KonradTO
Valuable Member
Hi all,
After 14 days I am back home. I obviously was quite concerned about my nano tanks, and I did not know what I would have found once back home. This is the first time I leave my tank unattended for so long, but I left it for 10 days before (and everything have been perfectly fine both times).
I can say that now I am pretty comfortable at sharing some tips with those who might need to leave their tank at home and do not have friends or family that are available for taking care of the tanks in the meanwhile.
Below I will describe my settings:
1) Water spillage sensor in case of a flood. Worst case scenario! This is very important and makes your vacation much more relaxing. If a flood would occur I get a notification on my smartphone and therefore I could call a friend/family member and ask for for some emergency intervention.
2) Automatic feeders. This is quite obvious. Fish and corals need food. I am using Eheim auto feeders set up to deliver food twice every day. A couple of weeks before the vacation I start to gradually feed more pellet food so there are no harsh changes in nutrient inputs. Obviously this is possible only with some kinds of fish.
3) BIG ato reservoir. Another obvious one. Just calculate how much RODI your tank uses each day and account for some extra usage. In my case I use a 40liters (10g) trash bin from IKEA. It lasts exactly 2 weeks for a 32g tank. In my 5g pico tank I do not have an ATO, I just simply use a tight acrylic lid over the tank for limiting evaporation, but I have only sexy shrimps and easy corals, I cannot suggest to use this method unless you are sure that your corals won't suffer from this.
4) Sensors, sensors and more sensors. With a controller of course. I use a ReefPi-based controller with Robotank hardware.
- Temperature sensor: In case my Inkbird goes crazy Reefpi will power it off and take care of temperature until I am back. Backup, yes!
- Water level sensor: This one is a must. Actually plenty of those. I keep track of my water level in the DT and in the sump. Since my ATO is controlled by ReefPi this is very simple. If water level goes above usual in the DT the return pump turnes off until the water level goes down. Also if ATO pumps RODI water for longer than 45 seconds (5 times more the "average"), the ATO system gets deactivated until I intervene.
- pH sensor. Just for fun. It is actually quite interesting to notice how pH changes when I am not around for a while, especially in winter.
- Webcams. Let's call them visual sensors. The more you have the better (you can use old smartphones as webcams). Especially one for the float sensor in the sump, one for each tank and one for the floor/cabinet/skimmer cup etc.
ReefPi can be accessed remotely by using a VNC. In this way I can always access the controller, and turn off/on every device controlled by ReefPi.
For example: I access ReefPi and I see that the ATO is OFF. This would mean that it ran for more than 45 seconds. Then I check the sump webcam, if a snail or something is blocking the water level sensor. In case I can manually run the ATO by activating for few seconds everyday the pump. Not ideal but still..
4) Skimmer cup drained to a big container. This is a bit risky, as in case of overflow of the skimmer you could flood the house. It is a good idea to use a water sensor there which would automatically de-activate the skimmer.
5) Big dosing containers. I am dosing NO3, Alk and Ca. I just calculate the volume needed and hope for the best. This is the most difficult bit because first you need to find the exact amount of dosing required while you cannot test your water to double check if it's going ok.
That's it. Hopefully you find this useful. The above settings won't protect your tank from every possible event but at least it will give you enough remote control to fix some small issues and decide when it's time to call some friends for an emergency intervention!
After 14 days I am back home. I obviously was quite concerned about my nano tanks, and I did not know what I would have found once back home. This is the first time I leave my tank unattended for so long, but I left it for 10 days before (and everything have been perfectly fine both times).
I can say that now I am pretty comfortable at sharing some tips with those who might need to leave their tank at home and do not have friends or family that are available for taking care of the tanks in the meanwhile.
Below I will describe my settings:
1) Water spillage sensor in case of a flood. Worst case scenario! This is very important and makes your vacation much more relaxing. If a flood would occur I get a notification on my smartphone and therefore I could call a friend/family member and ask for for some emergency intervention.
2) Automatic feeders. This is quite obvious. Fish and corals need food. I am using Eheim auto feeders set up to deliver food twice every day. A couple of weeks before the vacation I start to gradually feed more pellet food so there are no harsh changes in nutrient inputs. Obviously this is possible only with some kinds of fish.
3) BIG ato reservoir. Another obvious one. Just calculate how much RODI your tank uses each day and account for some extra usage. In my case I use a 40liters (10g) trash bin from IKEA. It lasts exactly 2 weeks for a 32g tank. In my 5g pico tank I do not have an ATO, I just simply use a tight acrylic lid over the tank for limiting evaporation, but I have only sexy shrimps and easy corals, I cannot suggest to use this method unless you are sure that your corals won't suffer from this.
4) Sensors, sensors and more sensors. With a controller of course. I use a ReefPi-based controller with Robotank hardware.
- Temperature sensor: In case my Inkbird goes crazy Reefpi will power it off and take care of temperature until I am back. Backup, yes!
- Water level sensor: This one is a must. Actually plenty of those. I keep track of my water level in the DT and in the sump. Since my ATO is controlled by ReefPi this is very simple. If water level goes above usual in the DT the return pump turnes off until the water level goes down. Also if ATO pumps RODI water for longer than 45 seconds (5 times more the "average"), the ATO system gets deactivated until I intervene.
- pH sensor. Just for fun. It is actually quite interesting to notice how pH changes when I am not around for a while, especially in winter.
- Webcams. Let's call them visual sensors. The more you have the better (you can use old smartphones as webcams). Especially one for the float sensor in the sump, one for each tank and one for the floor/cabinet/skimmer cup etc.
ReefPi can be accessed remotely by using a VNC. In this way I can always access the controller, and turn off/on every device controlled by ReefPi.
For example: I access ReefPi and I see that the ATO is OFF. This would mean that it ran for more than 45 seconds. Then I check the sump webcam, if a snail or something is blocking the water level sensor. In case I can manually run the ATO by activating for few seconds everyday the pump. Not ideal but still..
4) Skimmer cup drained to a big container. This is a bit risky, as in case of overflow of the skimmer you could flood the house. It is a good idea to use a water sensor there which would automatically de-activate the skimmer.
5) Big dosing containers. I am dosing NO3, Alk and Ca. I just calculate the volume needed and hope for the best. This is the most difficult bit because first you need to find the exact amount of dosing required while you cannot test your water to double check if it's going ok.
That's it. Hopefully you find this useful. The above settings won't protect your tank from every possible event but at least it will give you enough remote control to fix some small issues and decide when it's time to call some friends for an emergency intervention!
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