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Tips for extended absence from aquarium

WAR5150

WAR5150

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The inevitable (and undesired) time has come where I’ll be deploying and won’t be around my tank for a while, I’m looking at 3 1/2 months so it’s not too bad as far as deployments go, but not great as far as watching the aquarium goes. I have a couple people from work that will be coming by periodically to check on things and do what I tell them to, but I wanted to reach out here and see what you all have for inputs on things I should keep in mind.

I have some extra equipment around in case of a failure (powerheads, heaters, eb832-about the only things I can’t think of not having on hand is a return pump or lights) so I’m not super concerned there. I do run the apex suite and that’s how I caught issues when I was on the road previously. I know PG&E is an amazing company without issues that ever popup like sudden power losses but thankfully it doesn’t seem like we’re in a time of year where they routinely shut off for weather related issues. That said, some sort of battery/generator backup is one thing I don’t have and probably should but honestly have no clue what I’m looking for as far as that goes.

Any feedback you all have that I’m probably not considering is appreciated. On the plus side, I’m excited to see all the growth within my aquarium-I just hope it’s coral and not algae lol
 
If you're going to be away for that long, you need someone looking in on the tank who knows something about aquariums. I'm not saying you need to pay for a service, but the average person is not going to understand what might be going wrong if something does go wrong.

As mentioned battery backups are a thing, just looked at the price of the Ecotech one... GOOD LORD! Prices have raised tremendously from way back when I bought one.
Icecap also makes one that is like $50+ cheaper,
and Tunze makes a "safety connector" for even cheaper, that you just connect to any 12V battery and you're good to go.
Now the issue with all those solutions though is that 1) you need to be using DC pumps not AC, and 2) you need the right connectors to make it work, you could probably kludge together a solution for the connectors though.
If you have AC pumps, then a UPS will work but they're not meant to run for long periods of time (enough for you to save any documents and shut down a computer) but they can work for extended periods if you have a small enough pump, and UPS definately are not cheap.
Lastly there's also battery powered air pumps, some that sense when power is out (you plug them in) and when power is out they go on, that's another option.

The big key is having some sort of water movement in the tank so that you don't get stagnant areas, things like heat and light are much less important, light being the least important, and heat a tank can usually go without for extended period (less than a day though).

Of course it also depends what's in the tank, fish and/or soft corals? I wouldn't worry, things like LPS/SPS I'd worry a bit more.
 
How big is your tank?, What inhabitants? How long has it been setup? If it's been setup for a long time and super stable...it should be fairly straightforward. Apex is certainly helpful when you're away. You could also consider setting up up a webcam to visually monitor your tank. Using facetime with whoever is taking care of your tank is also super helpful....it has saved me a couple of times
 
Get a second ato or have a hi and low float connected to a break out box. This has recently saved me since my hydrofil took a crap during a week away. I was able to fill thr tank via a secondary pump in my ato resevoir.

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MarAquatic said:
Get a second ato or have a hi and low float connected to a break out box. This has recently saved me since my hydrofil took a crap during a week away. I was able to fill thr tank via a secondary pump in my ato resevoir.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
So the secondary is set to alarm when it hits the low sensor, then you can turn a pump on until it reaches the high sensor?
 
Like Will said. You just need someone who knows what they are doing to do the work with you on FaceTime or something.

Create a schedule. I have my apex remind me to do everything from swap out return pumps every 6 months to clean to replacing filter floss, and emptying the skimmer.
 
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