Help from Significant others or friends.

[MrWheelock]

Hey R2R,

Just curious how many people here on R2R have friends, fellow reefers, family, or significant others help take care of thier tanks?

What have you done to make things easier on them if anything?

Please share your experiences, good, bad, and ugly.

I'm currently deployed, been gone for 6 months, my wife does a wonderdul job taking care of my tank. Although I feel like I could have better set her up for an easier, more successful, and less stressful experience.
So while I've been away I've been stocking up on goodies some just because, and some to make things easier.
I got an apex to help me monitor while away. I feel it will bettter help me walk her through issues or situations that might arise. Plus its just a piece of mind to be able to see things in real time without having to bug her. "Whats the temp, salinity, ph ect."
I got a new sump from synergy reef. My Diy is just too tall and it makes it really hard for skimmer maintenance and just general maintenance.
I also realized recently that I didnt properly stock up on test kits, as some expired or were just too time consuming, so I picked up some hanna checkers to save some time and lessen the guessing.

So let me know what have you done or wish you would have done to make things earier for your tank companion while you were away.

Thank You and Happy Reefing!

 

[Mical]

Lucky man - wife taking care of tank (she's a keeper)

Back on topic - the Apex is a good start and the upgrades to make maintenance easier is a plus. Maybe a couple of small wifi cameras so you can view the tank from afar. You can pick them up from Amazon relatively inexpensive.

 

[MrWheelock]

Lucky man - wife taking care of tank (she's a keeper)

Back on topic - the Apex is a good start and the upgrades to make maintenance easier is a plus. Maybe a couple of small wifi cameras so you can view the tank from afar. You can pick them up from Amazon relatively inexpensive.

Yes, I plan to keep her around for sure!

I also had planned to get a wifi cam set up once I get home and get everything upgraded. I saw a few people set them up on thier apex dashboard, or just access them though an app, which I think is amazing.

Thank you for your suggestion!

 

[LanaDelNeighh]

For the summers when I am gone my husband takes care of it! He enjoys the hobby too luckily. When we both are on vacation, I have a friend that lives in the neighborhood that watches the dogs and tank. But luckily my parents are moving close to me and my father kept all kinds of tanks his whole life so I can trust him to watch it in the future!

 

[MrWheelock]

For the summers when I am gone my husband takes care of it! He enjoys the hobby too luckily. When we both are on vacation, I have a friend that lives in the neighborhood that watches the dogs and tank. But luckily my parents are moving close to me and my father kept all kinds of tanks his whole life so I can trust him to watch it in the future!

That's awesome! Great having friends and family that can help out!

 

[Silent]

I thought you meant going away for a vacation not like being gone 1/2 year or more :oops:

 

[MrWheelock]

I thought you meant going away for a vacation not like being gone 1/2 year or more :oops:

Vacation? Whats that lol. Been gone since valentines day! Cannot wait to come home and just stare at my fish to make up for what will be almost a year gone.

 

[MrWheelock]

Keep the suggestions coming!

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Mine is automated, so short trips are easy. Longer trips, I have a couple of friends I've taught the basics to for auto top off and feeding. Anything else, and I'm calling my reef club.

 

[MrWheelock]

Mine is automated, so short trips are easy. Longer trips, I have a couple of friends I've taught the basics to for auto top off and feeding. Anything else, and I'm calling my reef club.

I like that, I will have to make some local reefing friends!

 

[Starganderfish]

Hmmn, I'm jealous. I'd be lucky if the missus didn't "accidentally" pour dish-soap or motor oil in the tank if I asked her to look after it. Not the most supportive of my hobbies.
We rarely go away for more than a week or two, so with auto top off's and auto water change setups the tanks pretty low pressure. Generally whoever is looking after the dog and cat can also manage to chuck a bit of fish food in the tank, and most fish can survive reasonably well with sporadic feeding in an emergency. May look into an auto-feeder for any longer absences,

Vacation? Whats that lol. Been gone since valentines day! Cannot wait to come home and just stare at my fish to make up for what will be almost a year gone.

Being away since Valentine's day and having the wife look after the tank in your absence, maybe don't tell her that "watching the fish" is the thing your looking forward to... LOL:eek:

 

[MrWheelock]

Hmmn, I'm jealous. I'd be lucky if the missus didn't "accidentally" pour dish-soap or motor oil in the tank if I asked her to look after it. Not the most supportive of my hobbies.
We rarely go away for more than a week or two, so with auto top off's and auto water change setups the tanks pretty low pressure. Generally whoever is looking after the dog and cat can also manage to chuck a bit of fish food in the tank, and most fish can survive reasonably well with sporadic feeding in an emergency. May look into an auto-feeder for any longer absences,

Being away since Valentine's day and having the wife look after the tank in your absence, maybe don't tell her that "watching the fish" is the thing your looking forward to... LOL:eek:

Yes auto feeder is a must, even though she does a great job keeping the fish fat and happy!

Trust me the reef isnt neccesarily the first thing on the list im looking forward to. Although she seems just as excited (or relived) that ill be upgrading things to make maintenance easier.

Thanks for your seggestion of the auto feeder :)

 

[MrWheelock]

My two bared is rather fat.