High Tide Aquatics

Leaving tank for a month

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richiev

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I'm going to be out of town for around a month during this summer. I'm looking for tips to maximize the chances my tanks are in a good situation when I return home.

I have my Reefer 500 and my frag tank. My original plan was to empty my frags into my display to simplify things, but having recently found Monti eating nudis in my frag tank I don't really want to do that.

Both have some level of remote monitoring with my reef pis, and both have everything on smart switches. They also both have auto feeders and are basically hands free. Both have skimmers that are draining back into the sump because of low nutrients, so draining cups isn't a need.

I'm going to look into having someone stop by to do periodic check ups, but any suggestions on various things I should do in preparation? I have enough time to install new things and make sure they are reliable beforehand.

I also have some nest cams I'll use to watch over them.

Any suggestions?
 
A cheap security camera or other livestreaming camera could help - you can catch problems and call someone to come in and fix things if you notice something off. You can tape an orange gel or filter over the camera to cut the blues
 
One month is brave. I am already concerned about our upcoming trip to Europe in June for two weeks (which will be a separate post), but one month is long.

Seems like you have things covered with automation and cameras.

The more time-consuming thing could be to write down how things work in your specific setup for anyone who comes in and helps, if there is any problem. Having a written checklist could ensure the person remembers what to look for.

Also, what to do in case of a power outage, or other scenarios that are critical, such as what to do if the heater breaks down, return pump, etc. Some of this might be unique to your system.

Having everything ready/accessible for the person to use would be important.

Some of this depends on the person’s knowledge of the hobby, and the less knowledge the more the written explanation I would think.
 
how knowledgeable is the tank sitter, how hot will your home get? i try to have clearly labels jugs of replacement solution already made so tank sitter only needs to swap jugs, not fill up. glue all corals down. maybe have a local tank servicing company on speed dial in case of bigger issues.

i've done a month away before and my tank sitter knew nothing about the tank. luckily all she needed to do was dump skimmer cup and swap out jug of ato and 2part. tank survived just needed glass cleaned when i got back.
 
Location is Redwood City. Historically my biggest problem when leaving is my power goes out immediately after we leave, almost every single time. This time around I'll have a battery backup in place (either a house battery or some ecoflow units). I also leave my EV setup with a power adapter in place so it can run everything from an extension cord (can last a couple days).

Water wise, I'll have at least 25 gallons of saltwater on hand, and I'll get a giant container of RO next to each tank.

Heat wise, I have air conditioning now in the rooms the tank is in.

Dosing wise, I'll buy a couple really big containers for dosing solution. Hopefully no one will have to swap that. The Kalk will need to be added at least once, but I will premix and cap a jug they can pour into the container.

Skimmer I won't need to drain because I intentionally leave it overflowing because of low nutrients.

Keep em coming, I'm building a list from this! While I've thought of a couple of these, I definitely forgot about them and need to start ordering supplies.
 
Some basic feeding question. Feeding dry food for a month should be ok, but how about feeding seaweed? How are folks handling this for the tangs?
 
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