Going away on holiday

[F4A]

I might be going to Australia for 5 weeks at the end of this year so I am wondering what you guys do when you go away for long periods and don't have anyone to help maintain your tank. I know you can buy automatic feeders which drop food every day or so, but I am thinking more along the line of the water quality.

Any advice on this?

 

[tyspot1000]

If you are going to use an automatic feeder, make sure that you can set how much goes in each slot (to make sure that the feeder doesnt overfeed). You could always try to get someone to do it for you though (by putting portions of food in baggies.).

As far as water quality, do you happen to have a friend you can rely on to clean the tank? (make sure they know what they are doing)

 

[F4A]

If you are going to use an automatic feeder, make sure that you can set how much goes in each slot (to make sure that the feeder doesnt overfeed). You could always try to get someone to do it for you though (by putting portions of food in baggies.).

As far as water quality, do you happen to have a friend you can rely on to clean the tank? (make sure they know what they are doing)

Feeding isn't a problem, its cleaning which won't get done. Is this where carbon and ammonia remover come in handy?

 

[tyspot1000]

Carbons use is really only for removing odors that the aqaurium give off or removing meds as far as I know of.

Not sure about the ammonia remover.

 

[glassbird]

Re: automatic feeders, decide on one NOW, and hook it up to work as your only feeding method. That way you will be around to see what it is capable of, and if it causes any problems you can step in and stop it...and then try another feeder. Once you know you have a feeder that can do the job (without causing problems) for 5 weeks while you are home, you can be somewhat assured that it will work for 5 weeks while you are gone.

Re: cleaning...5 weeks is a long time...it would help to know what size tank you have, and type of filtration, and what type/how many fish you have....

 

[Welshy]

I used to use ice cubes for feeding i would put my ammount of fish food in to the empty ice cube tray fill with aquarium water and freeze then tell my mate to drop one cube in a day in the morning as the cube begins to melt the food us released

 

[F4A]

I used to use ice cubes for feeding i would put my ammount of fish food in to the empty ice cube tray fill with aquarium water and freeze then tell my mate to drop one cube in a day in the morning as the cube begins to melt the food us released

Why don't you just feed them the food directly? I don't understand why you would want to delay the food by 20 minutes?

Re: automatic feeders, decide on one NOW, and hook it up to work as your only feeding method. That way you will be around to see what it is capable of, and if it causes any problems you can step in and stop it...and then try another feeder. Once you know you have a feeder that can do the job (without causing problems) for 5 weeks while you are home, you can be somewhat assured that it will work for 5 weeks while you are gone.

Re: cleaning...5 weeks is a long time...it would help to know what size tank you have, and type of filtration, and what type/how many fish you have....

Tank is a 35L.

Fluval 105:
1 box of Fluval BioMax
1 100g bottle of SeaChem Matrix
16 API BactiStars
1 Fluval polishing pad
4 Fluval foam pads

Stock:
6 Zebra Danio
5 Guppy + Fry (amount unknown)
5 Amano Shrimp
1 Assassin Snail (yet to be purchased)

 

[Welshy]

Why don't you just feed them the food directly? I don't understand why you would want to delay the food by 20 minutes?

Tank is a 35L.

Fluval 105:
1 box of Fluval BioMax
1 100g bottle of SeaChem Matrix
16 API BactiStars
1 Fluval polishing pad
4 Fluval foam pads

Stock:
6 Zebra Danio
5 Guppy + Fry (amount unknown)
5 Amano Shrimp
1 Assassin Snail (yet to be purchased)

I was away and didn't trust my mate to feed the right ammount this way I could feed them the right amount without worrying about over feeding/ under feeding

 

[glassbird]

I like the ice cube idea! Not only does it restrict how much a "helper" can feed at one time, it also makes the food available for a longer amount of time as the cube melts, which means the fish will eat more of it, and less will go to waste and possibly screw up the tank while the owner is gone.

I read about a guy who very carefully divided multiple foods into individual baggies with dates on each baggie to indicate which day each baggie was to be emptied into the tank. But his written instructions said "take one, and empty it into the tank, once a day". Well, the helper reached OVER the dated baggies, and grabbed the original containers of food that the tank owner had removed small amounts from to put into the baggies...and emptied THOSE into the tank, instead. He did that once a day, until all the containers were gone...I think there were 5...and then called the owner to ask what he was supposed to feed on the sixth day, and by the way, why was the tank cloudy and brown?

But back to your tank and your holiday...does not seem like a heavy bio-load, but I am not familiar with that filter. I will have to let someone else step in on that.

 

[glassbird]

Wait...35L? Oops, I saw that as 35 gallons, sorry! That is more of a bio-load than I was thinking of in my post above...