What to do when you can't be there all the time?

elvictre

elvictre

Member
I need some help as far as taking care of a reef while you’re on vacation or just won't be getting home on time. I use B-Ionic everyday and I feed my corals every other day. I have my tank for almost a year now and with all that has been going on (new house, 2 year old, and one that is due right now :nervous: ) I worry about missing a day. Also we used to vacation a few times a year, but we haven't taken one since last June. Then I went from FOWLR to a Reef. Space is an issue, because I have it as a foyer piece. It really is great looking as the first thing people see when they come over your house and everybody stops to talk about it. It is a 75 gal Oceanic tank and stand with the canopy. I would like to keep everything isolated to under the tank. I do have a RO unit located in the Kitchen and I can run an auto top through the wall and cabinets to the tank, but my concern is calcium and phytoplankton. I am open to all suggestions and feel free to recommend products regardless of price.
Thanks
Vic
 
mudplayerx

mudplayerx

Active Member
Get a timer for your lights first of all.
Secondly, get a good 5 gallon jug, some aquarium air tubing and a valve and set up an automatic topoff system.
Make sure you clean all of your filter media very well at the last minute.
The most important part is DO NOT feed everything a little extra before you go. All this is going to do is foul the water and possible make your critters sick.
 
robchuck

robchuck

Active Member
Timers and auto topoff systems are the first things I would add to a reef tank after the basics are covered.
A calcium reactor would work well for keeping calcium and alk levels up, but those can get expensive. For less than $200, you could add a Nilsen reactor inline with an auto topoff to add kalkwasser to maintain calcium and alk. Both of these pieces of equipment are wonderful once they are set up properly.
Phytoplankton is something a little more difficult to automate. You could simply drip phyto, or have something as complex as a phytoplankton reactor. I'm not too familiar with these, but I remember reading about them in Anthony Calfo's "Book of Coral Propagation". I also vaguely remember reading about a piece of equipment that Geo's Reef made a few years ago called the Geosapper.
 
elvictre

elvictre

Member
I'm sorry I didn't specify. I do have timers for my lights. The auto top off is in the works, I just have to drill a hole for it in the sump.
Rob if I add the Nilsen reactor, do I stop useing B-ionic? And how does Kalk work? I have seen people use Kalk and Calcium reactors at the same time so I was not too sure that Kalk worked good alone. I will also do a web search on phyto reactor, I never heard of one.
Thanks
Vic
 
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