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07-27-2004, 09:58 AM
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#1
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Reefless Reefer
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Durham, NC
Posts: 20,559
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Bi-Weekly Discussion of the Week: Vacation planning.
What do you all do to your tanks to get them ready for a vacation from you.
I start with that to let you all know that once again I am going on vacation for a week! Be on good behavior again.
G~
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Think Tanker
Friends Don't Let Friends Use Refugiums!
Reef Knowledge Impaired
"J" crowd member.
My Build Thread
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07-27-2004, 10:32 AM
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#2
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Big Fishy
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: So. CA
Posts: 948
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Arrrrgggh! I haven't gone on a vacation in years, mainly because there's nobody I trust at the LFS to take care of the tank.
Best guess is;
Water change just before you leave
Take off any filter socks if you'll be gone longer than a couple of days.
Big jug to collect excess skim product.
Check all mechanical systems thoroughly.
Notify the neighbors and make sure one of them has a key.
Get the best person you can find to come in once a day and make a list of stuff to check or do for them.
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BWR member
Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted, counts.
Al Einstein
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07-27-2004, 11:15 AM
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#3
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Golden Shellback
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Rising Sun, MD
Posts: 1,282
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What's this vacation thing? My wife and I aren't usually gone more than 2 or 3 days if we go anywhere. The last time we went on a long vacation was a few years ago, and we didn't have the tank set up at the time.
There's a guy in my reef club that has everything set up on a $50 X-10 home security system. If anything goes wrong, and I mean anything, it calls him or his wife to let them know something's wrong with the tank. He also has 12 hours worth of back up power from an un-intereupted power supply for a computer server and a gas generator. He doesn't go anywhere that he can't be back home in at least 12 hours. His security alarm works so well, that when we had the bad flooding up here a few weeks ago, it called him to let him know that his basement was flooding....pretty cool.
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07-27-2004, 12:49 PM
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#4
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Crazed Fish Whisperer
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Kansas City, MO
Posts: 2,578
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Vacation? *grabs a dictionary* Oh! that sounds nice..I want one of those!
Last time I was gone, I had a the Smiths watch my tank. Now that I have an autotop off system I can be gone for 2 days and not worry.  I need a better auto top off pump..one that doesn't have a 9999 ml volume limit. 
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 Instead of just building a reef in my home...I so wish I could afford to build my home in the reef!
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07-27-2004, 12:51 PM
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#5
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Little Fishy
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Peoria IL
Posts: 136
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On my webpage there is a webcam link. It's not live feed, it just updates the picture every hour or so when I am on vacation. It gives me HUGE peace of mind when I am gone to be able to log in and actually see how the tank is doing.
Of course, I haven't gone on vacation in a long time so the camera has just been collecting dust lately.
(btw, it wasn't expensive or difficult to set this up.)
Dan
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07-27-2004, 12:57 PM
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#6
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Admin/ Super mod
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: New Castle, Delaware
Posts: 20,364
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Wait a minute geoff.. didn't just go on vaction!!!
i agree with cleaning everything right before and having a good back up in place .. guess it depends on whole long you are a way
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Tim
need something to read? just ask me.
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07-27-2004, 02:53 PM
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#7
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Reefless Reefer
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Durham, NC
Posts: 20,559
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by tims
Wait a minute geoff.. didn't just go on vaction!!!
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working for academia rules.
G~
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Think Tanker
Friends Don't Let Friends Use Refugiums!
Reef Knowledge Impaired
"J" crowd member.
My Build Thread
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07-28-2004, 12:15 AM
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#8
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Birthday tracker
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Spartanburg, SC USA
Posts: 14,628
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Kevin- that guy in your reef club has way too much money. He needs to share it with the rest of us so we can take car of our tanks properly.
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cath
-La Dolce Vita
Proud member of the BRW crowd
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07-28-2004, 10:36 AM
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#9
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The Border Collie Mod
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: right now? in my chair
Posts: 13,218
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Geoff
What do you all do to your tanks to get them ready for a vacation from you. 
G~
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Simple plan, pick up the phone, call Greg, coordinate vacation when they can come.
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Clifford TRT's Mascot -->
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07-28-2004, 02:06 PM
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#10
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Oh no...not again!!!
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Colorado Springs
Posts: 6,054
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That is a good idea Spanky...hrmm might have to set up a time share thingie when we go.
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Perry
Fellow of RSTK (Royal Society of Thread Killers)
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07-28-2004, 02:45 PM
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#11
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Little Fishy
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Peoria IL
Posts: 136
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Spanky
Simple plan, pick up the phone, call Greg, coordinate vacation when they can come.
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Wish that would work for all of us. But somehow I don't think Greg would be too interested in vacationing in Peoria. We've got the Illinois river, but I think your UW camera would be useless in that muck....
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07-28-2004, 06:40 PM
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#12
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Nucular Hermit
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Takoma Pk, MD
Posts: 2,172
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Hey! I just got back from vacation! 12 days in France... lots of wine and cheese.
Did a 20% water change the day before I left.
I had a neighbour come every 2 days to feed.
I put 20 gallons of top off water in a trash can with a powerhead and a float valve.
I turned off skimming (oops, came back to lots of hair algae).
Took out the sponge filter in the overflow.
Prayed a lot.
All in all, it went well, expcet for the hair algae outbreak. Everything survived and my green star polyp grew.
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Mike S.
65g acrylic tank with 520W PC
Basement Sump w/ EuroReef CS6-1
My TRT Blog
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07-28-2004, 07:04 PM
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#13
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The Mechanic
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 375
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I am lucky enough to have baught a house 1-1/2 blocks from my brother. When I go away he watches my tank and the other pets (he is the only one I trust), when he goes I take care of his tanks and pets. It almost works out too good.
Eric...
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120 gal sps dominated reef, 40 gal sump, 30 gal fuge,2 Streams on a multicontroller, MRC MR2, 2X250 DE MH, T5 actinics.MRC CR2 calcium reactor.
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07-30-2004, 08:07 PM
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#14
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Human grounding probe
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Wyoming
Posts: 1,896
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I just went out of town for work for four days. The wife stayed at home but I still stressed out. I did everything I could think of and even put food portions for feeding in seperate ziplocks. I am still a stoneaged reefer. My doser is manual as well as my lights. I came back to a take full of red slime and a low calcium count cause she didn't figue out that the drip bucket had lost it's siphon. Tanks are like infant children. They need constant care and observation. It takes a tremendous leap of faith to trust anybody, even a fellow reefer, to care for your tank. Even then, they don't know and care for your "baby" like you do.
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70T/RR: Wannabe bare bottom hair algae factory
Bare Bottom and hate it!!!!  
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08-05-2004, 12:29 AM
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#15
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Look deeply into my eyes

Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Location, Location
Posts: 12,041
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What's a vacation? 
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Jeff
1st generation J-Crowd member
PRG Member since '09
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