*Leaving for a week - what to do about the tank??*

[James_O]

I’m looking into the Osmolator Nano 3152 Auto Top Off - Tunze right now....

 

[ThePurple12]

Yup, hammer will be fine.

This thread is popular, lol

 

[James_O]

Yup, hammer will be fine.

This thread is popular, lol

Ok... here goes nothing!

---

Which do you think would be more important? An ATO? Or an auto feeder?

 

[tehmadreefer]

Ok... here goes nothing!

---

Which do you think would be more important? An ATO? Or an auto feeder?

Ato hands down. Again, fish don’t need to be fed for several weeks if needed…

 

[ThePurple12]

Tough question, but I would go with the autofeeder so the fish aren’t hungry. Salinity shouldn’t be impacted too much in a week without topoffs, and with your current livestock I wouldn’t worry about it at all. You could even add a little extra freshwater before you leave to account for some of it.

 

[ZoWhat]

My best suggestion is for you to drive home from Camp every night to check on the tank and drive back to Camp before everyone wakes up

 

[Frizzy reefnewb]

Ok... here goes nothing!

---

Which do you think would be more important? An ATO? Or an auto feeder?

The fish will live off the algae alone just feed heavy before you leave trust me I go away a lot there has never been a issue

 

[LiamPM]

Ok... here goes nothing!

---

Which do you think would be more important? An ATO? Or an auto feeder?

ATO without a doubt.

Fish and everything in your tank will survive a week without even batting an eyelid without food, they wont notice - You wont notice.

Biggest reasoning being that if your water line drops below the wier (If your system has one) then it can be a huge issue with things like heaters in the sump etc..

Trying to find a way to feed your fish during a 7 day period of being away, when theyll be fine without, just opens up for other issues like it malfunctioning and dumping a load of food in etc. Its not worth the risk.

Honestly, no tank, especially when containing coral, should be without an ATO anyway - It should be as essential as heaters.

 

[James_O]

My best suggestion is for you to drive home from Camp every night to check on the tank and drive back to Camp before everyone wakes up

It’s a 2.5 hour drive there and back. That would be tough! ;Hilarious;Hilarious

ATO without a doubt.

Fish and everything in your tank will survive a week without even batting an eyelid without food, they wont notice - You wont notice.

Biggest reasoning being that if your water line drops below the wier (If your system has one) then it can be a huge issue with things like heaters in the sump etc..

Trying to find a way to feed your fish during a 7 day period of being away, when theyll be fine without, just opens up for other issues like it malfunctioning and dumping a load of food in etc. Its not worth the risk.

Honestly, no tank, especially when containing coral, should be without an ATO anyway - It should be as essential as heaters.

The fish will live off the algae alone just feed heavy before you leave trust me I go away a lot there has never been a issue

Ok! ATO it is!

I started feeding heavy today.

—-

Looking into either a Tunze nano or a hydros ATO.

 

[Pntbll687]

I know I'm cutting this REALLY close, but I need help.

I'm going to a week long 'summer camp' next week, and I leave Sunday. Normally, I would ask one of my family members to take of them. However, all my family is coming. That means no one at the house.

What should I do??

My mom suggested I ask one of my neighbors to do it, but 1) I don't trust her with anything alive (she takes pretty bad care of her farm animals/pets), and 2) she is NOT experienced whatsoever.

Now, my LFS does do home tank maintenance, but my parents don't want anyone coming in the house, because "They just don't feel comfortable with a total stranger coming in the house while we are gone". It is however, the OWNER of my LFS. He's a really chill guy, and does ALL of home tank maintenance.

----

Should I:

1) Try to convince my parents to trust the owner of my LFS to come take care of the tank. (Because he knows what he's doing, super knowledgeable)

OR

2) Go with the neighbor... 0-0

How big and complicated is your system? And what do you need them to do?

If it's just feeding and topping off an ATO container, I'm sure your neighbor can handle that. Have the food portioned out and ready to go for them. If the need to fill an ato, that water should already be made and have an easy way to transfer the water for them.

If you need more than that, I would push to pay the LFS to do it then.

 

[James_O]

How big and complicated is your system? And what do you need them to do?

If it's just feeding and topping off an ATO container, I'm sure your neighbor can handle that. Have the food portioned out and ready to go for them. If the need to fill an ato, that water should already be made and have an easy way to transfer the water for them.

If you need more than that, I would push to pay the LFS to do it then.

It’s a 29g nano. HOB filter and light with timer/ramp up/down.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

I have a HOB filter now, no sump.


Thanks, I'll look into that!


I might look into 1 auto feeder. I'm not to keen on the idea however, because I hear they are unreliable.

I have had good luck with my Eheim feeders. They run all the time. If you run 2 then 1 is a backup. Same methodology as having a backup heater.

 

[Miami Reef]

I personally wouldn’t leave my fish without food for a week. But that’s just me…or maybe it’s because I have 11 tangs who would probably kill each other or starve to death from how active they are.

 

[James_O]

I personally wouldn’t leave my fish without food for a week. But that’s just me…or maybe it’s because I have 11 tangs who would probably kill each other or starve to death from how active they are.

Oh heck no, I wouldn’t either, if I had that many tangs. :0

 

[James_O]

I’ve decided not to get an ATO of auto feeder.

My tank is already used to getting one big TO at the end of every week, so it should work out.

I’ve also been feeding 3 times a day, to get the fish ready.

 

[Miami Reef]

Have you checked salinity a day before your top off day? What’s the highest your salinity goes? The ocean can go from 1.025-1.030 in mere hours. Corals have adapted to salinity swings.

Temperature and main elements should not swing though.

 

[James_O]

Have you checked salinity a day before your top off day? What’s the highest your salinity goes? The ocean can go from 1.025-1.030 in mere hours. Corals have adapted to salinity swings.

Temperature and main elements should not swing though.

Yes. The highest it goes is 1.027. After the top off, it’s always back to 1.025.

 

[Miami Reef]

You can be very successful with that setup. You can always add a top off in the future if you want, but if it was me I would portion frozen food in ziplock backs and have the auto top off filled up with a paper explaining date to add water. Your tank will be fine!

 

[tehmadreefer]

I personally wouldn’t leave my fish without food for a week. But that’s just me…or maybe it’s because I have 11 tangs who would probably kill each other or starve to death from how active they are.

No they won’t…

 

[Miami Reef]

No they won’t…

I think they would. I have ich in my tank.