gimincorp

Advanced Reefer
Location
Yonkers, NY
Rating - 100%
12   0   0
Hi All,
I'm a bit nervous about my plan to go on vacation for about 2 weeks...
As some of you know, I have a 14 gallon biocube tank.

Current stock:
  • 2 Clown fish
  • Some small stars (I see); some serpae stars (I never see, just hope they are there)
  • Some worms.
  • Some hermit crabs
  • Many soft corals: (Leather Mushroom, brick-red, brick-red & teal striped, bluish mushrooms; frags of GSP; pulsing xenia).
  • Many frags of Montipora corals.
  • Some red macro algae (glacilaria? or something like that)
  • Some chaeto in the back of the fuge.
Current Setup:
  • 14 Gallon biocube tank
  • Stock hood.
  • Actinic & 10K bulbs are timer-controlled
  • 50 Wt heater
  • Maxi-Jet power head & Rotating thingy that spews the water out.
Re-occuring problem: degrading chaeto blocks the mid-chamber grid and prevents waterflow to the powerhead.
I plan to address this problem today by:
Wireingup a flashlight to a power supply and putting the light on the timer so it is on during the night.

Possible water-quality problem: will do a 15% PWC today.

So here are the instructions I'm leaving my mom with:
  1. Feed the fish with a small portion of Mysis srimp or "green" frozen food twice a week.
  2. Feed the corals with 28 drops of Phyto twice a week.
  3. Keep an eye on temperature and turn on the AC if needed.
  4. If the rotating thingy starts to spew a lot of airbubbles: move chaeto around in the back to free-up waterflow.
  5. If any other problems occur - call me.
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE I'M LEAVING OUT?

Please provide some input.

Thank you!
 
Location
Brooklyn, NY
Rating - 97.4%
74   2   0
Ditch the phyto feeding, in fact, I'm not sure what you are feeding with it anyway. Nothing you lists needs it and if there are possible water quality issues I'd reduce unecessary nutrient inputs wherever possible.

I don't understand the chaeto issue, but in general you don't want to re-work anything on a system before you go away--- you are just asking for trouble.
 

aznt1217

Forever Noob
Location
Bayside
Rating - 100%
191   0   0
Hey dude,

-If I were you I would have top off water ready for your Mom.

-Do a bigger WC before you leave.

-Decrease your light cycle (your corals will be fine)

-Leave the food prepared in cups and put them in the fridge so your mom can just dump it in.

-Ditch the Phyto. Most of your corals are okay with Photosynthesis.
 

Reefer420

Advanced Reefer
Location
Manhattan
Rating - 100%
15   0   0
the top off water is the biggest thing IMO - as long as that is done properly then water quality shouldnt be an issue in 2 weeks (unless your tank is newly set-up).

make sure your mom notices if water seems to be evaporating too quickly - i went away for a week and came back to a tank almost dead- a bit of the bag i kept my carbon in was sticking out of the tank and created a mini siphon. The person taking care of things didnt know what was normal, and since my ATO unit kept the tank water level so never noticed anything - i estimate 5-6 gallons of my 16g tank dripped on the floor, only to be replaced by freshwater!
 

Chiefmcfuz

Old School Reefer
Location
Westchester, NY
Rating - 100%
47   0   0
Ask a friend from here that you trust to take care of the tank and check it daily. PLEASE! It may cost you a frag or a couple of bucks but it is well worth it. Make sure you have a battery backup for your return pump as well.
 

gimincorp

Advanced Reefer
Location
Yonkers, NY
Rating - 100%
12   0   0
Decreased lighting cycle by 2 hours (cut down on Actinic lighting in the morning).
Did 15+ but less than 20% PWC
Prepared top-off water (bucket of water with powerhead in it and some stress coat to de-clorinate.
Took out all chaeto that was left in the mid chamber.
Will leave instructions to feed the fish only once a week with a small portion of food.
 

SevTT

Advanced Reefer
Location
Suffolk County
Rating - 100%
8   0   0
So here are the instructions I'm leaving my mom with:
  1. Feed the fish with a small portion of Mysis srimp or "green" frozen food twice a week.
  2. Feed the corals with 28 drops of Phyto twice a week.
  3. Keep an eye on temperature and turn on the AC if needed.
  4. If the rotating thingy starts to spew a lot of airbubbles: move chaeto around in the back to free-up waterflow.
  5. If any other problems occur - call me.
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE I'M LEAVING OUT?

Please provide some input.

Thank you!


Ditch the phyto, it's too complicated, and most corals don't really benefit from phyto, anyway. Measure out each day's food and put it in separate baggies so that your mom doesn't overfeed. She's going to need to top off the system, make sure you have RO water made up and give her instructiosn on how to make more if necessary. (In fact, best would be to make up about 20 gallons beforehand.) On top of that, I'd have another 10 gallons of SW, or your entire tank volume, made up and ready to be used, but clearly labeled "saltwater, call me before using" and put somewhere where it's out of sight anyway, just in case something drastic happens.
 

gimincorp

Advanced Reefer
Location
Yonkers, NY
Rating - 100%
12   0   0
Hi All,
I just came back from my roadtrip across the country! First the good news: Both clowns and some corals I could see under actinics are ALIVE! I even noticed some measureable growth (looks like a few new heads on my pulsing xenia coral!)

SITREP: Water had film on it. Skimmer cup was full, thick hair algae growth everywhere, t was around 80 F. So far so good.

Immediate measures: Emptied skimmer cup and trimmed hair algae where possible.

I will give you more details tomorrow when I'll re-examine the tank after work.
 

geldof

Advanced Reefer
Location
Hudson Valley
Rating - 100%
75   0   0
Simple is best. Find someone you trust and don't make them do anything more than they need to. Check the ATO daily, have water ready for emergencies and use an auto feeder to feed the fish only.
 

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