Does this hobby ever get easy?

[brad23]

Who else feels like if they slack off for a few days there tank will take a dump on them?

The only time I left town for more than a day the overflow got back up by a turbo snail (that was the only time it ever happened) after that all turbos are gone.

Maybe it's just all the SPS I have and the constant battle to make it look good.... who knows

[RobbyG]

Keeping looking at everything that can go wrong and fix/change or remove it, before it does. Next get as much automation as you can afford (SMS and Ethernet based controllers really help). Have redundant systems for everything important.
Im 90% there, I have left my tank for a week unattended and came home everything was fine, except I could'nt see through the green glass :)

[brad23]

Yeah I know where your coming from, but I'm at the point where the old lady is cracking the whip on the reef $$$. I want a reefkeeper or something like that heck i need it.

[cioutlaw]

Rule #1 never give the wife the checkbook...mine has her own with money that she makes, she can spend it on what ever she wants. I have my own & she has no clue whats in it...7 years & not a single argument about $$

[Michelle L]

Heck, I feel like when I'm gone at work my tank will crash.

I'm leaving over Thanksgiving weekend for 6 days and I am mortified. I simply don't trust my father in law to take care of the tank for that long and he's the only person I have who is in town. *Groan.*

[cwegescheide]

I have my tank totally automated and its been that way for the past few years. I have had afew problems but all have been attributed to the hang over the back overflow. Those things are an accident waiting to happen. Since I built a new tank with external overflow. No more problems with HOB issues. I work out of town m-f and have for the last several years. I did purchase an ACIII about a year ago and i can say that thing is awesome. I can keep an eye on the tank from anywhere. I don't think its neccesary to have a controller like that but it sure is nice.

I spent several hundred dollars automating my tank. Auto top off and sitting in front of my tank sometimes thinking about what possibly could go wrong. I've got auto feeders and with the controller I top off with either kalk or h20 depending on the PH of the reef. I've got fans that kick on if the temp starts to rise on the tank. One kicks on over 80 and another comes on over 80.2. My temp usually has less than .5 of a degree over the course of a day. If the temp does get high my lights will turn off. Thats pretty much it. Oh I did get a waterbug that interfaces with the controller. basically its a sensor to detect high water in the sump or water on the floor and turn off the return pump if there is water on the floor but I don't have that hooked up just yet. I'm a big believer in automation. Done correctly you shouldn't have any problems.

Chris

[RobbyG]

I know the feeling, I always live in fear of power outages, that's why I am so looking forward to the SMS messaging module that Aquatronica is coming out with. I had numerous problems at the start, Snails, Grape coulerpra, urchins, hose lines that could come loose etc. Anytime something went wrong and I was home I took it as a blessing and an Omen! I went to work fixing that problem and making sure that it could not happen again. After awhile you eliminate so many of these potential disasters that you rarely see something go wrong and that is when your confidence to leave the tank unattended soars. Of course stuff can still happen and that's were a controller like the Aquatronica comes in handy.


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8508384#post8508384 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by brad23
Yeah I know where your coming from, but I'm at the point where the old lady is cracking the whip on the reef $$$. I want a reefkeeper or something like that heck i need it.

[hounddog01]

I have automated to the point that anyone can feed my tank and look for water on the floor. I usualy restrict my auto topoff when I leave for vacation.

[smorrow5773]

What is it that takes so much time with your tanks. My system runs auto topoff, calcium reactor, when I run the uv I can go a month without cleaning the glass. All I have to mess with is the occasional trimming /corraline scraping at my monthly water change. Other than that I drop food in once a day. I have found it much more relaxing to just look at it 30 days a month and work on it 2 hrs/month.

[RobbyG]

LOL ok its not April 1st I dont get it!!

You can go a month without cleaning your glass !!! Are you just pulling my leg or am I now going to have to buy a UV sterilizer?

2hrs a month maint?? Can you up a picture of your Tank, because if your not joking you have reached my ultimate goal.


<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8521921#post8521921 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by smorrow5773
What is it that takes so much time with your tanks. My system runs auto topoff, calcium reactor, when I run the uv I can go a month without cleaning the glass. All I have to mess with is the occasional trimming /corraline scraping at my monthly water change. Other than that I drop food in once a day. I have found it much more relaxing to just look at it 30 days a month and work on it 2 hrs/month.