AQUARIUM ESSENTIALS THAT WILL HELP YOU RELAX ON VACATION
![]()
Going out of town can be stressful for aquarium owners. Some basic issues are feeding, water top-off, dosing, and monitoring water quality. Having an aquarium sitter look after your aquarium is one solution. But unless your aquarium sitter is an aquarist, there is a good chance they will overfeed, fail to notice problems as they arise, and not know what to do in most situations. Fortunately, there are several strategies that will make being away from your aquarium less stressful.
1. AUTOMATE AS MUCH AS YOU CANFEEDING![]()
With saltwater aquariums and tanks with larger fish that require more protein, we recommend using an
automatic fish feeder. Fish feeders are simply food holders that turn and open a door to drop food into the aquarium at specified times.
The
Lifegard Aquatics Intelli-Feed Aquarium Fish Feeder (NEW USB VERSION) features USB charging and silent operation. It holds up to 200 ml of food, is easy to refill, and can be refilled up to 4 times a day if necessary. 3 doses per feed.
The
OASE FishGuard Automatic Fish Feeder is easily adjustable and can feed your fish up to 4 times daily, with a maximum of 3 doses per feed. This battery-powered unit has an easy-to-read LCD display.
The
Hydor Automatic Feeder for Aquariums feeds up to 3 times a day. It comes with an airline input for an optional air pump to help keep the food from getting moist and rotting. Battery-operated.
For dosing small grain food, get the
Sera X-Feeder Fish Feeder along with the
Sera X-Feeder Fish Feeder Screw, Xtra Fine.
When using a fish feeder, pellets are better than flake foods if the food is in the feeder for more than a few days. Flake foods can easily absorb the moisture from the aquarium and become a mess in the feeder.
New Life Spectrum pellet foods are a great choice for all feeders. They come in a variety of pellet sizes and for a variety of fish types.
LIGHT CONTROLLERSThese days, it’s pretty common to have an LED light with a built-in timer or a controller made specifically for your light. For those without a dedicated light timer, you can use a
CoralVue Hydros Control X3 Starter Pack to turn your lights on and off.
There are four outlets, and some can be used to turn off powerheads during feeding, preventing food from flowing into the filter and polluting the water. It can also be used to turn on a night light or other night equipment (e.g., an algae scrubber or a refugium light) when the light turns off. ATOs (AUTO TOP-OFFS)Evaporation is inevitable. For saltwater aquariums, it’s extremely important to maintain constant top-off, because if your salinity rises due to evaporation, it can really stress out fish and coral. Adding too much at once can also stress the livestock.
![]()
When out of town, you could have an aquarium sitter top off your aquarium water. Or, you could use an ATO (Auto Top Off). An ATO has a sensor at the preferred water height and a pump in a reservoir that pumps water into your aquarium.
An ATO is a great solution because it adds small amounts of water throughout the day. We carry the
IceCap ATO EZ System and the
JBJ Nano ATO Advanced Auto-Top-Off System.
Even if you never take a vacation, ATOs are recommended. Adding water slowly throughout the day is a best practice. And, keep in mind, if enough water evaporates and your pump runs dry, it could start a fire.
DOSINGDosing is obviously critical. Letting your calcium and alkalinity drop while you're out of town can be disastrous. There are three choices for dosing when you’re out of town. You can have your aquarium sitter do it, you can use a
dosing pump, or you can use a dosing block. Unless your aquarium sitter is an aquarist, you probably don’t want them dosing your aquarium.
![aquarium essentials that will help you relax on vacation]()
A dosing block is the simplest choice.
Sea-Lab #28 blocks are filled with the necessary minerals and trace elements for saltwater aquariums. The block slowly disintegrates—releasing the proper amount of elements needed. The blocks will not overdose.
Dosing pumps are more exact than blocks and will slowly dose exactly what you want in the desired amounts.
Neptune,
Hydros , and
Milwaukee have dosers that can be set to add specific amounts of any desired additive. Dosing pumps can also dose freshwater additives such as Seachem Flourish, Seachem Advance, and Seachem Excel.
TOTAL CONTROL![]()
You can have a feeder, light timer, ATO, and doser and still not have real peace of mind. If your aquarium investment is in the thousands, perhaps it’s time for the next level—
Hydros Control or the
Hydros Control X3 Starter Pack: Aquarium Monitoring AND
Security System w/ 4-Outlet Power Strip.
Hydros Control X3 Starter Pack Capabilities:
1.
pH. The
Hydros Control X3 Starter Pack detects when the pH is out of range. With the Starter Pack, you could turn off a calcium reactor or dosing pump remotely to get the pH back in range.
2.
Temperature. The
Hydros Control X3 Starter Pack detects when the temperature is out of range.
With the Starter Pack, you can remotely turn off a malfunctioning heater or chiller to help bring the temperature back into range.3.
Leaks. You could get a
Point Leak Sensoralong with a Starter Pack to detect leaks and control equipment.For more information about the Hydros Control products, please visit our
Hydros Page.
POWER OUTAGESPower outages caused by bad weather, car accidents, tripped breakers, or simply poor wiring can kill all the animals in your tank in a matter of hours. What if you’re on vacation when there is a power outage? Please read our “
Preparing Your Aquarium For A Power Outage” article on this subject. The article discusses backup batteries and air pumps.
REDUNDANCYWhat if a
heater or
pump fails while on vacation? Think about redundancy.
Using more than one heater is advisable because heaters can fail; having a backup will keep your tank temperature from fluctuating wildly if one fails. Heater failure can be either a heater not turning off or a heater not turning on. Both are problems, but usually a heater that won't turn off is a bigger problem, as it can cause the tank to overheat. If you have two 100W heaters, and one does not turn off, then the other should not turn on, and your tank should not overheat. If, on the other hand, you just had one 200W heater and it didn't turn off, that could spell disaster.
All aquariums should also have multiple pumps. All pumps will eventually fail, and it may happen when you’re on vacation. Using multiple circulation pumps to create wave action is a good practice. If you have a main system return pump, using additional circulation pumps is also a good practice and provides redundancy if one pump fails.
All these arguments for redundancy while on vacation also apply when you’re not on vacation. Pump and heater failure can cause damage in just a couple of hours.
2. HAVE SOMEONE ON CALLIf you are away for an extended period, it is a good idea to have someone on call in case of an emergency. You can hire a general house sitter, but it is often a good idea to have an aquarium-keeping friend or a local aquarium service tech on call. With some more complicated aquariums, you might need someone to feed frozen fish food or clean the protein skimmer cup once you are gone. Even if nothing goes wrong, it is good to have someone to call just in case. It is often ideal if you can work out a tank-sitting swap with another aquarium keeper. You can each be on call when the other is away.
3. LABEL ALL OF YOUR GEARYou might know what all of your gear is and where it is, but to a non-aquarist, the inside of your aquarium cabinet just looks like a science experiment. Using a label maker to help a non-aquarist identify the filter, UV sterilizer, ATO reservoir, etc., is very helpful in an emergency when you are trying to give instructions over the phone from far away. It is also good to label the receptacles on your power strips so that anyone can quickly find which cord to unplug to turn something off.
4. MAKE SURE EQUIPMENT IS WORKINGMaking sure that your light screens and pumps are clean, plumbing isn’t clogged, filter media is fresh, dosing lines aren’t clogged, UV bulbs are still working, probes are calibrated, sensors are cleaned, etc., will help ensure nothing goes wrong when you are away. If something is going to stop working, you don’t want it to happen while you aren’t there. Staying on top of regular equipment maintenance will help prevent failures while you are away.
5. MAKE NO CHANGES RIGHT BEFORE YOU LEAVEA common mistake is cleaning everything the night before leaving on a long trip. There is nothing wrong with cleaning, but sometimes you might not screw the reactor lid shut all the way, accidentally bump a probe out of the water, or forget to plug something back in. When you are home, you notice your mistakes, but when you leave, these mistakes can go unnoticed for a long time and cause real problems. We suggest completing your preparatory maintenance at least 24 hours before you leave, so you can be sure everything is running correctly.
In addition to doing no last-minute maintenance, we suggest adding no new fish or corals, and no new equipment. You don’t want a disease outbreak or an aggression battle to start while you are away, and you want to ensure the equipment is a good fit for your tank before you walk away for a prolonged time. If you want to add automation to the tank, such as an auto feeder or ATO, we suggest setting it up a week before so you can confirm it is functioning properly. Miss-adjusting an auto feeder so it feeds a little too much can mean returning to a really messy and dirty tank after your trip.
With saltwater aquariums and tanks with larger fish that require more protein, we recommend using an 
A dosing block is the simplest choice. 
You can have a feeder, light timer, ATO, and doser and still not have real peace of mind. If your aquarium investment is in the thousands, perhaps it’s time for the next level—