Leaving tank for one week, what should I do?

[Taqpol]

I am going to be leaving my tank (38 gallon with Tunze 9002 skimmer and CPR HOB 'fuge) at my apartment with no one to care for it for one week due to Thanksgiving break. I have a float switch dosing kalk water with a resevoir that will last a week (So top off of fresh water, alk, and cal will be ok) but what other things should I be worried about? Can someone give me a checklist?

The thing that worries me the most is feeding, but I've heard that fish can go a week with only the sustenance due to my refugium. I have a fairly small bioload: 2x clownfish, 1x bicolor blenny, and 1x Coral Beauty, plus CUC. Opinions?

[an411]

maybe get a nori clip in there with some nori in it before you leave at least it will be maybe one less day they are goign without food. Also the other thing i would check is the skimmer cup. Will it overflow? Besides that if you have a top off then you should be fine

[Paul B]

Buy an automatic feeder and put some pellets in it. I always have one on my tank and have it set to feed once a day just a little because I am away alot and this way at least they have something to eat.

[Taqpol]

I will definitely try to pick up an automatic feeder, but saying that none of my LFS's have them would the tank be ok for a week?

Also, my skimmers strange. Saying I can get it dialed in right before I leave it will probably only get about 4-5 days of productive skimmate before it just stops before ever reaching the top. Either that or it will overflow in two minutes.....

[Paul B]

Yes it would. Fish can go a lot longer than that but I would still try to get an automatic feeder.

[crvz]

I sometimes use pellets, but then your introducing more failure modes by adding the auto-feeder. The fish will be alright for a week without food, but if you could get someone to poke their head in once or twice it's a much better scenario. In terms of checklist, before you leave do a water change, check your timers and heater, maintain the pumps a few days before you leave (never do it right before hand, as sometimes they'll get screwed up during maintenance), and ensure the ATO is ready to go (filled reservoir if you use one).

[Taqpol]

Are any auto-feeders better than others?

[klaytos]

I am glad you posted this topic, I am also leaving for a week, but over Christmas and had the same concerns. My skimmer honestly scares the crap out of me. It has a tendency to overflow when I top-off (manually for now). I have an auto top-off on order and hopefully it will add in such small quantities it won't screw up the skimmer. It's my only real concern.

I guess it would be a bad idea to do a hefty water change, turn off the skimmer, and set an auto feeder to feed every other day? I don't have any corals just yet (was waiting till after the trip to start them), but I do have a decent fish load consisting of 2 ocellaris clowns, a diamond goby, a small foxface, and 5 green chromis. Not to hijack, but would having no skimmer for a week be a bad idea? My gut says yes, but it would certainly give me piece of mind. Man, I gotta save for a new skimmer...

[Paul B]

Are any auto-feeders better than others?

I don't know, there ar dozens of them. Ihave a little battery powered one with an airline connection in the back. You hook it up to an air pump to circulate air over the food so it doesen't get mildued. It will not happen in a week though.

[Taqpol]

Bump for the guy who posted another related question!

Also to get some other opinions, even though I probably couldn't have done any better than all the "big-name" guys who already posted.

[rezaktp]

Keep your fingers crossed!
Also tanke any unnecceasy items out of the system such as reactors, or even the skimmer, your tank will survive for a week without it.

[Reefbox]

When i'm away I turn skimmer off. Auto feeder on, auto topoff full and fresh made saltwater for when i return.

[NirvanaFan]

I would unplug the skimmer. Your tank will be fine for a week without it. If you get an automatic feeder, that would be great. Don't load it up with food though. Only put enough food so the fish get a small amount each day. You don't want the automatic feeder to fail and drop a lot of food into the tank on day one.

Other than that, don't do any changes to the tank for the few days leading up to you leaving. I've left mine for a week with no food, and everything was fine.

[Taqpol]

I really think my skimmer will do one of twp things when I leave it. 99% of the time it will only collect good skimmate for about 3-4 days (half a cup, maybe.....) and then stop, or it will fill up and clear skimmate will overflow into my refugium or back down the reaction tube (either way not losing water). I'm pretty unhappy with this tunze skimmer but I think I'm just going to leave it on because there is no way for it to break my system while I'm gone.

Paul B mentioned something about food mildewing if left in the auto feeder to long. Over Christmas break I will be visiting my parents for three weeks, most likely with no one to look after the fish. Would I need a feeder with an air pump for this amount of time?

[Amoore311]

Don't worry about turning the skimmer off for 1 week. If you are worried, you can just do a large water change when you get back. I don't anticipate you having any problems though.

[Paul B]

Taqpol, probably most of those auto feeders have that airline connections now.
Three weeks is a long time to leave a tank but I guess you have no choice. You will need an auto feeder for that long

[WinnipegDragon]

Regarding auto-feeder brands, you can't go wrong with Eheim or Rena.

[kevin2000]

You should be able to leave your tank unattended for a week without any problem - no big deal. Fish will do fine. I would be hesitate to use an auto feeder unless it was really necessary (you occasionally read horror stories about auto feeders).

There are a few common sense things you can do to help mitigage problems. Fatten the fish up before you go and then make some major water changes shortly before you leave (want the water as good as it gets before you head out of town). If you don't have an auto top off system then consider slowly reducing the salinity of the water in advance of your leaving .. this will help mitigate the increase in salinity associated with the evaporation while your gone.

[qfrisco]

I agree - your fish will be fine for a week, even longer, without food. An auto-feeder would be helpful, but it's really not necessary. Whatever you decide to do, don't change anything to your setup for a few days prior to you leaving. If it's for Thanksgiving break, I'd stop making any changes tomorrow or so. Knowing Murphy's Law, it'll be what you just added that will break or mess up while you're away.

I went away for about 10 days this past summer and left my tank alone, and it was fine. I did have an auto-feeder, but I set it up about 2 or 3 weeks before I left so I knew how it worked and got it dialed in properly.

[Taqpol]

Yeah, just because I don't have time to really test it and know how it works I'm going to skip an auto feeder for this break. I did a 5 gal water change yesterday and will fill up my top off reservoir tomorrow right before I leave. Fish are getting nice mysis feedings this morning, this night, and tomorrow morning, but then they're on their own. I'm not really worried about this trip.

Next trip (the three week one) is a different story. I will most definitely get a nice auto feeder and start fiddling with it the moment I get back so I am confident with it when I leave late December. Pullman kinda vacates over the breaks, but there might be someone I know thats staying/leaving late/coming back early. If so the will definitely come check on my tank and maybe even do a water change if I trust them.