Cali Kid Corals

Out of country for a month.

Kathryn

Kathryn

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Hi there, this is my first post so I apologise if this is the wrong space for this question!

I'll be in Canada for almost 2 months (leaving in November). I'm not sure what to do with my 25g and it's inhabitants. I have a few different frags on a chunk of live rock, a clownfish, hermit crabs, a firefish and a cleaner shrimp. I assume I can gift the fish away or ask my LFS if they can take them. I'd like to keep the coral if at all possible.. But I'm very nervous about leaving the tank running unattended for so long. What do reefers normally do if they have to leave for an extended period?

Thanks in advance :)
 
I think your choices are:

1. Give away/sell the livestock. Or see if someone will host them for you until you get back (unlikely unless they are already a friend).
2. Have a friend or professional come by regularly to do maintenance and check on things. This also requires automation for daily tasks, I don’t know if you have this already.
 
2 months is a long time. If you don’t have someone that could house sit your place. Basically. be around the house to check on things. Tank & house included, I would suggest you rehome all your livestock. With travel the way it is, and the unknowns of Covid. Your 2 month trip may end up being 4 - 6 months.
 
2 months is too long to leave a tank unattended, even removing the fish algae will grow, water will evaporate and if they are stony corals calcium and alkalinity will get consumed. Even if the latter two were auto topped off I feel slight tweaks may need to be made that would lead to not good things happening.

What kind of corals are these? Replaceable? Then get rid of everything or find someone to coral sit. Irreplaceable, then find someone to coral sit.
 
Kathryn said:
Hi there, this is my first post so I apologise if this is the wrong space for this question!

I'll be in Canada for almost 2 months (leaving in November). I'm not sure what to do with my 25g and it's inhabitants. I have a few different frags on a chunk of live rock, a clownfish, hermit crabs, a firefish and a cleaner shrimp. I assume I can gift the fish away or ask my LFS if they can take them. I'd like to keep the coral if at all possible.. But I'm very nervous about leaving the tank running unattended for so long. What do reefers normally do if they have to leave for an extended period?

Thanks in advance :)
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If u like I can host some for you depend on what coral are they. Needless to say I can only guarantee they will be in my system experiencing whatever my system has.
Fish, depend on what kind you can either sell, give or find someone to host for you. I might be able to host some again depending on what they are...
 
@Kathryn -- biggest struggle with leaving the tank running will be evap. If you know what your evap rate is, then you can hedge with a large enough ATO container to cover the two months... less if you can get a friend or family to fill it up for you in between.

If you can do that, then you can probably keep the tank running as-is with an auto-feeder for teh fish, and a decent ATO (smart micro mini is my preferred choice).. especially if it's well establish and you have easy corals (softies \ LPS) you're keeping. I rarely change water in my tanks and they actually seem to do better. But evap is my biggest hurdle.

If you are near Mountain View or want to make the trek, I have plenty of tank space to house your fish and pieces until you get back as well. Coincidentally, I have a fairly empty IM20 that I just moved home from the office that I am using to house random misc frags, and maintaining at home until SIP is over when I can move it back... so, happy to help, if I can...
 
Up until this summer, I left my tank on auto-mode for a month while I went to Canada every July. I filled up a 44 gallon Brute for my automatic top off to feed from, but I needed a friend to come refil the automatic fish feeders every other week. I had two feeders per tank.

I also set up a webcam so I could see it from afar in case something went wrong, also so if the tank/house sitter needed help I could see what they are doing and talk to them (though facetime works just as well). But it's nice to see the tank to check up on it. Clean the glass before you go.

2 months will require a tank sitter for sure.

V
 
Newjack said:
2 months is a long time. If you don’t have someone that could house sit your place. Basically. be around the house to check on things. Tank & house included, I would suggest you rehome all your livestock. With travel the way it is, and the unknowns of Covid. Your 2 month trip may end up being 4 - 6 months.
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That's a very good point - the uncertainty around travel - thank you for pointing this out
 
Hi, I'm also going to be going out of town (for one month) and am looking for someone to tank sit, and I am willing to pay. I have an ATO and auto feeder, so it would just entail coming in to check up on it, and maybe doing one water change. Anyone in the Sunnyvale area interested in helping me out?

Then I can watch your tank when you go out of town :)
 
max_potential said:
Hi, I'm also going to be going out of town (for one month) and am looking for someone to tank sit, and I am willing to pay. I have an ATO and auto feeder, so it would just entail coming in to check up on it, and maybe doing one water change. Anyone in the Sunnyvale area interested in helping me out?

Then I can watch your tank when you go out of town :)
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I won't be able to tank sit but if you have a small enough system and want to have your stock temporarily homed, I might be able to help... Usual caveats and disclaimers relating to Murphy and Mom Nature applies, though...
 
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