lr questions

[Nano_Steve]

hey gang,

i am planning on leaving soon to go to mexico for a month and a half and wanted to ask some questions. im leaving the tanks in my landlord's care and i have planned to make it as absolutely simple as possible so she can't kill everything.

what i have planned is to set up my 18 gal tank with nothing but water in it. have my heater put into it as well as my powerhead at the bottom. i will place my powerfilter that has the caulerpa onto it as filtration even though it is not rated for that gallon capacity. what i want to do is buy some eggcrate and make a stand that will allow the crate to sit about midway height of the tank and place all of my corals on top. i also want to have the heater on for proper heating as well as having the powerhead on for extra flow(i plan to place this at the bottom pointed up throught the corals so they all grow straight up.)

my question is i only have one canopy and i plan on putting it over the corals. will i be able to get away with leaving my live rock and sand and snails and what not in the ten gallon with nothing but one of the filters i have on it right now(in otherwords no lights)??? i know the coralline will recede(sp?) but will t survive if maybe i set it near the 18 gallon so some of the light is shining on it???

thanks in advance, steve

ps if anyone else has some ideas of how to make this even more user friendly please let me know. as of right now i will need my landlord to top off the water and feed the corals once or twice a week. they are all photosynthetic corals(i traded off that way) so what do y'all think???will it work?

[Tim Marvin]

It should do fine. Why don't you want to move it to the 18 as well?

[Nano_Steve]

the reason being because i dont have the 18 drilled and i eventually want to set up the 18 to replace the 10 but i want it completely automated with a sump and refugium and everything(the pro way!)

this is just a temporary solution while i am gone so that none of the corals will touch each other and kill themselves since my LL doesnt know spuat about the tank.(funny... and im leaving such a huge investment in her care) i trust her to feed and top off though so it shouldnt be hard at all.

steve

ps tim would it be cool if you get my order from the florida guy in while i am gone to hold it for me???i can send over a 2.5 gallon tank to put them in if need be and id be happy to pay for any out of pocket for them(food, waterchange, etc.)

[Nano_Steve]

or better yet, is there a way to hold the order until i get back??? like isaid in that thread i am in no rush to get the fish but i do need to rush and get the 18 set up when i get back to house everything in.

[Nano_Steve]

yeah justin, tim had offered(thanks for the offer tim!!! youre a real bud!) but i figured i had such a butt of a time moving it just from one apartment to the new one im in now that it would be just easier for me to leave it where it is until i get back. plus i think my tiny little tank would drive someone used to larger tanks crazy as i am constantly having to rearrange so the corals dont kill each other(darn those pesky stomatellas! always knockin stuff over)lol

steve

[MikeP]

Steve if you change your mind I would behappy to tank sit for you as well.

[Gin_Tseng]

I;ve been out of town for two weeks now (with a few more days to go) and have a friend adding top off every four days and he says everything is fine. So I don;t think you have to worry too much.

[matt]

steve;

I've been in your position; going to Mexico for extended periods of time and having to leave my tank in someone else's care. I'm not sure I understand exactly what you explained you're doing, but here's what I would do in addition. 1. Make sure your landlord has a few emergency phone numbers of people you trust in your area that could come over and deal with any problems, and have someone come over a couple of times while you're gone just to check things out. 2. Buy an extra powerhead, because something they always seem to fritz out when you're gone. Clean the pumps your using really well right before you leave. 3. Mix up some extra seawater, and leave it circulating in a tub, with a heater if your place doesn't stay warm enough. Probably here, it's warm enough in the summer.

Oh yeah, there's a guy from Monterrey who's been posting recently on reefcentral. I think his recent post is something like "sump frustration" on the filtration/lights/etc forum. I'd send him an email and tell him you're coming from San Antonio for a while. Every time when i go to Mexico, I end up bringing stuff for friends there that's really easy for us to get here, but expensive or hard to find in Mexico. My guess is that if you bring him something small that he needs from a lfs, you'll make a new friend and get a few big favors in return. Who knows, maybe he has a gorgeous sister! (Actually, that might not be such a good idea) :roll:

Que tenga un buen viaje!

Matt

[Nano_Steve]

hey matt,

thanks so much for the ideas! jim norris was kind enough to offer his number to me when i was last at his house in case my LL has any concerns. i will definitely look into another powerhead as i will need it anyways whenever i get back. and i plan on keeping a 2.5 gal tank filled with salt water and an airstone and leaving my ac off after you have mentioned it now.

i think that is an absolutely wonderful idea about the man in monterrey i will have to search for him at rc and get in contact.

thanks so much for all the great ideas!!! steve

[Tim Marvin]

Steve the Florida order is on it's way tomorrow. Finally.