Aquariums and vacations

[SwimsWithFish]

Well this summer I'm going to Argentina for 2 months and I don't know what I'll do with my biocube 29:/ by the time I leave it will be 5 months old and stocked with corals fish and inverts. I'll have my lights on a timer but other than that everything will be manual. Any tips on leaving my beloved reef tank in a friends hands that has no experience with fish? Also, would an aquarium controller help? Any cheap ones that would work on a biocube? Does anyone know of an automated feeder for frozen food?
Thanks in advance

 

[redsea]

For your friend, I would suggest making a very detailed list, with the order of what to do things. Will they be able to contact you if something doesn't seem right?

 

[Nyghtfire]

Also divide the food into the correct amounts to be fed at a time.
Alot of people tend to overfeed.
Make sure the persons reliable and if at all possible show them how it's done. Never know might even start them into the hobby.
Cant comment on the controllers never used one. But some of them look amazing.

 

[SwimsWithFish]

Thanks to both of you! and yes they will e able to contact me via email.

 

[redsea]

Thanks to both of you! and yes they will e able to contact me via email.

That's good! You will have the piece of mind knowing that you can contact them, or they can contact you. Say the forgot how to do something, all they need to do is send an email! That must take some weight off of your shoulders.

 

[Nyghtfire]

Good luck.
I can understand how it feels to leave your tank in someone else's hands.

 

[Unicorn]

Definitely get an ATO!!! That gets the stress of the person of having to come to your house every single day. Pre-portion the food for them, otherwise you have to use dry food bc I doubt there is automated frozen food feeders (bc they need to keep the food frozen)

 

[Ausfish]

Take notes for a while on everything you do to your tank, from topping off to water changes to why foo you feed. Explain to them WHY you do all of that. E.g. why you use that food for that fish or why you us freshwater to top off the tank. People will make less mistakes if they understand why and how things work!

 

[SwimsWithFish]

@ausfish, thank you I will definatly do that.

@unicorn, can you recommend an ATO?

 

[rdnelson99]

I am lucky in that I have a fishkeeper across the street. They are gone on a lot of weekends so for a couple of years my daughter has cared for her fish when they are away. I know that if I ever need it, I have someone with experience who would be happy to help me out.

One caution on the ATO. I have read numerous threads from people who have been doing this for a very long time. ATOs have a tendancy to malfunction and cause floods. I am not saying don't go that route but just be very careful which one you go with and how it is set up.

 

[joy13]

In my area there are people that take care of reef tanks, you might be able to afford one of those to come in a couple of times and do water changes. Then have your friend to the feeding at top off the ATO

AutoTopoff.com
JBJ A.T.O. - Automatic Top Off System Water Level Controller
the JBJ is nice because it has a float in both the tank and the top off container so it will shut off. The downside is I had to raise my top off container up so it would work properly.

 

[SwimsWithFish]

I am lucky in that I have a fishkeeper across the street. They are gone on a lot of weekends so for a couple of years my daughter has cared for her fish when they are away. I know that if I ever need it, I have someone with experience who would be happy to help me out.

One caution on the ATO. I have read numerous threads from people who have been doing this for a very long time. ATOs have a tendancy to malfunction and cause floods. I am not saying don't go that route but just be very careful which one you go with and how it is set up.

Yeah I just read a story about a woman who came home from vacation and had a 15 gallon flood:/

 

[Unicorn]

@ausfish, thank you I will definatly do that.

@unicorn, can you recommend an ATO?

The one joy13 recommended is the one I have. I did not have any problems, BUT I would set urs up 1-2 weeks before you leave to ensure smooth operation. Later on, if you have a bigger tank, thus devise is gonna be standard equipment or else u will be topping of every 2 hrs by hand

 

[Ausfish]

Have a read here, that sums a lot of it up:

So you’re going on a holiday? - whokilledmyfish.com » whokilledmyfish.com