feeding mandarin while on vacation...

[snooddq]

I have a 10 gallon (don't yell at me yet) saltwater tank with a mandarin goby and firefish. Mandarin is well-established for past 15 months, eats frozen brine shrimp. I'm going on vacation for 2 weeks and don't know how to feed her.

I'm doing a timer feeder with flakes for the firefish, but can't think of how to feed mandarin. Bought live copepods (about 500). Plan to dump them in the tank. Will that do? (Is that enough for 2 weeks, do they need to establish in the tank for a while before I leave, etc.)? My mandarin is small (only about 1.25 inches), so not too voracious an eater (probably eats 5-8 frozen brine shrimp when I feed daily. Does fine not being fed 1 or 2 days over the weekend.

 

[wontonflip]

Can't you have a neighbor feed them?

What I do is pre-measure all my frozen food, stick it in the freezer in separate compartments in a pill box, and all my fish sitter has to do is literally, pull one cube out, thaw in room temp, and toss it in. I've never had a fish loss or over feeding with this fool proof method.

After having a mandarin for 15 months who eats frozen food, do you really want to risk it starving? :shock:

 

[yote]

First off,Welcome to the reef.
You might could check ( I forget his name ) the owner of Micheals Aquatic Den and see if he could sit your Mandrine while your gone.He might even know somebody ele that would be willin to stop by and feed it.

 

[dcantucson]

Welcome to the forum. I agree the best thing to do is to get someone to feed it while you're gone. I think it will eat up the live pods in a matter of a few days. You could create a auto feeder with a wine cooler (electric) and a dosing pump to dispense the thawed frozen food.

 

[snooddq]

Thank you all for your replies. Sounds like you all are also skeptical about the copepods being a sufficient solution. Is that accurate?

I've been having someone feed my fish for my last few vacations but the tank is at work and the office will close over the next month, so it got trickier. I've been using the pillbox-in-the-freezer technique. I brainstormed about the wine cooler idea. Maybe next time I leave town I will have time to rig something like that. Checked with owner at Aquatic Den and they can't help out with feedings. I considered "returning" my fish to him then repurchasing, since the live copepods cost about the same as my fish did anyways.

 

[snooddq]

like the cooler/pump idea! Too bad I don't have time to rig it before I leave town.

 

[snooddq]

Thanks - I might get one of his employees to help me out.

 

[dcantucson]

Thanks - I might get one of his employees to help me out.

That sounds like the best plan! Good luck.

 

[reeftanker84]

to bad you didnt live closer i would feed it for you

 

[sen5241b]

My MDs chow on Ocean Nutrition's Formula 1 Small Pellets. Try to find someone who can drop a half teaspoon of orange sushi eggs on the tank each day.

BTW, if a MD is eating well it should work fine in a 10 G.