Tank Sitting Compensation Recommendations

[Activeangel]

Hello Everyone,

I, like most of you I assume, leave on vacation sometimes and usually will ask a friend to watch my tank(s) for me. For example, right now I am out of town for 10 days and my neighbor/friend is watching my tank. The purpose for this, is that while I may have been strapped financially in the past, it would be nice to have a reference or a standard on which to pay friends in the future.

If you've ever asked someone to do this, how much did you pay/compensate them for their help? Perhaps provide some basic info to put it in perspective for other reefers. I'll make a immediate post under this with a couple of my past experiences.

Tank Size:
Vacation Length:
How often did you ask they feed the tank:
Water Changes (Y/N):
Skimmer Cleaning (Y/N):
Did any emergencies happen?:
Did anything significant die:
Relation to Tank Sitter (Friend, BestFriend, Family, Neighbor, Coworker, etc):
Total Compensation/Pay:

 

[Activeangel]

Tank Size: 75g
Vacation Length: 3 weeks
How often did you ask they feed the tank: every other day
Water Changes (Y/N): no
Skimmer Cleaning (Y/N): yes
Did any emergencies happen?: yes; ATO failed, requiring emergency water change (while I calculated the salinity to balance the tank)
Did anything significant die: no
Relation to Tank Sitter (Friend, BestFriend, Family, Neighbor, Coworker, etc): Friend, and convenient Neighbor
Total Compensation/Pay: $100 and gifts from my travels
--
Tank Size: 75g
Vacation Length: 10 days
How often did you ask they feed the tank: every other day
Water Changes (Y/N): no
Skimmer Cleaning (Y/N): no
Did any emergencies happen?: no
Did anything significant die: no
Relation to Tank Sitter (Friend, BestFriend, Family, Neighbor, Coworker, etc): nieghbor and friend
Total Compensation/Pay: Dinner and Beer

 

[Mjl714]

Tank Size: 75g (2), + 20g
Vacation Length: 2 weeks
How often did you ask they feed the tank: every other day
Water Changes (Y/N): no
Skimmer Cleaning (Y/N): no
Did any emergencies happen?: no
Did anything significant die: no
Relation to Tank Sitter neighbor and friend
Total Compensation/Pay: Favor returned, we feed and care for their animals and house

 

[Sawdonkey]

Good thread! I generally don't leave for more than 10 days at a time, but I'll go. I usually just try to get away with having nobody stop by, but i put someone "on call." Then I put my webcam on my tank so I can check in. The biggest thing that could go wrong is that my ATO gets messed up and I need someone to go over and reset it. I just fill my Brute can with 45 gal of kalk and that will last about 12 days in winter, longer in summer.

For compensation, I've had my neighbor who knows nothin about aquariums feed my tank a few times and I usually just buy him a nice six pack. If I have someone that actually knows what they're doing and has a tank, I'll throw them some frags.

As far as having someone do water changes or even dump my skimmer cup, no way! I don't trust anyone with my tank and it can run itself for 10-12 days.

 

[#theMatrix]

Yea. Basically gunner said it.
Some tanks can autopilot. I keep it on auto pilot on vacay also webcam on...set up an auto feeder to feed twice daily and only worry about the ATO as well.

I keep my brother in law on call and mostly only does a ATO container swap(i leave two 5gal containers next to each other he just has to swap the cap that has the hose and place it on the other container.)
The skimmer has an autodrain line to a collection containee that when 1st set up tweeked it and overfilled twice, user error. I dont dump the container.
But if your planning your vacay ahead...ill usually do my maintenance couple days prior to leaving.

Kinda started rambling there.

 

[Irsug1]

I paid my neighbors kid 10 bucks a day. 3 tanks, feed fish 2x per day and empty skimmer, change socks and ato jugs as needed.

 

[Activeangel]

Great responses! I'm glad to see that I'm not alone here... especially when it comes to repaying the favor with drinks!

Sawdonkey; Great idea in passing them a few frags for their help!
theMatrix; No worries about rambling. lol. It's good to get everyones feedback. I also like to do a big water change 1 day before I leave (as well as it's normal automation for about 2 weeks without need for supervision).

Nonetheless, I still like to have a person to be there just in case. And I hope to see more input about what people have paid others to watch their tanks; both on the high end and low end.

 

[enzo1028]

Tank Size: 60g
Vacation Length: 1 week
How often did you ask they feed the tank: every other day
Water Changes (Y/N): no
Skimmer Cleaning (Y/N): no
Did any emergencies happen?: no
Did anything significant die: no
Relation to Tank Sitter friend who lives near me
Total Compensation/Pay: Case of beer