reefers worst nightmare.

[Poseidon]

well, i cant stay home and bbysit my reef forever
im leaving on vacation and dreading leaving it with a tank sitter...

is there anything i should tell the house/tank sitter that i havent already thought of?
like is there something you wish you could've told your tank sitters when you left and came home and found everything was dead?

appreciate the help

 

[Darryl_V]

If you tank sitter doesnt know anything than the best thing is to have your tank sitter do nothing.  Maybe feed the fish if you dont have an auto feeder.....but that requires some training.  The best thing a tank sitter can do is watch the tank closely and call someone who knows something (preferably you) if something is a wry.

 

[Poseidon]

yes i bought an auto feeder a month ago and have been figuring it out
it lasts about a week then needs to be filled and the amount set again so im worried about that to.

i just did a 25% water change and cleaned the skimmer and the carbon reactor out... i siphoned the gravel and double checked everything to see that it was working....

im only going across country so the tank sitter can call/text me...
just worried thats all :/

 

[ts99ad]

I am leaving tomorrow for 10 days.  I told my mom, just put one cube a day.  If the water drops to this line, add water from "this" jug that says top off.  I think I am going to hide the premixed salt water.  So i dont come home with tank that has the salt level of the dead sea.

I am doing a water change and full out double check of everything tonight before I go. 

 

[Gietz]

Man I'm leaving to soon for a week!!! I'm scared shitless!! I'm worried about water lvl and feeding!!! I have someone coming to feed every couple days but also puttin in a auto feed!  I'm trying to hook up my RODI on slow drip!! Then just think when you come back!! All that glass cleaning and heart stopping search for your fish!! I just hope the power doesn't go out :/

 

[Gietz]

Do you have a reef keeper?

 

[Seggsy]

I would consider pre-measured food if they are doing the feeding.  Most fish are pretty hardy - better to under feed for a couple of weeks, than overfeed and mess up algae and parameters.

Have them check pumps (my return died when on vaca last year) and water level.

No worries!

 

[Reef Hero]

We went away to Vegas all last week. I had someone feed the fish and dump in premeasured two part. All was fine and the hydro went out too.....I think they over fed the mysis shrimp tho because there was a bit of an algae bloom when I got back.....looked as though chaeto had formed in my one overflow box lol......im sure everything will be ok. I was worried too and was hoping to have my profilux controller up by then......no such luck, still trying to find time to get it going lol

 

[Poseidon]

ya ive got a fairly easy setup to look after... .no i dont have a controller YET!

all they have got to do is fill up the 5g auto top off every couple days and keep an eye on the temperature just in case the heater goes down....

i got a magnetic scraper so hopefully they spend some time in my room watching tv or something and then they clean the glass....


as for pre-portioning food, i could easily use my drip test vials and fill them up with food .... that could work after the auto feeder becomes empty... its not a cheap one, around 65$.... i has two settings, one for and hr after the lights come on and one an hr before the go out... i think it should be enough...

as for power we have a huge generator that kicks on 10 seconds after the power goes off... so the only thing im worried about then is my lights.... if the power flicks, they shut off, but they wont restart... unless you turn them off for a couple of min.

 

[Reef Hero]

I'm so jealous of your automatic backup generator.....li want one so bad!! Seems like the power goes out at least once or twice a month here in Lucan......often flickers too.

 

[Poseidon]

ya the generator doesnt do much for flickering...
well i live in the country and we have livestock that will die in that barns if the power doesnt come on.... so i really benifit from that...
its not a generator you buy at canadian tire, its a 6000$ piece of equipment with its own little house..., its crazy... i love living at home still XD

 

[Reef Hero]

Yes I know the one you are talking about and that's why I'm so jealous. I have been looking at those standalone gens at tsc.....tsc and homedepot both sell the generac brand.....but yes like you said I believe the unit I need which is likely smaller than yours (considering your farm) is about 4000 plus tax. That is for just the generator too! If your power transfers automatically then you will have an auto transfer switch too.....these can be about 1000 alone and if you want ones with more features like recognizing hydro flickers and not transferring back for a set time after last flicker then they are at least twice the price......I'm an electrician btw.

That's too bad about your lights.....what kind of lighting setup do you have that needs to be powered off again for a certain amount of time after power is restored? MH?

 

[Poseidon]

yeah there MH.... 3 250w...... a hamilton tech light fixture....  its a big pain in the a**

 

[Reef Hero]

Hmmm.....I don't have a lot of experience with the MH fixtures.....but in my field of work the MH fixtures just need a cool down period if they have been running and then lose power, they won't restart for could be up to 20 mins or more.....haven't heard of having to actually remove power from the fixture altogether during this cool down period. Wonder if this is something that has been incorporated in the fixture or ballast rather? I run all t5 and they will kick right back on after each outage or flicker.....it is an ati dimmable sunpower fixture....I usually unplug the fixture though when power is flickering because I don't like the idea of the ballasts and tubes seeing reduced or extended voltages on the lines. And believe me we do get flicker and outage.....Lucan is really bad for it for some reason. It went off and on so bad just last winter that it killed the condenser in our fridge. I am looking forward to getting my profilux off the ground soon. Was told it can delay start on outage or wait for certain amount of time after outage to restart......would be useful during flicker outage because it would just stay off until it has been a significant amount of time since last flicker. Kinda works the same as one of those higher end auto transfer switches for your genset. Have you tried searching any other forums regarding your fixture? See what others are saying.....where did u buy?

 

[Salty Cracker]

I was gone last nov for 1 week.  Set the APEX to alarm on everything: low water, high temp, water spills, high PH.  I might suggest you get a contact number for someone on here that's close, a lot of these guys know a lot. 


I was almost pissed off, when I came back, the tank looked better than when I left.  Sometimes it's good to stop messing with it all the time.  Enjoy the vaycay

 

[Petercar (RIP Dec 2017)]

you wouldnt have to worry about getting them to clean the glass  ..its food for snails and some fish  ..algae

 

[yveterinarian]

It is always nerve wracking to leave something that you have spent so much time and energy on but relax... take a deep breath... find someone who is able to follow directions to the letter... and type out some very good instructions.

I always feel the same every time I go and each time, come home and find everything OK.  This year my sitter will now have to look after my reef tank as well as the seahorses (along with all my other critters) so I have to update my list of instructions.

 

[Poseidon]

yeah, im really nervous...
im in calgary already so its officially on its own...

wish my tank luck lol

 

[mark0933]

The part that every tank sitter inevitably does is play with the mag float and think they are being helpful cleaning the glass.  Hide the float and tell them not to worry about cleaning.  Trust me, especially if you have and acrylic tank  :?

Mark

 

[Reef Hero]

Lol all my friends like to play with my mag float cleaner.....