Feeding when on vacation

[EBR]

Hi -- I've got a couple of clowns and a cleaner shrimp in a 55 gal FOWLR tank, and am planning for a vacation. Will the clowns go for the dried pellet food that I put in an autofeeder for a week? Or should I get someone to feed them the mysis I have? How picky are the clowns?
Thanks.
Matt

 

[fishfreek]

Try the clowns out on the food before you leave. If the clowns take to it then good. if they dont then you will know. You could try marine flake food in the feeder.

Honestly if you feed the fish well before you leave you wont have to feed them while your gone. The #1 issue you would have with being gone 1 week is to replace the evaporated water. Do you have an auto topoff system? Have you made arrangments for someone to come by and top off the tank every few days?

 

[EBR]

Thanks -- will give it a go. As for evap, I hadn't really thought about it, really. I just replaced one of the glass tops with egg crate to keep the temp in check, so I suppose I'll loose more to evap than I've seen before. Will the evap really be that much of an issue in just a week on a 55 gal?
Matt

 

[ClamKnuckle]

I would say i easily lose 2 gallons a week out of my 55 due to evaporation.

 

[fishfreek]

I wouldnt be suprised if you lost upward to 1/2 gal a day.

I lose close to 1 gal a day on average in my 80 and 75 each.

 

[EBR]

Really. Wow. Hmmmm. Might have to rethink things a bit before we leave.
Thanks for the sanity check, Guys.
Matt

 

[Bearfan]

That was one of the reasons I set up a 100 gal sump for my 75 gal tank...If I loose 4 gallons per week, the salinity will still be fairly close.

 

[Brisc0]

I evap around 18G a week in my 105. I also like to travel so i had to get myself a 32G rubbermaid to set behind the tank, at lest it only has to be refilled every two weeks. I don't understand how Bearfan loses 4GPW and I lose 18, no fair!

 

[hydrohoki]

I don't recommend it but I have left my five gallon and my ten gallon for a week and a half without an auto top off system and both were fine. Water levels were low and my fish were hungry but a water change and some food later everyone was happy. My chemistry wasn't too bad. (My friend was supposed to top off for me but he never showed.) Thankfully everything was fine. If you are going to use an auto top-off system make sure you have time to test it out before you leave you wouldn't want it to leak.

If you are leaving soon, I'd recommend setting a neighbor up so that every other day or so he pours a little of water in you have set near the aquarium.

Good luck!