Holiday-Proof Your Planted Tank
Holidays are great, but when you’re going to be away from home for an extended time you need to make sure your planted aquarium will survive your absence!
There’s a lot of things that need to be holiday-proof – your equipment, your plants and your livestock and everything that goes into keeping them in top shape. Let’s have a look at what needs to be done when you’re heading away.
Filter & Water
If you haven’t done so in a while, now is a good time to give your filtration a clean to make sure it’s running smoothly while you’re away and also to keep organic waste levels down. After all, you won’t be around to do water changes! Speaking of which, performing a 50% water change with siphoning of detritus before going on your holiday is recommended to keep organic waste levels to a minimum.
Power
Unless something goes terribly wrong, leaks are not likely to happen. But it is still a good idea to make sure any power cables from equipment have a “drip loop” – that is, the cord should dip down before coming back up to the power point. That way if any water drips down the cable, it will end up on the floor and not in your power point.
It’s also worthwhile checking to see if there are any planned power outages in your area scheduled for while you are away, and how long they’re going to go for. If the outage is just for a few hours it shouldn’t cause any major problems. However, if the outage is scheduled to last for a full day or longer you might want to consider setting up a battery backup or similar option for your filtration.
Air Pump
If you’re using an air pump in your aquarium and you haven’t installed a check valve on the air hose – now is the time to do it. Without a check valve, during a power outage water will siphon out of your airline, back into the air pump (if it’s lower than your aquarium, that is). It will keep on siphoning until it reaches the level of the hose in your aquarium. The last thing you want is to have a power outage while you’re away and your tank empties out half of its volume onto your floor!
CO2
The only thing you need to do with your CO2, if you’re using a pressurised system, is make sure your cylinder has enough CO2 left in it to keep going while you’re away. You don’t want to reduce the amount of CO2 injection as this will create instability that will stress your plants and lead to algae blooms – not a fun sight to return to. Check your solenoid system is still good while you’re at it. You can’t be too careful!
Lighting
First up, your aquarium light should be on a timer. If it isn’t, set one up now.
Second, you should reduce the intensity of your light. If it’s dimmable, great! Otherwise you can raise the light higher which should also reduce intensity. If you can’t do either of these, just reduce the photoperiod on your timer to 6 hours.
The reason for reducing the intensity of your lighting is to slow down plant growth while you’re away. This will help ensure your plants don’t get overgrown. Overgrown plants can cause water circulation issues and cast shade over smaller/lower plants like carpeting species, causing potential growth problems or die-offs.
Plants
Speaking of plants, if you’re running a tank with a lot of fast growing species, and especially if you’re using pressurised CO2 with intense lighting, it’s a really good idea to perform a big trim and replant of your stems before going on holiday. They’ll regrow while you’re away so you can come home to a lovely, lush tank, just as you left it!
Automation
If you’re going away on holiday for more than 2 weeks, you might want to look into automating other aspects of your aquarium other than your lighting.
There are auto fish feeders and auto fertiliser dosers readily available that can ensure your fish and plants are well-fed over the course of your holiday.
Auto water top-off systems (either bought or DIY) are also an option for longer holidays to make sure your water levels never get too low. You wouldn’t want a heater to be exposed, and lower water levels can also lead to filter outputs splashing at the surface, reducing CO2 levels through off gassing. Covering the tank with a lid will also slow down evaporation to keep water levels higher for longer.
Of course, if you have a mate or family member that can drop in to feed the fish, dose ferts and top up the water, that’s even easier! Just make sure you leave detailed instructions (and maybe pre-measure the food and ferts for them!).
Holidays are great, but when you’re going to be away from home for an extended time you need to make sure your planted aquarium will survive your absence!
There’s a lot of things that need to be holiday-proof – your equipment, your plants and your livestock and everything that goes into keeping them in top shape. Let’s have a look at what needs to be done when you’re heading away.
Filter & Water
If you haven’t done so in a while, now is a good time to give your filtration a clean to make sure it’s running smoothly while you’re away and also to keep organic waste levels down. After all, you won’t be around to do water changes! Speaking of which, performing a 50% water change with siphoning of detritus before going on your holiday is recommended to keep organic waste levels to a minimum.
Power
Unless something goes terribly wrong, leaks are not likely to happen. But it is still a good idea to make sure any power cables from equipment have a “drip loop” – that is, the cord should dip down before coming back up to the power point. That way if any water drips down the cable, it will end up on the floor and not in your power point.
It’s also worthwhile checking to see if there are any planned power outages in your area scheduled for while you are away, and how long they’re going to go for. If the outage is just for a few hours it shouldn’t cause any major problems. However, if the outage is scheduled to last for a full day or longer you might want to consider setting up a battery backup or similar option for your filtration.
Air Pump
If you’re using an air pump in your aquarium and you haven’t installed a check valve on the air hose – now is the time to do it. Without a check valve, during a power outage water will siphon out of your airline, back into the air pump (if it’s lower than your aquarium, that is). It will keep on siphoning until it reaches the level of the hose in your aquarium. The last thing you want is to have a power outage while you’re away and your tank empties out half of its volume onto your floor!
CO2
The only thing you need to do with your CO2, if you’re using a pressurised system, is make sure your cylinder has enough CO2 left in it to keep going while you’re away. You don’t want to reduce the amount of CO2 injection as this will create instability that will stress your plants and lead to algae blooms – not a fun sight to return to. Check your solenoid system is still good while you’re at it. You can’t be too careful!
Lighting
First up, your aquarium light should be on a timer. If it isn’t, set one up now.
Second, you should reduce the intensity of your light. If it’s dimmable, great! Otherwise you can raise the light higher which should also reduce intensity. If you can’t do either of these, just reduce the photoperiod on your timer to 6 hours.
The reason for reducing the intensity of your lighting is to slow down plant growth while you’re away. This will help ensure your plants don’t get overgrown. Overgrown plants can cause water circulation issues and cast shade over smaller/lower plants like carpeting species, causing potential growth problems or die-offs.
Plants
Speaking of plants, if you’re running a tank with a lot of fast growing species, and especially if you’re using pressurised CO2 with intense lighting, it’s a really good idea to perform a big trim and replant of your stems before going on holiday. They’ll regrow while you’re away so you can come home to a lovely, lush tank, just as you left it!
Automation
If you’re going away on holiday for more than 2 weeks, you might want to look into automating other aspects of your aquarium other than your lighting.
There are auto fish feeders and auto fertiliser dosers readily available that can ensure your fish and plants are well-fed over the course of your holiday.
Auto water top-off systems (either bought or DIY) are also an option for longer holidays to make sure your water levels never get too low. You wouldn’t want a heater to be exposed, and lower water levels can also lead to filter outputs splashing at the surface, reducing CO2 levels through off gassing. Covering the tank with a lid will also slow down evaporation to keep water levels higher for longer.
Of course, if you have a mate or family member that can drop in to feed the fish, dose ferts and top up the water, that’s even easier! Just make sure you leave detailed instructions (and maybe pre-measure the food and ferts for them!).
