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Hopefully, the tank will look exactly like this when we return from our trip. |
Every time I start planning a
vacation, the first thing I think of is the tank. I stress that something terrible will happen while we’re away and we’ll come home to an empty tank and a wet floor. Or a tank full of dead fish and coral. Saltwater tanks are just so darn touchy, and I have a very active imagination.
So as we creep closer to our upcoming wedding and honeymoon in Hawaii this September, which will have us traveling for close to three weeks, I’ve started creating my “tank-sitting” master plan. We’re really lucky to have a good friend who not only is willing to watch the tank for us, but puts up with my anal-retentive tank instructions. I write out a checklist (complete with little boxes for him to check off) that includes each item I’d like our sitter to do every day that we will be gone. Did I mention the list breaks the days down into a.m. and p.m.? (I’m so embarrassed!)
Every day includes the basics, such as feeding the fish, adding our two-part and top-off water, double-checking the temperature and using the Mag-Float on the glass. Since we’ll be gone so long, we’ll also ask him to test the salinity of the water weekly (with our refractometer) and do a water change about midway through the vacation.
Our sitter isn’t a fishkeeper himself, but he has a pretty solid head on his shoulders and he knows about the sensitivity of the tank and its inhabitants. I feel pretty lucky to have him because I have heard some major horror stories from reefkeepers who asked a friend to watch the tank and returned home to a complete disaster.
The first time we had our friend watch the tank, we walked him through the routine, showing him where everything was, how it all worked and how to troubleshoot if any of the equipment started acting up. We also always leave the phone number of the nearest fish store so he can call them (if he can’t reach us on our cell phones) in an emergency (knock on wood, this has not happened yet!).
Even with all this prep, I hate leaving the tank. Our friend teases me about my worrying. He always jokes, “If anything goes wrong, I won’t bother you on vacation. You’ll just show up back home and find a dry tank with a turtle inside.” (As if that is funny in any way! Eeek!)
Don’t get me wrong, I am looking forward to a three-week vacation in paradise, but I think in the back of my head, I will worry just a tiny bit every day we’re away from the tank. And I’ll breathe a big sigh of relief when I get home and see happy fish -- not a turtle -- inside.
If you would like to get a maintenance log for yourself, download one here.
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