Has any one left their fish tank for two weeks unattended!

[madreef_7K]

Please post your opinion.

Thanks.

[PSam]

Yes, sort of. Only attendance was someone re-filling RO reservoir. If my reservoir was larger, I would not have had them do anything. Would have turned out better also... they filled the reservoir with saltwater...

[shootist]

Its like asking if anyone has ever jumped off a cliff,alot have they just arent around to talk about it anymore.

[schigara]

I left mine for 10 days.................while it was cycling.

When I get the reservoir, auto top off, controller and cams hooked to the pc and internet, maybe then I could leave it for more than a few days.

[Snowboarda42]

I did just last week.

BUT, I did have my neighbor take care of it.

I measured my daily Ca and Alk usage each day for 5 days, and it all came out to a certain amount. So all I had her do was top off the sump, dose Ca and Alk, and feed the tank each day. No problems!

[madreef_7K]

Originally posted by shootist
Its like asking if anyone has ever jumped off a cliff,alot have they just arent around to talk about it anymore.

I am about to jump off the cliff but I have a bungi cord attached. I might have some big ups and downs but finally I might survive!

[madreef_7K]

Originally posted by Snowboarda42
I did just last week.

BUT, I did have my neighbor take care of it.

I measured my daily Ca and Alk usage each day for 5 days, and it all came out to a certain amount. So all I had her do was top off the sump, dose Ca and Alk, and feed the tank each day. No problems!

All my processes are automated except for feeding as I like to feed the fish frozen food! Can the fish live off the stuff in tank! I had a fresh water tank that I left for almost 3 weeks unattened and had no problem, but I don't know if I can do this for salt water tank!

[MarkusII]

Hello,

All my processes are automated

- and if automation fails; or if you have a power failure??????
And for the fish without food this is definitely not a good thing.

I would have at least somebody looking at least once a day (better two times) if all is running propperly and feeding the fish.
You can prepare the daily food quantity in small plastic boxes and then anyone can feed your fish with the amount you want - and I guess he will be able to see if light and pumps are "on".
Never would leave longer without anyone looking after the tank.

regards

Markus

[Gdevine]

Originally posted by Snowboarda42
I did just last week.

BUT, I did have my neighbor take care of it.

I measured my daily Ca and Alk usage each day for 5 days, and it all came out to a certain amount. So all I had her do was top off the sump, dose Ca and Alk, and feed the tank each day. No problems!

Yea, I did the same thing with my Dad when I took the fam up to Orlando for 4 days. I prepared everything for my Dad to eliminate errors. Everything was dosed, set and standardized with a cheat sheet.

Came home for days later..... and ....... all was well

The key here; make it fool proof and simple and you'll be fine. Don't do it and well...

[maroun.c]

I've been away since 2 years now.
Relocated and was supposed to creat a tank to start moving my stuff. Still didn't get the time to do it and Guess It's good I diddn't as I'm moving back by the end of this year.
My sister took care of it for the first months as she knew a bit about the issue. Then she travelled and my father was left with a list of things to do daily, weekly and monthly. Guess he's following it religously as I have lost minimal things over the last 2 years.
Still he would not make water changes and pumps maintenance....
So I takle care of this each time I travel back home. the tank has had 3-4 big water changes in the last 2 years and has been running without a water change since Jul.
initially the corals were a bit better as I guess it was much less hands in the tank and manipulation flow changes... lately everything is not as good still things are alive or at least I have a cycled tank that I can repopulate when back.
I lost a 5 years old maroon clown but I guess it could have happened if I was watching the tank.

[Kannin]

If everything is automated... put a $30 autofeeder on it and at least give them some pellets once a day.

[Frick-n-Frags]

fish can go months before they starve.

it's the makeup water and your alk/pH that can get away from you in 2 weeks.

probably 2 weeks in the dark would maybe start messing delicate corals up (probably REALLY damage any algae though - esp chaeto wad or other thick mass)
(that would be a good experiment - what does green Pocillapora look like after x days in the sump)

and if the heaters quit, that could be a real tank-kill, then the rot-NH3... will get everything else that the cold didn't

heh, yeah, a look-see every 2 days MIN would be probably my minimum. and that's if I was totally automated

[McCrary]

I set up a tank for a guy who is retired and likes to take a lot of trips, all that has to happen is that someone has to feed the tank every other day. Automated everything on the tank, but he also spent more than my car is worth on the equipment, convenience has a price.

[michaeldaly]

If you can keep the water topped off the fish should be able to survive 14 days without food, depending upon how established your tank is.

[jerryz]

let's see. multiple 7-10 day vacations. I normally feed my fish 2 to 3 times a week anyway. So other than replenishing the topoff every third day and dropping in food once if it's a 10 day trip I don't really need anything done. It took a little planning but has worked better than the time my son decided to feed my anem while I was in MX. Somehow the an animal that had been firmly planted for a long time promptly started to roam the tank and got sucked into my wave maker. Prompted my change to an automated system and haven't had a loss since.

[HDAlien]

Yes, our daughter fed, tested and dosed for two weeks while we were halfway around the world. Aside from the dkh being a little low when we got home, all was well.

[stevedola]

went away for a week, no prob. just had my dad pop over and feed them once a night.

Tanks if pretty automated and he lives close enought that if the power fails he'll know too. Reactors, autotop offs, lights on timers...all of these are a must if you plan on having a good time when on vaka.

[sjm817]

I've done it several times. We go away for 2 weeks every Summer. Auto Topoff helps a lot. Someone comes buy once a day to feed. Skimmer cup gets emptied once a week. I leave an "instruction manual" of what does what in case there is an issue.

I would be very nervous about 2 weeks with no one checking on things.

[dcombs44]

I can leave mine for a week before the top-off resevoir needs filled.

I have a $10 battery powered auto feeder that drops pellets in twice a day. There's a risk involved as far as a poweroutage, or a pump failing, or float switch failing on my top off, but I don't know many people where I live, so I have to take the chance.

[Tennsquire]

two weeks is the longest I've been away lately. My top off is good for about 10 days. If I'm gone a week or less, I just fill it up and add Salifert all in one after kicking my alk and calcium up a tad. When I'm gone longer, I add another 10 gallon for RO top off. I put a powerhead in it tied into the top off. Into one 10 gallon goes the alk, and into the other goes the Ca. That way, the sump gets a tiny amount each time the top-off kicks in. I haven't had any problems with it.

As for the fish, they constantly pick off of the live rock, and I have large populations of 'pods and mysis and other assorted micro critters for them to dine on, so they don't miss much other than the "easy" meals.

[bcwalz]

I inadvertantly left my 50 ignored in the living room for about 2 weeks while I was finishing renovating our basement before the inspector arrived. No chemicals, food, RO top off, nothing. I got really lucky and only lost the cleaner schrimp. Not sure what happened to him, probably became lunch for someone hungry. I wouldn't advise doing the same though.

[danferd2002]

I left my 30 gal. alone for 4 1/2 weeks, all i had somebody do was add r/o to my top off resevoir, and feed. I had them come over twice a week, i had the food pre-measured, and an ato set-up lights on timers. We hardly ever have poweroutages areound here, and when i canme back everything was fine, tank was dirty but alive. Oh i added an extra large top off resevoir in case something happened and they couldnt make it over.

[daveverdo]

I have left mine for about a week all by itself, no auto feeder, no topoff, nothing. Everything survived.

Every tank is different. You are the one who knows your tank the best. How often do you feed them? How often do you top it off? How often do you need to adjust pH, Alk, and such.

If you have time, try a dry run. See how long you can go without adding topoff water or adjusting the Alk.

I tend not to think about the "what ifs" like "what if there is a power failure". If I did, I would never do anything or go anywhere. What if the roof leaks? What if a tree falls through the window? What if the house burns down? WHat if I get hit by a bus crossing the street? If I worried about all that I would never leave the house. But that is me.

Dave

[twon8]

i went to italy for two weeks last spring, litermeter 3's and large kalk reservoir's help. i just turned my skimmer off and had them feed less food than i normally would on the tank with a beckett.

each tank has a few pumps on ups so if there is a shorterm power outage they'll be fine. anylonger and i'll have someone hook up the generator.

[chem-e]

I travel occasionally for work and I'm usually gone for atleast a week at a time. The only thing I do before I leave is fill up my topoff reservoir and my wife takes care of the rest which would be feeding the tank every couple days.