jolliolli Posted November 13, 2007 Report Share Posted November 13, 2007 So its coming up to christmas shortly and it occurred to me i should start thinking about what i need to do to my tank to maintain my tank if i go away at christmas. With my freshwater tank i could probably get away with leaving it as is for a week or so. With the marine tank, i'm not sure how that would go, I won't have anyone to look after the tank so would like to make it as self-sufficient as possible. So what gear do i need to have to make this possible? So far ive determined i'll need a Automatic fish feeder (anyone have any personal experience with these, reliability etc?) DIY top off unit for the sump, have seen a few designs on the net my partner made me a DIY fan last weekend which seems to be doing a fairly good job at keeping the temperature fluctuations under control. so anything else i need? what do others do when they go away? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted November 13, 2007 Report Share Posted November 13, 2007 dont bother feeding your fish, they can go for weeks without eating, I leave mine and they look great when i get back, Just feed them well a week before you go away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted November 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2007 ok so then just an auto top off for the water, lights and fans are on timers so they're ok, anything else i'll need? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted November 13, 2007 Report Share Posted November 13, 2007 i would start the lights after say 3 pm so that it does not get hot, something less to worry about. check kh and calcium before you go on holiday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OscarBoy Posted November 13, 2007 Report Share Posted November 13, 2007 just on the light thing because i am going awaay should i have the light of as the room the tank is in was at 30 degres on saturday? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted November 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2007 how long are you going away for, are you referring to a saltwater tank or a freshwater tank? If its only a couple of days then plants would be ok, if its longer then they may start to suffer. If its a saltwater tank someone else might be able to tell you how long corals would be ok without light. with the heat issue you could do what i did and buy a cheap fan and connect it to a powersupply so that it disturbs the water surface and disperses heat a bit better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted November 13, 2007 Report Share Posted November 13, 2007 how long are you going away for, are you referring to a saltwater tank or a freshwater tank? If its only a couple of days then plants would be ok, if its longer then they may start to suffer. If its a saltwater tank someone else might be able to tell you how long corals would be ok without light. You can turn the lights off on your tank for a couple of days without issue. Just remember that it's not always sunny over the ocean and a coral reef only receives roughly 75 days of sun per year. I have been doing some research into tanks that periodically leave the lights off for a day and it's positive effects on the corals. I think the first rule though, don't change anything the day you leave or it will go wrong ;P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted November 13, 2007 Report Share Posted November 13, 2007 When I went away last year I turned the lights down to 2 hours per day, coming on late afternoon. After 7 days there did not seem to be any harm done. Oscarboy if it's a marine tank, a few days overheating will do a lot more harm than a few days lack of light. To me when going away I don't like to think of them going hungry, but the primary 2 things would be temperature control, and flood prevention. What I have done in the past is have someone come in daily and they have a written checklist, and my phone number if anything is not right. For food, I put a bunch of cups next to the tank each with a measured quantity of pellets, and covered in glad wrap. The person just adds water to the cup and tips it in the tank, one per day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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