral food" because all your coral will be just fine without any foods beyond what they get by their photosynthesis.

All I have my friend do while we're away, is feed the fish flake or freeze-dried brineshrimp once a day and also make sure the water level on the sump doesn't go lower than the line I placed on the sump. That's it. Period. No more than that.

I've done this quite a few times and that, plus having a drain-off canister for my skimmer so no one needs to clean that while we're gone, is just fine.

Enjoy your vacation, man.

[flyyyguy]

Make sure to cover your bases and make sure he understands what basic things HAVE to happen. not feeding the sun coral or any corals for that matter at all for two weeks is a non issue assuming they are healthy.

It would be a good idea to give him the number of an experience reefer willing to be the go to guy should anything go wrong. I recently lost over 300 gallons of coral loaded reefs becasue i didnt do a very good job of getting the basics through to my housesitter. Im not saying that to scare you, but cover the basics.

[carnophage]

Bump

[m2434]

Last year, I actually become very comfortable leaving my tank alone for a week at a time, unattended! I use to take vacations once and a while and found leaving it nerve racking, but last summer I had to work two hours away during the week and could only check on it during the weekends. I essentially set up a top off system and a fish feeder and let it go. I would find that every time I got home the tank was doing great! And I got to a point where I wouldn't even think twice about it leaving it.

I think that the keys to success are
1)Nutirients - Cut back on feeding. I've never seen a fish starve to death (I think that most food related deaths are due to over-feeding, but that's just my 2 cents) fish can go for some time without food, especially in an established reef, where there is going to be natural food and the reduction in nutrients really helps to prevent algae disasters.
2)Power outages – Have a plan - a backup generator is nice if possible (i.e can you can find someone to lend you one).
3)Top-off water – lower the salinity slightly before you leave so it doesn't get too high if some evaporates. I've found 1 week with a 55gallon tank I could get away without top-off water, but preferred to add some back. I had a 2 gallon top-off system (this way there was no possibility of more than 2 gallons being added).
4)Temperature. Make sure there is good climate control.

My experience is that if you cover those four issues there is little to worry about.

[billgraf]

bump

[Roy G. Biv]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10816294#post10816294 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by m2434
I would find that every time I got home the tank was doing great! And I got to a point where I wouldn't even think twice about it leaving it.


I find the tank looks better than when I left it. I screw with it too much. :hmm2:

[m2434]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10816602#post10816602 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Pmolan
I find the tank looks better than when I left it. I screw with it too much. :hmm2:


I was trying not to say it like that... but I hear ya:strooper:

[volunteerguy]

so my story is a bit different...i have a 120 reef and thought i had everything set-up with a friend who agreed to watch the tank.

3 days into my trip i get a call on my cell at 3 pm saying that the lights were not on in the tank. since i was in the middle of the mountains i couldnt return the call until 11 pm that night. i found out that the lights had been out for a day along with the pump!

when i asked if they would go to the house immediately and get a back-up pump going they were not able to until the next day after work.

when they got to the house and called me it had been over 35 hours without pumps or lights on. i had them run extension cords to the pump and lights because i figured that the gfi blew and couldn't be reset.

i had lost 3 fish and a few corals.

when i got home and reset the gfi and flipped the lights on, the ballast on one of my haildes blew and caught fire. thank goodness this happened when i was home or the house would have been gone.

so, lessons learned:
1) have some sort of backup power supply
2) have a backup for your friends agreeing to watch the house
3) check in frequently to make sure everything is still ON

other then that, enjoy your vacation!