Long time between water changes.

kuatto · #1 06-26-2005, 05:43 PM

I am leaving for a month with my job and was wondering if the tank would be ok for water change untill I get back?My wife will be tending to day to day maintaince such as water top-off,filter cleaning and feedings,but she might have a problem hauling 5 gal pails of water around.I normally do a 5 gallon change every 2 weeks so was wondering what effects another 2 weeks would have on the tank.The tank is mostly softies and lots of zoos.I don't like the idea of leaving the tank for this long,but have no choice(I just love the military

)

SeaHorse_Fanatic · #2 06-26-2005, 05:59 PM

Should be no problem at all (every 2 weeks is much more frequent than I do

). Just make sure it's topped up when the summer heat hits so you don't get a salinity spike. If you're really worried, do a 10g water change just before you leave & another when you get back to boost your trace minerals.

JMO & JME,

Anthony

Johnny Reefer · #3 06-26-2005, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeaHorse_Fanatic

Should be no problem at all (every 2 weeks is much more frequent than I do

). Just make sure it's topped up when the summer heat hits so you don't get a salinity spike. If you're really worried, do a 10g water change just before you leave & another when you get back to boost your trace minerals.

JMO & JME,

Anthony

I agree. My work takes me away from home frequently, although I've been on holidays lately and it's been awhile since I was gone.
Anyway, I got into reefkeeping with the assumption that being gone for 4 weeks would be okay. Although, I've been gone only once since I set up the tank, everything went fine and the salinity did not rise nearly as much as I thought it would.
Do the water change before you go and after you get back and maybe your wife could just top up with freshwater, at the very least, while you are gone.

Good luck.

doch · #4 06-26-2005, 08:16 PM

No worries. I only do monthly water changes, and have no problems. Of course I do larger changes... like about 15-20%.

Beverly · #5 06-26-2005, 10:04 PM

As long as Karen doesn't overfeed and tops up daily, your tank should be okay. When you come home, though, do a large water change and test/adjust your water chemistry.