Ideas for handling vacation?

[TheWackyWiz]

I've got a two week vacation coming up and am thinking through ways I can keep my tank running while I am away. Would love to hear your throughts/advice.

Tank and stock
20g AIO with ATO
1 x bi color blenny
1 x court jester
1 x skunk cleaner shrimp
assorted CUC
Coral are all low maintenance softies
Tons of Macro Algea and pods

Ideas:

1. Load it up and pray - Because I've the macros in there I've been able to maintain a large breed population of Pods. So with this approach I would add a ton more pods and phyto in about a week before I head out so boost the population. The court jester would be able to eat those and the bi color blenny has tons of available algae to eat.
2. Auto Feeder - I have an auto feeder that is okay. My main complaint is it's hard to regulate how many pellets it drops when it cycles. Only the smallest pellets would even make sense for how small the fish are so the risk is that over the vacation alot of excess food would end up in the system
3. Ask my Brother in Law - I can ask my brother in law to swing by a couple times when I am gone and feed the tank but hes a bit forgetful and it would be too much to ask him to come by every other day so realistically he might end up feeding the tank 3-4 times while I am gone

What do you think the best approach here is?

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

Also between 2 & 3. I travel routinely for work 10-14 days @ a time with a 120g and a 50g tank. 14 days is about the max I got without human interaction as the ATO is the biggest limiting factor (both tanks last about 14 days). I just do a 10-15% WC before I leave and let the auto feeder do its thing. I also make sure there is 10g of extra top off water around for the random person I may ask to stop in.

 

[malacoda]

I've left my tanks for up to a month at a time.

• autofeeder with tape over part of the opening to better regulate food portion
• large container of RODI water next to the tank to feed the ATO
• fill up 2-part or CO2 for calcium reactor (if either are used)
• As for heaters, mine are always run using an Inkbird-type controller so I just leave them as is

That's about it.

My opinion is don't over think it. You could trouble shoot like you're about to go on a moon mission ... yet there will still always be a chance something can go wrong. However, on a stable, mature system the odds actual odds of it happening tend to be very, very slim.

That said, I'm also of the frame of mind that, while I really enjoy my tank ... and put a ton of work and devotion into it, I refuse to let it dictate my life. I accept the fact there is always risk. I go on vacation and fully enjoy it and the time with my wife/family — no checking web cameras, no checking Apex (I don't run controllers), no having family or neighbors look in on it (IMO it would only introduce more risk).

IF something should happen, although unlikely, whatever it may be, I will deal with it when I return home.

Guess what I'm saying is, you really only need to take the above steps for the sake of the tank.

Anything else beyond that is more for your own peace of mind and will depend on your own personal comfort level of knowing or not knowing what is going on with it 'back home'.

Hope you have something nice and fun planned and have a wonderful time!

 

[TheWackyWiz]

Have you tried putting tape over part of the hole on the auto feeder to dial in how many pellets you want to drop in?

yeah I but I've never been able to get it dialed in. Going to try again.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

I have three of these Auto Feeders and by far they are the best. Mix Two Different Flake Foods and Two Different Pellets. Also I use Blue Masking Tape on the Food Door so it doesn‘t get repositioned. PetBank Auto Feeder.

 

[taulgrl]

If you take the daily medicine containers and have each days food portioned out into it that also is a fool proof way to have them feed.

This is what I do (can’t rely on just autofeeder bc of my Copperband) and it works great

 

[j.falk]

Take it with you.

 

[Paul B]

I go away all the time and when I used to have a smaller tank I would just invert a "5 gallon water cooler bottle" filled with top off water over the tank. Make some wooden supports like a piece of plywood with a big hole in it so that the neck of the bottle just touches the water. Stick a 1/2" tube into the bottle so not to much water comes out at once. As the tank water lowers, water from that bottle will automatically flow into your tank

For food, fill small plastic containers with the correct amount of food for a day. (I use film containers, Google them)

Your "feeder person" just needs to dump one in the tank every day or whenever they come over. Your fish can go for many weeks without food in that tank. It will be fine and your fish won't miss you and will enjoy the quiet.

 

[paragrouper]

My LFS offers a service. If you have an LFS you trust, you can check with them.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

Before I had an Auto-Feeder I used these “Paint Pots,” from Michael’s Craft Store, to put each days food in. I’ve actually had more problems, letting some take care of my aquariums, than going with Auto Feeders and ATO’s.