How to find pond-savvy House-sitters, Carlsbad CA

[Criscar]

Happy weekend!

I am going to be out of town at the end of the summer for 2.5 weeks, and was wondering what you all do with your ponds when you go out of town? In theory, benign neglect for that time shouldn’t be a big deal, but given how small my pond is, if there were a power outage, pump failure, or a clogged bog, it could cause significant problems left unattended for that long. Do you all have friends who can check in on your pond, or do you hire a pond company, or do you just try to teach a pet sitter the ins and outs (we have other pets, also)?

 

[addy1]

I use cams to watch mine. Have a neighbor I call to come over and fix. I can walk her around the ponds telling her what to check.

Now I have a water system I can turn on via a app on my phone if water needs added.

Ow just walk away.

 

[Hound Heaven]

I've considered that as well, so far I've got a cam that allows me to monitor things. Step two would be to call my neighbor.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

Generally I have to have a pet (dog) sitter come stay at the house, so she is also in charge of collecting mail, watering plants, feeding fish, checking/emptying skimmer baskets, watching pond water levels, etc...

In the past when my dogs have gone to stay elsewhere (at a pet sitter's home) I have solicited the help of a nearby neighbor to stop by daily to check on the pond & feed the fish (also bring in the mail)

I am not comfortable leaving things unattended for days on end. I couldn't enjoy my vacation if I was constantly worried about some random problem happening at home with the pond (or whatever) so it's worth my peace of mind to have someone here at least once daily to make sure things are running smoothly.

 

[SarahT]

I have a neighbor who stops by and is under instructions, "DON'T PANIC! Just send me a message and I'll walk you through anything that needs fixing." For 25+ years, I travelled weekly for business, and only had one call and no fish were lost. (I'm relatively new to Florida, so "we" haven't been through a hurricane test scenario.) The 3 things I stress are 1) Don't stress, 2) if you add water, add conditioner, 3) don't over feed the fish.
I'd think a pet sitter can learn the basics (leave it in writing). Are all your pond hoses within the liner so any loosened connecions don't result in pond drain and your pump off the bottom of the pond?
Good luck (refer to #1: don't stress)

 

[Bluerooster]

First thing written in the HitchHikers Guide is: "DON'T PANIC".

 

[GBBUDD]

I use cams to watch mine. Have a neighbor I call to come over and fix. I can walk her around the ponds telling her what to check.

Now I have a water system I can turn on via a app on my phone if water needs added.

Ow just walk away.

ok what is this product you found"?

 

[GBBUDD]

I designed my pond when i built it to be self sustaining i walk away for a month without a worry. i maybe naive but so far so good

 

[Jhn]

Same as @GBBUDD designed the pond so it is fine if I am out of town for awhile. Helps that both of us have large ponds with multiple bogs as well.

Agree, you are better off under feeding or not feeding than overfeeding. Have yet to have an issue in all the years I have been keeping ponds and fish in aquariums. But usually problems occur when the pet sitter over feeds. What I usually do for my reef tanks is break the daily feedings down into ziploc bags, and then there is no chance of the tank being over fed. My ponds I just tell who is taking care of things, to just enjoy them nothing needs to be done For its inhabitants.

 

[GBBUDD]

So true regarding when a pet sitter helped out was there a problem. I lived in a condo year and years ago had a reef aquarium. Asked sis inlaw if it got hot just turn on the Window air conditioner to the room. She couldn't find it there was five windows in the entire condo. Came home 2 weeks latter to low tide in my place every coral was dead cost me thousands. Hind sight turn the ac on and leave it on. The heater would have balance the tank out.

 

[Jhn]

@GBBUDD yeah, that is a pain, have lost coral and fish from others taking care of stuff for me too. Even now, with my current reef tank the electrician even though I told him to run the outlets to this tank on their own circuit he was lazy and didn’t. So I have to watch where others plug stuff in at near the tank.

Keep telling myself I need to remedy that, but have yet to do it. Really should do it especially now that the coral in the tank are taking off and have some expensive fish in there.

 

[GBBUDD]

@Jhn that one coral was amazing I'd be so bummed if I lost that. Could you run a new wire to the other outlet or two. Disconnect the feed from the tank? Or even just remove the duplex outlet all together and blank plate it.

 

[Jhn]

@Jhn that one coral was amazing I'd be so bummed if I lost that. Could you run a new wire to the other outlet or two. Disconnect the feed from the tank? Or even just remove the duplex outlet all together and blank plate it.

Yeah am thinking about that wiring options, too. Thanks on the compliments on the coral, that thing has gotten huge now, am going to have to start pruning it back soon it is only inches away from contacting the front glass in the tank. The other corals in the tank have taken off to, creating mini colonies, as well.

 

[GBBUDD]

I'd say take a pic but I'll have to leave it up to my imagination.

But one thing I would do I place a small rock against it and have it grow into before you cut it back and then sell it.

 

[Jhn]

I'd say take a pic but I'll have to leave it up to my imagination.

But one thing I would do I place a small rock against it and have it grow into before you cut it back and then sell it.

Would need to clean the front glass too, so ….. actually could take a pic from top down. Coral shots usually look better that way anyhow.