Leaving a tank unattended for a week?

[David McKay]

Any suggestions for successfully leaving a tank unattended for a week?

The tank is not stocked particularly heavily and can easily go for a week
without calcium or buffer dosing. The lighting is all on timers. I have 3
small fish (2 ocellaris clowns and a firefish) that usually get a mixture
of frozen and flake food. I have an automatic feeder that I'll set to feed
them some flake food once a day for the week. Other than that, I plan to
lower the salinity somewhat before I go so that it doesn't get too high due
to evaporation while I'm away.

Anything else? Any help appreciated.

Thanks!

Regards,

Dave.

[Dragon Slayer]

how much does it evaporate per day?

my 180 evaporates just over 5g per day, you couldn't lower the salinity to a
safe enough level to leave it unattended for a week without topping off.

kc

"David McKay" > wrote in message
ble.rogers.com...
> Any suggestions for successfully leaving a tank unattended for a week?
>
> The tank is not stocked particularly heavily and can easily go for a week
> without calcium or buffer dosing. The lighting is all on timers. I have 3
> small fish (2 ocellaris clowns and a firefish) that usually get a mixture
> of frozen and flake food. I have an automatic feeder that I'll set to feed
> them some flake food once a day for the week. Other than that, I plan to
> lower the salinity somewhat before I go so that it doesn't get too high
due
> to evaporation while I'm away.
>
> Anything else? Any help appreciated.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Regards,
>
> Dave.

[Phil O'Connor]

How do you keep your fish from jumping out with the tank open for the
autofeeder?

I have a 46 bowfront. I have to keep the lid open in order to mount the
feeder. Not wanting my fish to leap, I shrouded the whole top with plastic. I
came back after the weekend, and the condensation under the plastic totally
wetted all the flakes in the feeder making one big food booger.

I guess I'll look into some fine netting to cover the open tank when away.
But also, I dont like my autofeeder. It feeds 2wice a day, first one is 12
hours from when you turn it on. this makes it so difficult to test the dosage
since you cant witness it predictably. It was the only feeder I could find at
any LFS. Its a tumbler style feeder. You cant accurately measure a dose
amount.

Generally, I'll have someone stop in daily when I'm gone for a week. But thats
horrible. I really need to get a system that works. I have a cat instead of a
dog specifically for this reason, so I can leave unattended for several days.
But now with the tank, shees! its worse than a dog!

Regards.
Phil


David McKay wrote:

> Any suggestions for successfully leaving a tank unattended for a week?
>
> The tank is not stocked particularly heavily and can easily go for a week
> without calcium or buffer dosing. The lighting is all on timers. I have 3
> small fish (2 ocellaris clowns and a firefish) that usually get a mixture
> of frozen and flake food. I have an automatic feeder that I'll set to feed
> them some flake food once a day for the week. Other than that, I plan to
> lower the salinity somewhat before I go so that it doesn't get too high due
> to evaporation while I'm away.
>
> Anything else? Any help appreciated.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Regards,
>
> Dave.

[CapFusion]

"David McKay" > wrote in message
ble.rogers.com...
> Any suggestions for successfully leaving a tank unattended for a week?
>
> The tank is not stocked particularly heavily and can easily go for a week
> without calcium or buffer dosing. The lighting is all on timers. I have 3
> small fish (2 ocellaris clowns and a firefish) that usually get a mixture
> of frozen and flake food. I have an automatic feeder that I'll set to feed
> them some flake food once a day for the week. Other than that, I plan to
> lower the salinity somewhat before I go so that it doesn't get too high
due
> to evaporation while I'm away.
>
You can try a gravity flow from a resoviour tank or container with a float.
This was an idea from a reefer.
Having endless supply water feed is not a good idea if you're not there to
check it daily. But having a resoviour, it only that amount you need only to
worry about if problem does arise.

CapFusion,...

[Charles Spitzer]

fix can go without food for 3-4 days. i taught my cat sitter how much to
feed and how to replenish the watering system tank, and that's good for 3-4
weeks at a time.

"Phil O'Connor" > wrote in message
...
>
> How do you keep your fish from jumping out with the tank open for the
> autofeeder?
>
> I have a 46 bowfront. I have to keep the lid open in order to mount the
> feeder. Not wanting my fish to leap, I shrouded the whole top with
plastic. I
> came back after the weekend, and the condensation under the plastic
totally
> wetted all the flakes in the feeder making one big food booger.
>
> I guess I'll look into some fine netting to cover the open tank when away.
> But also, I dont like my autofeeder. It feeds 2wice a day, first one is 12
> hours from when you turn it on. this makes it so difficult to test the
dosage
> since you cant witness it predictably. It was the only feeder I could
find at
> any LFS. Its a tumbler style feeder. You cant accurately measure a dose
> amount.
>
> Generally, I'll have someone stop in daily when I'm gone for a week. But
thats
> horrible. I really need to get a system that works. I have a cat instead
of a
> dog specifically for this reason, so I can leave unattended for several
days.
> But now with the tank, shees! its worse than a dog!
>
> Regards.
> Phil
>
>
> David McKay wrote:
>
> > Any suggestions for successfully leaving a tank unattended for a week?
> >
> > The tank is not stocked particularly heavily and can easily go for a
week
> > without calcium or buffer dosing. The lighting is all on timers. I have
3
> > small fish (2 ocellaris clowns and a firefish) that usually get a
mixture
> > of frozen and flake food. I have an automatic feeder that I'll set to
feed
> > them some flake food once a day for the week. Other than that, I plan to
> > lower the salinity somewhat before I go so that it doesn't get too high
due
> > to evaporation while I'm away.
> >
> > Anything else? Any help appreciated.
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Dave.
>

[CapFusion]

You can try an egg-crate or milk crate. And yes, net will be fine too as
you mention. Just cut and trim to your desire shape. You can also modify a
larger hole for your autofeeder.
Or
Or simply, have some small cup fill with your usually fish food and write
down the schedule and time for that person to dump whatever in the cup to
your tank.
Or
Since you only gone for a week, normally fish will survive during that time
period. Any longer may differ.

I normally feed small amount every 3 days.

CapFusion,...

"Phil O'Connor" > wrote in message
...
>
> How do you keep your fish from jumping out with the tank open for the
> autofeeder?
>
> I have a 46 bowfront. I have to keep the lid open in order to mount the
> feeder. Not wanting my fish to leap, I shrouded the whole top with
plastic. I
> came back after the weekend, and the condensation under the plastic
totally
> wetted all the flakes in the feeder making one big food booger.
>
> I guess I'll look into some fine netting to cover the open tank when away.
> But also, I dont like my autofeeder. It feeds 2wice a day, first one is 12
> hours from when you turn it on. this makes it so difficult to test the
dosage
> since you cant witness it predictably. It was the only feeder I could
find at
> any LFS. Its a tumbler style feeder. You cant accurately measure a dose
> amount.
>
> Generally, I'll have someone stop in daily when I'm gone for a week. But
thats
> horrible. I really need to get a system that works. I have a cat instead
of a
> dog specifically for this reason, so I can leave unattended for several
days.
> But now with the tank, shees! its worse than a dog!
>
> Regards.
> Phil
>
>
> David McKay wrote:
>
> > Any suggestions for successfully leaving a tank unattended for a week?
> >
> > The tank is not stocked particularly heavily and can easily go for a
week
> > without calcium or buffer dosing. The lighting is all on timers. I have
3
> > small fish (2 ocellaris clowns and a firefish) that usually get a
mixture
> > of frozen and flake food. I have an automatic feeder that I'll set to
feed
> > them some flake food once a day for the week. Other than that, I plan to
> > lower the salinity somewhat before I go so that it doesn't get too high
due
> > to evaporation while I'm away.
> >
> > Anything else? Any help appreciated.
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Dave.
>

[Jerry]

Last June my wife an I took a 16 day vacation. This was the first time I was
leaving the tank unattended. I set up a top off system using a 22gal.
Rubbermaid container, a float valve for the sump and an old submersible
pump. I have a 120 gal. setup which evaporates about a gallon per day. I
also got a 28 day autofeeder. The top off water would last for about 23
days. This took care of it. When we returned everything was OK except for
coralline algae buildup on the glass. The fish were accustomed to eating
fresh frozen foods so I began feeding them dry food mixed in with the frozen
for about a week before we left.
"David McKay" > wrote in message
ble.rogers.com...
> Any suggestions for successfully leaving a tank unattended for a week?
>
> The tank is not stocked particularly heavily and can easily go for a week
> without calcium or buffer dosing. The lighting is all on timers. I have 3
> small fish (2 ocellaris clowns and a firefish) that usually get a mixture
> of frozen and flake food. I have an automatic feeder that I'll set to feed
> them some flake food once a day for the week. Other than that, I plan to
> lower the salinity somewhat before I go so that it doesn't get too high
due
> to evaporation while I'm away.
>
> Anything else? Any help appreciated.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Regards,
>
> Dave.

[Bob]

Wow!!! You must live in a very dry area. Mine looses about 5 gal every 3 - 4
weeks if that.
"Dragon Slayer" > wrote in message
...
> how much does it evaporate per day?
>
> my 180 evaporates just over 5g per day, you couldn't lower the salinity to
a
> safe enough level to leave it unattended for a week without topping off.
>
> kc
>
> "David McKay" > wrote in message
> ble.rogers.com...
> > Any suggestions for successfully leaving a tank unattended for a week?
> >
> > The tank is not stocked particularly heavily and can easily go for a
week
> > without calcium or buffer dosing. The lighting is all on timers. I have
3
> > small fish (2 ocellaris clowns and a firefish) that usually get a
mixture
> > of frozen and flake food. I have an automatic feeder that I'll set to
feed
> > them some flake food once a day for the week. Other than that, I plan to
> > lower the salinity somewhat before I go so that it doesn't get too high
> due
> > to evaporation while I'm away.
> >
> > Anything else? Any help appreciated.
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Dave.
>
>

[Teri G]

Pretty much the same experience here (about 5-7g/day). That's on a 180g
tank - total system is about 300g.

I would be concerned about topoff, and adjusting salinity to
*anticipate* evaporation can be risky. No friends who can top off your
tank for you?
Our RO/DI is plumbed to a float switch in the sump ... makes vacations a
bit easier. ;-)

Teri
http://www.reefsanctuary.com

Bob wrote:
> Wow!!! You must live in a very dry area. Mine looses about 5 gal every 3 - 4
> weeks if that.
> "Dragon Slayer" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>how much does it evaporate per day?
>>
>>my 180 evaporates just over 5g per day, you couldn't lower the salinity to
>
> a
>
>>safe enough level to leave it unattended for a week without topping off.
>>
>>kc
>>
>>"David McKay" > wrote in message
ble.rogers.com...
>>
>>>Any suggestions for successfully leaving a tank unattended for a week?
>>>
>>>The tank is not stocked particularly heavily and can easily go for a
>
> week
>
>>>without calcium or buffer dosing. The lighting is all on timers. I have
>
> 3
>
>>>small fish (2 ocellaris clowns and a firefish) that usually get a
>
> mixture
>
>>>of frozen and flake food. I have an automatic feeder that I'll set to
>
> feed
>
>>>them some flake food once a day for the week. Other than that, I plan to
>>>lower the salinity somewhat before I go so that it doesn't get too high
>>
>>due
>>
>>>to evaporation while I'm away.
>>>
>>>Anything else? Any help appreciated.
>>>
>>>Thanks!
>>>
>>>Regards,
>>>
>>>Dave.
>>
>>
>
>

[David McKay]

The tank is a 35 gallon, and I typically top off with under a gallon of
distilled water per day, so I thought if I lowered the salinity somewhat
I'd be fine for the week.

To answer some other questions.

1. The feeder I have is an Eheim with a digital control. You can program it
to feed up to four times daily, at whatever times you wish. You can also
tell it whether to rotate once or twice for each feeding. The drawback is
that it's only good for flake food - pretty much useless for pellets.

2. I don't have a top on the tank (glass, egg crate or otherwise). I have a
glass cover on my fresh water tank, but in talking with the LFS guys I was
told that a cover for the marine tank isn't really necessary. Needless to
say, one of my clowns recently jumped to its death. I plan to put some egg
crate over the top in the coming days.

3. I can have a friend come in, but I'd really prefer not to.

Thanks for your responses!

Regards,

Dave.

[Dragon Slayer]

"Bob" > wrote in message
...
> Wow!!! You must live in a very dry area. Mine looses about 5 gal every 3 -
4
> weeks if that.


no I live in south Alabama, its quite humid here most of the time (80%
humidity today and raining). I get that much evaporation because of the
lighting over the tank and the flow in it, its a 180g w/ 1300w MH lighting
and has a turn over close to 40x. the tank and sump have a total of 225g
system volume.(fuge has 4x65w PC)

my 29 (60g total system volume) reef has a single 250 MH with a turn over of
better then 50x and it evaporates just over a gallon a day. (fuge has 1x55w
PC)

my 75 (100g total system volume) used to be reef and had 800w MH over it
until a few weeks back, it evaporated 3 gallon per day, but when I installed
the glass top back on the tank and put a 2x55w PC light over it, it might
evaporate a gallon in a weeks time now. the turn over is around 25x.

and then you add in all the other tanks (at present I have 7 up and going)
and the outside humidity, needless to say when the A/C is on the drain
looks like a water faucet with a nice stream coming out rather then a drip.

the weather here tonight is in the lower 30's upper 20's and I don't use
heat, my house stays 65'ish due to the humidity and heat given off by the
tanks. needless to say when you enter my dinning room where the 180 is you
can tell a difference between room temp between there and the rest of the
house.

kc

[Joe V.]

"Dragon Slayer" > wrote in message
...

> and then you add in all the other tanks (at present I have 7 up and going)
> and the outside humidity, needless to say when the A/C is on the drain
> looks like a water faucet with a nice stream coming out rather then a
drip.
>

7 tanks?!? wow ...

do you have pictures/website?

[Akk]

I reckon your tank leaks
"Dragon Slayer" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Bob" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Wow!!! You must live in a very dry area. Mine looses about 5 gal every
3 -
> 4
> > weeks if that.
>
>
> no I live in south Alabama, its quite humid here most of the time (80%
> humidity today and raining). I get that much evaporation because of the
> lighting over the tank and the flow in it, its a 180g w/ 1300w MH lighting
> and has a turn over close to 40x. the tank and sump have a total of 225g
> system volume.(fuge has 4x65w PC)
>
> my 29 (60g total system volume) reef has a single 250 MH with a turn over
of
> better then 50x and it evaporates just over a gallon a day. (fuge has
1x55w
> PC)
>
> my 75 (100g total system volume) used to be reef and had 800w MH over it
> until a few weeks back, it evaporated 3 gallon per day, but when I
installed
> the glass top back on the tank and put a 2x55w PC light over it, it might
> evaporate a gallon in a weeks time now. the turn over is around 25x.
>
> and then you add in all the other tanks (at present I have 7 up and going)
> and the outside humidity, needless to say when the A/C is on the drain
> looks like a water faucet with a nice stream coming out rather then a
drip.
>
> the weather here tonight is in the lower 30's upper 20's and I don't use
> heat, my house stays 65'ish due to the humidity and heat given off by the
> tanks. needless to say when you enter my dinning room where the 180 is
you
> can tell a difference between room temp between there and the rest of the
> house.
>
> kc
>
>
>

[Marc Levenson]

I doubt it. My 55g with a 25g sump/refugium easily consumes 2.5g of evaporation
a day. I run the 55g open top, and a fan is blowing on the sump 24 hours a day
to combat the heat of the MH setup. Pouring in 4 to 5 gals of fresh water is
part of my routine. I really do need to set up a nice resevoir and a float
switch so it isn't so much new water at once......

My 29g with a reasonably sealed canopy evaporates about 5 gal over 5 days.

And KC, I can totally relate to what you said about the living room vs the rest
of the house. ;)

Marc


Akk wrote:

> I reckon your tank leaks
> "Dragon Slayer" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > "Bob" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > Wow!!! You must live in a very dry area. Mine looses about 5 gal every
> 3 -
> > 4
> > > weeks if that.
> >
> >
> > no I live in south Alabama, its quite humid here most of the time (80%
> > humidity today and raining). I get that much evaporation because of the
> > lighting over the tank and the flow in it, its a 180g w/ 1300w MH lighting
> > and has a turn over close to 40x. the tank and sump have a total of 225g
> > system volume.(fuge has 4x65w PC)
> >
> > my 29 (60g total system volume) reef has a single 250 MH with a turn over
> of
> > better then 50x and it evaporates just over a gallon a day. (fuge has
> 1x55w
> > PC)
> >
> > my 75 (100g total system volume) used to be reef and had 800w MH over it
> > until a few weeks back, it evaporated 3 gallon per day, but when I
> installed
> > the glass top back on the tank and put a 2x55w PC light over it, it might
> > evaporate a gallon in a weeks time now. the turn over is around 25x.
> >
> > and then you add in all the other tanks (at present I have 7 up and going)
> > and the outside humidity, needless to say when the A/C is on the drain
> > looks like a water faucet with a nice stream coming out rather then a
> drip.
> >
> > the weather here tonight is in the lower 30's upper 20's and I don't use
> > heat, my house stays 65'ish due to the humidity and heat given off by the
> > tanks. needless to say when you enter my dinning room where the 180 is
> you
> > can tell a difference between room temp between there and the rest of the
> > house.
> >
> > kc
> >
> >
> >

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Chris Taylor]

This is good to hear. We'll be heading down to South Africa for 3 weeks in
February (aaahhh warmth, sunshine :-) and will probably be leaving the tank
unattended for the duration. It's 100G and loses water at 1 Liter per day
(4-5 Gallons over 3 weeks?)

I'll be using an autofeeder with freezedried brineshrimp and pellets.


"Jerry" > wrote in message
...
> Last June my wife an I took a 16 day vacation. This was the first time I
was

[Dragon Slayer]

there are pics of the reefs in my RC gallery, same screen name there.

kc

"Joe V." > wrote in message
...
> "Dragon Slayer" > wrote in message
> ...
>
> > and then you add in all the other tanks (at present I have 7 up and
going)
> > and the outside humidity, needless to say when the A/C is on the drain
> > looks like a water faucet with a nice stream coming out rather then a
> drip.
> >
>
> 7 tanks?!? wow ...
>
> do you have pictures/website?
>
>

[Dragon Slayer]

Nope, no leaks at all, only evaporation.

kc

"Akk" > wrote in message
...
> I reckon your tank leaks
> "Dragon Slayer" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > "Bob" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > Wow!!! You must live in a very dry area. Mine looses about 5 gal every
> 3 -
> > 4
> > > weeks if that.
> >
> >
> > no I live in south Alabama, its quite humid here most of the time (80%
> > humidity today and raining). I get that much evaporation because of the
> > lighting over the tank and the flow in it, its a 180g w/ 1300w MH
lighting
> > and has a turn over close to 40x. the tank and sump have a total of
225g
> > system volume.(fuge has 4x65w PC)
> >
> > my 29 (60g total system volume) reef has a single 250 MH with a turn
over
> of
> > better then 50x and it evaporates just over a gallon a day. (fuge has
> 1x55w
> > PC)
> >
> > my 75 (100g total system volume) used to be reef and had 800w MH over it
> > until a few weeks back, it evaporated 3 gallon per day, but when I
> installed
> > the glass top back on the tank and put a 2x55w PC light over it, it
might
> > evaporate a gallon in a weeks time now. the turn over is around 25x.
> >
> > and then you add in all the other tanks (at present I have 7 up and
going)
> > and the outside humidity, needless to say when the A/C is on the drain
> > looks like a water faucet with a nice stream coming out rather then a
> drip.
> >
> > the weather here tonight is in the lower 30's upper 20's and I don't use
> > heat, my house stays 65'ish due to the humidity and heat given off by
the
> > tanks. needless to say when you enter my dinning room where the 180 is
> you
> > can tell a difference between room temp between there and the rest of
the
> > house.
> >
> > kc
> >
> >
> >
>
>

[Bob]

I just added a 400W MH to my 55. Now I understand.
"Dragon Slayer" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Bob" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Wow!!! You must live in a very dry area. Mine looses about 5 gal every
3 -
> 4
> > weeks if that.
>
>
> no I live in south Alabama, its quite humid here most of the time (80%
> humidity today and raining). I get that much evaporation because of the
> lighting over the tank and the flow in it, its a 180g w/ 1300w MH lighting
> and has a turn over close to 40x. the tank and sump have a total of 225g
> system volume.(fuge has 4x65w PC)
>
> my 29 (60g total system volume) reef has a single 250 MH with a turn over
of
> better then 50x and it evaporates just over a gallon a day. (fuge has
1x55w
> PC)
>
> my 75 (100g total system volume) used to be reef and had 800w MH over it
> until a few weeks back, it evaporated 3 gallon per day, but when I
installed
> the glass top back on the tank and put a 2x55w PC light over it, it might
> evaporate a gallon in a weeks time now. the turn over is around 25x.
>
> and then you add in all the other tanks (at present I have 7 up and going)
> and the outside humidity, needless to say when the A/C is on the drain
> looks like a water faucet with a nice stream coming out rather then a
drip.
>
> the weather here tonight is in the lower 30's upper 20's and I don't use
> heat, my house stays 65'ish due to the humidity and heat given off by the
> tanks. needless to say when you enter my dinning room where the 180 is
you
> can tell a difference between room temp between there and the rest of the
> house.
>
> kc
>
>
>