Getting my reef "Parent Ready"

[Formerly Freshwater]

Hey everyone, I'm currently a senior in high school and I'll be leaving for college in Florida in about 6 months. My parents have expressed interest in keeping my reef running while I'm away, and I'm looking for some advice on how to make it as easy as possible for them to do so.

I already plan on adding a 5 gallon half-calc reservoir for an ATO system, and am also saving up for a set of Hana digital meters to make testing easier for them. I'll be staying in regular communication with them at college, but there's only so much I can do from 900 odd miles away. What can I do to make keeping the reef as easy as possible for them while staying on a part timer's budget?

 

Tank Specs

Lightly stocked Mixed Reef (LPS, Softies, toying with the idea of a small Birds nest SPS)

65 Gallon (36x18x25)

Lighting - Evergrow IT2060

Filtration - CPR HOB Sump, Fluval 306 (carbon only), Marineland C220 (clearmax [GFO?] only)

Skimmer - Reef Octopus BH1000 HOB skimmer

Heater - Aqueon PRO 250w

(No pictures right now. Sorry!)

Edited February 16, 2016 by Formerly Freshwater

[Anemone]

I commend you for the foresight to be starting this now. It might help to post your current feeding and maintenance routines so people can comment on how to simplify things for your parents.

[Squishie89]

My only thoughts are to possibly add a controller and/or a webcam. I know both of these for me have been huge lifesavers.

[YHSublime]

With only LPS and softies, you shouldn't have a lot to worry about.

 

Do you have a RO/DI? I would make sure they understand how to use that first, so they can make water, and understand the importance of having water on hand. They should know how to mix salt, and measure specific gravity, so a walk through with your refractometer and mixing is your first step.

 

Your light should be programmable, so that's covered.

 

What are you doing for top off now? You said your saving for an ATO container, but do you have an ATO already? If you're getting a 5 gallon, why not use a $3 5 gallon bucket from Home Depot? Explain top off water vs. water change water.

 

Explain your skimmer, how it works, what it does. Maybe have them empty your skimmer cup and clean it and assemble again. See if they still are game!

 

Show them how to change out the carbon, if you're planning on running it. Also, the rinsing process, and all that fun stuff.

 

Start showing them now, have them get involved with you with the tank maintenance, it'll be easier to explain while you're doing it and showing them. They may decide it's more trouble than they wanted to go through, or they might get super into it. Watch, you'll come home and you'll have an SPS stocked tank and they'll be dosing :P

[Origami]

The perfect person to comment on this is L8 2 Rise (Sam). He was in the very same situation a few years ago.

[Jon Lazar]

First of all, congratulations on heading off to college!

 

Now for your reef tank.  Are your parents genuinely keen to do this, do they really understand what goes into keeping a tank, and do they have the skills to fix things? 

 

I mean, beyond all the routine maintenance like feeding, cleaning the tank, cleaning the skimmer, filling the ATO, making water and doing water changes, changing media, and adding supplements?  There's a lot of "unplanned maintenance" that we aquarists see as little things, but may be daunting for your parents.  Regluing corals when they fall over.  Demineralizing powerhead impellers or replacing powerheads altogether.  Replacing a burned out bulb.  Fixing a leaky pipe fitting.  Noticing that the skimmer airline is restricted and cleaning or replacing it.  Drilling out your skimmer venturi.  There's all kinds of stuff that goes wrong over a semester, but needs to be fixed right away.

 

If you think this might be at the edge of their skill set, you could look at simplifying the tank.  Stick with soft corals and easy lps.  Makes everything much easier.  Then if they get the bug, start branching out into harder corals as they become more experienced...the same sort of advice we'd give a newbie.

Edited February 16, 2016 by Jon Lazar

[Anemone]

Maybe get them signed up for WAMAS membership?

Edited February 16, 2016 by Anemone

[Formerly Freshwater]

Thanks for all the advice! Here's the current maintenance/feeding schedule as u/Anemone asked for:

 

Feeding - (alternating days) 1 cube of PE Mysis or 1 pinch of New Life their A+ marine pellet

 

Maitenance -

(daily) make sure everything is running

(every other day) empty skimmer cup

(Bi-weekly) check Calc and Alk, dose as needed

(Weekly) dose trace and essential elements, wipe off light, WATER CHANGE-10 GALLONS

(Monthly) replace filter carbon and Clearmax(GFO?), cut back 'Fuge macro, clean inside of skimmer cup

(as needed) clean Powerhead and pumps, scrape tank glass, top off RO reservoir

Edited February 17, 2016 by Formerly Freshwater

[L8 2 RISE]

I was in the same situation almost 5 years ago although you're lucky because my parents didn't express interest in keeping a tank going.  It was more from coercion on my part 

 

 

 

When I first went off to college, I broke down my 160 and put a few of my favorite frags/fish into an 11.4 gallon that would be easy for my mom to take care of.  The thread for that is here: http://wamas.org/forums/topic/43617-sams-rimless-114-gallon-led-nano/.

 

 

My mom ended up kind of liking the reef and so we upgraded to a 57 gallon seen here: http://wamas.org/forums/topic/57917-sam-and-his-moms-57g-rimless/.  I put A LOT of work and thought into this build in order for it to be easy to maintain.  Biggest thing  MAKE WATER CHANGES EASY.  You can read about how I did that in my build, but basically my mom just has to roll out a hose and flip a switch.

 

 

Other suggestions:

 

- Ditch the testing (aside from salinity).  When I tried to have my mom do this it almost pushed her over the edge because there was "too much going on".  It really isn't necessary and my mom has successfully kept two mostly sps reefs without it.  

 

 

- Ditch the reactors and dosing, it's not necessary (see above).  Have Chemipure or ClearFX Pro on hand and teach them how to put it in for emergencies.  

 

 

- Get a DJ Board and label it so that turning things on and off is very easy.

 

- Make friends with aquarists who live near to you before you head off to school.  Have their number on hand in case your parents need help or something major goes wrong.

 

- Spend a lot of time and thought designing your system so that nothing major will go wrong.  I follow the method of spending a lot of time, thought, and effort up front on my systems so that they are very simple and easy to maintain later.

 

- Have your parents send you pictures of the tank every once in a while.  You will likely be able to see how everything is doing better than they will.

 

Good luck!  Read through my threads and others to see if they give you any ideas.