Need advice on feeding and maint plan for my GF while im gone.

I will be gone for 3weeks with the military starting 15 feb and i need to write up or inform my gf how to properly care for my tank while im gone. A water change would be to risky i think might come back to 2.000 S.G. lol So any ideas on a feeding schedule and minor maint things i can write down? Thanks in advance.

 

IMO just as long as your params are within range and your stocking is reasonable - you will be totally fine going 3 weeks without a water change.
In fact, many people's scheduled maintenance routine is to only do monthly water changes anyway. 3 weeks should not be any problem.

The best way to have someone take care of your tank is to have them familiar with it before you even leave. Start now showing her how much to feed and what items to feed.

Next, as for topping off, it is best to put a piece of masking tape with a mark showing the level of the water that should be maintained.

Write out a schedule:

If you have just fish and photosynthetic corals you will have an easier time of it. Show here how much you feed and write down for here when to feed. Teach her about not wanting to feed to much as to pollute the water but to give the fish several minutes to eat what they can.

If you need to have her feed the corals like LPS/SPS then you would be advised to show her how to do it a few times and sort of "test" her and watch her do it with your supervision to make sure she understands what needs to be done.

Hopefully your lights are already on a timer. If not, time to spend the money at HD or Lowes to get one. You and your corals will thank you.

Hopefully this helps you get started.

You will want to have plenty FW on hand for top off (unless you have a complete ATO system) and have some way of her getting in touch with you or if you are not available (sounds like this may be the case due to the military involvement) then it would be a good idea to give her the phone number of someone she can call that in an emergency would be able to either come by and help out or be able to give advise over the phone.

 

Also hopefully you have a mag-float for cleaning the glass. Important to show here to properly use it without getting sand lodged inbetween the mag and the glass and scratching your DT. PPl come by my apartment all the time and almost half the time they are tempted to start moving the magnet around and most of them have no clue how to use them.

 

I have sun coral and a nem that has to be target fed but everything else should be okay and i bought PE Mysis so feeding every other day or even every third day should be fine. Yes i do have a mag-float so i will be learning her how to use it tonight.

The only major thing i think might be the issue and that is im actually drilling my tank this week and my new filter and sump will be up and running less then a week before i leave . So i think i might reschedule the drilling.

Should i just have her top off in my sump (if its drilled) or in the DT?

Thank you for all the help

 

I think one of the best places to add the top-off water would be the overflow itself. This way the water has a chance to mix with the saltwater first before entering your DT.

It will be very important to show here how to feed and you might want to make a feeding checklist with items such as rinsing the frozen food off in a small net, turning the pumps and powerheads off and waiting a few minutes for the water to settle, only giving enough to feed the corals and not the whole tank, how to turn the pumps and powerheads back on and how to rinse the feeding equipment so its ready for next time.

 

I would have forgot about all that thank you. There is so many things I do and just dont think about it.

So you think that it would still be safe to drill my tank and hook up the sump/fuge and have it up for just a few days before leaving it doesnt really take any adjusting does it?

 

Make it very clear to top off with fresh water. Very clear.

 

IMO - as long as you actually have the legit time to drill, glue and assemble - there is little to no adjustment necessary. The overflow will either work, or it wont IMO.

About the only adjustments you might need to make would be to dial down the return pump with a ball valve - something that takes no more than a few minutes to set and monitor.

 

Better yet ONLY give her FW - dont even show her a SW container at all.

Depending on tank size you are going to want to have a bunch of RO/DI water made up before you leave unless your GF is good with using the RO/DI filter (assuming you even have one!).

 

No ro/di i live in a apt, but i have already bought water that is ro/di its pre bottled in 3gal containers so she can lift it. Thanks for the advice on the sump also