Fish/Reef care while on Vacation

[BigLarry]

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to care for a reef/fish tank while on vacation? I plan on leaving for about 10 days.

 

[noodleman]

have all your nights on timers, use a ATO system and have a nice dosing system. Thats all i cna think of.

 

[marrone]

Best thing would be to have a friend come over and look at the tank as 10 days is a pretty long time to be away from a reef tank.

 

[DEEPWATER]

The best way is to find someone in your area that know about taking care of a reef tank .and asked them ,Leaving for 10 days ,and just having everything Auto is not a good idea ,what happens if something gos wrong ,someone need to check up on the tank every other day ,and feed your tank as well ,they need to eat ,JMO

 

[inkblue]

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to care for a reef/fish tank while on vacation?

...doNt leave :smokin: :joke: :lol:

 

[Tiger Lily]

Ok, I know this was naughty, but I left my tank for 2 weeks once. Timers was the KEY. Turn lights on and off. Automatic feeder that feeds them 1x per day for 2 weeks. If you leave the light on the entire time, the evaporation will kill you. Change the timers so that the lights are on less, like 8hr/day. Everything was alive when I got back, but I don't have any really hard to care for frags... But the xenia you just got from me survived this ordeal

 

[michael stern]

definetly try to find a local club member to help you out, and be prepared to reciprocate.

 

[Sean]

is there a local pet shop you know and trust?
I get local hobbyist that I help out when they're gone for lengths of time( for a fee of course).

getting a friend to feed every two or three days is good but I would have an "expert that knows your tank well to check up on it at the 6 or 7 day period as well.

 

[BigLarry]

Everyone - thanks for the advice.
Tiger- they xenia frags are doing well. They opened up by the next day.

Going the FL Keys - plan on doing some snorkeling so I can see the coral reefs in their natural environment. Can't wait.

Happy Holidays

Larry

 

[BigLarry]

I'm going to set up a dosing system. I have an IV pump to feed the reef nutrients.
Any suggestions?

 

[cali_reef]

10 days is a long time without fresh water top off, the drier air (from your heat) will cause the tank to evaporate a lot.

 

[BigLarry]

I'm setting up a fresh water top off system.

 

[Alfredo De La Fe]

Get a buddy to take care of topping off the tank and feeding the fish. Also make sure that whoever you get has the number of one or two of your fellow reefkeeping friends in the event of a catastrophe.

I am much happier now that I have someone doing my maintenance. I know that if I go away, my neighbor that tops off my tank and feeds the fish has someone they can call if the unexpected happens. (My maintenance guy is a fellow ManhattanReefs member and he has been doing a great job!)

-Alfred

 

[inline6]

I was gone for 10 days, had a ato system run flawlessly, but all I had was softies and no fish at the time.