Vacation

[Blucat]

please bear with me...

Going to sydney for five nights (yay parents gonna spoil me in luxury marriot) (heheh)

What kind of feeding options have I got here. And what about lighting? Leave on or off? I don't really have an automotic light timer.

Thankyou very very much for any advice

 

[Guest]

I'd suggest buying one of those automatic fish feeders. Hook it up ~ 2 days before you're planning on leaving so you get the dosage right. They are battery operated so make sure you use new batteries! Doing a 30-40% pwc before you leave is necessary. Since you have plants, you should go out and buy one of those electronic timers and set it to have the light come on for 8-10 hours a day. They are only ~ $8.00. I'd say if you follow those directions, you'd be perfectly fine! (then just do another pwc when you get back)
HTH
-Stewie

 

[redwhiptailplec]

I would not bother with a feeder, you do not really need one fish can survive comfortably for short periods without food, it can even be good for them. I had to go back to the U.k on a fairly regular basis and my fish have always been fine.

It sounds horrible I know but my favourite fish book recommended it and it certainly seems to work fine for me.

A light timer is probably essential though, unless you can find some kind trustworthy soul to switch them on for you?

 

[Blucat]

So I will buy the light thingo...
And iw ill do a pwc before I leave...
But is there any other opinions on the automatic feeder?

 

[SerLunchbox]

personally, from my own research, most fish have a REALLY slow digestive rate (this is for most fish ... not all!) You CAN go 5 days without feeding, just don't over feed the fish before you go ... that is really bad! You can get the electric feeder but they can get pricey. It is really up to what you feel comfortable doing.

 

[Melody]

your fish will be fine for 5 days You could even get away with 7 days... but any more then that would be pushing it. Leave the lights off, they slow down with no lights. and come home to some fish that are very happy to see you!

 

[Blucat]

So i can leave the lights off and the fish with no food?
We-ell Until sunday i'v had the lights off for one week and the plants are a bit yellow..... so is mon to wed night enough time for the swords to recooperate for another blackout?

 

[jgc8fan]

I used to buy those little fish feeder pyramids when I had to go out of town for a week at a time. They are supposed to release a small amount of food every day as they dissolve. Some people don't approve of them, but I never had any problems. It was always gone when I got home, and the tank was never clouded. The fish still acted like they hadn't eaten in a week, but it made me feel comfortable knowing they were at least getting some food while I was gone.

 

[Regen311]

I'm in college, and have a 10 gallon aquarium. Over spring break, there was no way I was transporting a 10 gallon home, and no way I was driving back home to feed my fish. I looked into the automatic feeders, but they're expensive. I looked into the blocks that sink, but I heard bad things about them. On the advice of people on this site, I just left my fish. I was actually gone for 7 days. I kept the lights off, but the aquariumw as by a window, so I left the blinds open so they got some light regularly. When I returned, the fish were COMPLETELY fine, no deaths, no sicknesses, nothing. The tank was crystal clear, and everything was as I had left it! If you're only going to be gone 5 days, I'd just leave the tank.

 

[molotov256]

I would agree that your fish would be okay for a week or so without food. I live in Florida, and because of the recent string of hurricanes, I left my apartment for several days at a time to flee the storms. My fish were just fine when I got back after 4 or 5 day absences, and they even survived week long power outages with no filters or heaters or anything. It's strange how tough fish really are, especially when you've seen some of them die because of some mysterious water paramater or something that seems far less extreme.

 

[severum mama]

Your fish will be ok without feeding for 5 days if you don't want to invest in an automatic feeder. I've used the feeder blocks before but I didn't really like them, and they may mess up your water while you are gone. If I were you I would buy the light timer for your plants though, I just got a couple for 7 bucks each. Your plants will thank you. Oh, and have fun in Sydney!!!

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I bought an automatic feeder for $8, I don't think that's too expensive. It doesn't work that well though when you have over 20 Cichlids. BUT, it gives them SOME food. The feeder blocks are crap. I dropped one in the tank, left for 3 days, came back and it was still intact. It hadn't even broken apart. The water was a little cloudy. An automatic timer would be good if you have live plants (sorry, didn't look at sig to see if you did or not) but your fish will be fine without being fed. It wouldn't be a bad idea to purchase an automatic feeder. They are cheap and at least your fish will be getting SOME food.