Gone For A Week

[Musho3210]

Well, for christmas break we are probably going to minnesota, so we will be gone for a week. I know freshwater fish can go fine without food or stuff like that for a week, but what about saltwater? Should i do anything? Auto-feeders (obviously highest quality one i can find)? I have an ATO already, so thats taken care of, as well as light timers. Main thing im worries about is food, will they do fine without food for a week? I have a low pod population, i never see any.

2 clowns
1 yellow watchman goby
2 cleaner shrimp
1 pistol shrimp
20 gallon tank, quite a few different types of corals and a clam.

 

[allyharvell]

hi i had no worry about leaving my trop tank with a feeder etc in there for a week and had no probs from it, however my marin etank im not risking. My local fish shop will mind your fish for you wheb you go away obviously he charges. But it has to be worthwhile, maybe yours could fish sit? Im in UK so dont know if US do this or not, but I go to Portugal soon and im not taking the risk a lot of fish are too fragile for my liking for temp to drop, heaters to pack up so SG and PH etc start to change and fish die! nope not leaving mine on its own. Chances are it would b fine especially if its very stable but a power cut or anything could really do some damage

 

[chrissaysyes]

I have a lot of girls who crush on my dog so I agree to let them puppy sit while I'm away if they feed the big tank downstairs. Theyre always willing to feed the nemos when I'm away

Noone you would trust to leave a key under the mat for?

 

[Musho3210]

nope, im not worried about anything except feeding, one question, will they be ok without food for a week?

 

[SkiFletch]

A week is pushin it. 3-4 days is usually not a problem but after a week, fish will get weak, nippy, and aggressive towards each other... All opening the door for infection. An auto-feeder or someone to drop by even once or twice to feed would be the way to go. You can find the re-badged eheim autofeeders for pretty cheap out there

 

[sophos9]

Do you like Sushi?

 

[chrissaysyes]

Seriously, auto-feeders are cheap

 

[1entra]

Yea I wouldnt take the chance and get an auto-feeder so at least they wont starve as a week is pushing it!

 

[Musho3210]

Seriously, auto-feeders are cheap

something as serious as autofeeders failing, bateries rotting in tank, food clumping, putting out too much, tank crashing, there is no way i am going to get a cheap auto-feeder. I got myself a 50 dollar ehiem air auto feeder. Great reviews and not so much failing stories.

Never skimp on your aquarium products.... Is what i say.

 

[chrissaysyes]

You only need it for a week...this is also coming from the same guy who suggested not feeding at all for a week. A failing auto-feeder is better than no feeding at all.

 

[SkiFletch]

Musho, there is a "knockoff" of that eheim model thats about $15 cheaper that the owner of my LFS turned me on-to. We put the two together side-by-side, even disassembled them and looked at their components. Only difference we noted was that there was no "Eheim" label on the knockoff. Food for thought for anyone else looking for a temporary solution.

 

[1entra]

Musho, there is a "knockoff" of that eheim model thats about $15 cheaper that the owner of my LFS turned me on-to. We put the two together side-by-side, even disassembled them and looked at their components. Only difference we noted was that there was no "Eheim" label on the knockoff. Food for thought for anyone else looking for a temporary solution.

Yea I totally agree, sometimes unnamed brands work just as well as if not better than expensive brands. Its just that the more expensive ones have an established brand name and that is all you sometimes end up buying for all the extra money you spend!

 

[Musho3210]

You only need it for a week...this is also coming from the same guy who suggested not feeding at all for a week. A failing auto-feeder is better than no feeding at all.

Hearing some stories, i really beg to differ.... Falling in the tank with bateries, poisonous battery fluids in the tank, rusting bateries, killing everything, over feeding, bad water params, crashed tank, clumped food, nothing comes out, starved fish, there we go... another bad thing.

Sure there are knockoffs, and i didnt know that they were made exactly the same, but even if i did, i would still get the ehiem, it may not be a good thing in some cases but i lay my hands on and pay trusted companies. No knock-offs for me, closest thing i get to a knockoff is a second hand....

There are plenty of knock offs of deltec skimmers and such, almost exactly the same, if not exactly the same, but people trust and only buy deltec....

 

[andywg]

I wouldn't worry about it for a week. My reef has gone for a week without food at least 2 or 3 times since early summer.