180g Tank Build - 11 mos. and counting.

Forgot to mention - my anthias are not on pellet food and so far only take frozen options. I've left them for up to a week in the past and they've fed themselves with what comes out of the fuge. I'm interested in learning what's common for a vacation feeding/cleaning/maint/water param check schedule.

Not to sound mean but the first thing you need to do is accept the fact that you might lose your whole tank. Once you get past that point its time to figure out how to minimize the damage....

I would start by getting some small snack baggies, cups etc... and rationing food for 8 weeks to keep in the freezer. Then I would figure out how much water evaporation you have per day, then get some containers to hold ro/di water. That or put a tape line on the sump for a fill level. Now I would find a neighbor or friend who lives close by, and have them come over and watch you feed and top off the water. Before you leave do a huge water change and clean everything. Now hide all your scrapers, saltwater etc.. Only leave what is needed for the tank to survive. Sure when you come home the glass will be covered in alage, the water will most likely need another huge water change but if your sitter only feeds and waters your tank most likely it will survive. By having someone close they don't have to travel as far and more likely to do it, and if the power goes out they can call for instructions.

That or have the tank maintenance company watch it.

I would say get you some type of controller such as a reefkeeper elite (what I use) for your lights, temp monitor, all that fun stuff assuming you go with relatives that live an hours away (saves them from having to come and turn lights on and off and babysit to watch for temp spikes) them they just have to feed and top off daily which is only about 30 minutes worth of work if they take their time and before you go teach them what they need to know. otherwise a reputable company sounds good just i would feel weird giving a stranger a key to my house but thats just me. do you have any neighbors that you trust nearby or friends?

As cyano said, i would recommend getting the tank on a controller if it is not already, if you can add an online setup it would be even better,you could check up on it yourself, I would also recommend getting a larger RODI reservoir.

Do you have anyone who would not mind checking the tank every 2 days? neighbor, friend ,co-worker, LFS worker? If you did that would be ideal, you could portion out the food in plastic cups in the freezer. You can tell them if anything looks, smells or sounds different just call the tank maintenance company, they could also use your mag float to entertain themselves
That being said I would still have the maintenance company come every 2 or 3 weeks to fill your FW reservoir, clean the skimmer cup and take care of any levels needing to be adjusted…that sorta stuff

also what i plan on doing when i go on vacation is buying a wireless network webcam that can be viewed from another computer or iphone so i can always see my tank and sump

Oh - those are some good tips. I have a hard time asking a friend or neighbor to look at things because I don't know my neighbors well enough to impose and all of my friends live 15 mins away or more - it's a pain in the rear for them. Maybe I can put a couple of them on rotation or something... Having the pro company come every so often anyway is a good suggestion. I do have a 5 gal ro/di res that is automatically filled each night. I like the idea of the webcam and I do have a controller with the option of displaying the limited params online - haven't set it up, but it would be a good idea. Thanks for the input!