Going away

[the reef kid]

Next week, I'm going on vacation for a week, and the only person who we can find that will take care of our pets has no idea what to do for my tank...the tank is automated other than water changes and feeding, and it can definitely go a week without a water change, but as for feeding, the last time we had somebody feed the tank, it was pretty much a disaster of overfeeding, and I need some ideas as to what to do to keep it from happening again. I only feed frozen and nori sheets, so what I was thinking about doing was filling a cup with enough food for the week, feeding every other day, and putting it in the fridge so it doesn't rot, but at the same time doesn't have to be thawed, and telling her to measure out "x" amount of food and have precut algae sheets for her to use. Do you forsee any problems? or any better suggestions? TIA

 

[Bifferwine]

Buy one of those pill containers that has a compartment for each day. Then divide up the food into the proper days ahead of time. That eliminates the need for the person to measure the food.

 

[little_fish]

Get those daily pill bottles and portion out the daily amount of food. That way they only put in a premeasured amount. And have them come over and dry runs while you can supervise.

 

[wontonflip]

+1....my petsitters are usually kids/teenagers who know nothing about fish. I make it as foolproof as possible to screw up the tank. They would have to purposefully overfeed. I pre-measure all the food for each day, separated in the pill boxes and I tell them feed only once a day. I normally shut off my pumps to feed, but I don't tell them to do that, because they might forget to turn it back on. I also tell them to peek in the sump room for floods, since I, too, have an ATO. If there's a flood, I have my lfs's maintenance crew on hand for emergencies like that.

 

[Sir Alex]

What about an automatic feeder?

 

[Wes888]

I just use automatic feeder with dry food during my vacations. For just 1-2 week, they'll live. :)

 

[Mandarin66]

dry mysis shrimp :P

 

[little_fish]

automatic feeders have been known to malfunction, so i would be wary of them.

 

[Sir Alex]

automatic feeders have been known to malfunction, so i would be wary of them.

My grandfather said he used a automatic feeder once and when he got back 5 days later all the food was still in it. Luckily all of the fish survived. They were freshwater though.

 

[wontonflip]

What about an automatic feeder?

Do you want an algae bloom from all the dried food you put in there? LOL Kidding. No clue. I don't trust them. I'd spend the entire vacation worrying if the food got released or not.

 

[Wes888]

My grandfather said he used a automatic feeder once and when he got back 5 days later all the food was still in it. Luckily all of the fish survived. They were freshwater though.

That's fine. For 1 week, even you don't feed them, they'll survive.

 

[Sir Alex]

Do you want an algae bloom from all the dried food you put in there? LOL Kidding. No clue. I don't trust them. I'd spend the entire vacation worrying if the food got released or not.

I'd be worried anyway...

 

[Mandarin66]

That's fine. For 1 week, even you don't feed them, they'll survive.

+OVAR 9000


im serious this is a true fact none of my fish died

 

[Bifferwine]

Automatic feeders may work just fine. But they may stick and not feed anything at all, or they may dump all of their contents in at once. If you are going to use one, weigh the risks!

 

[the reef kid]

I used an auto feeder on one of my freshwater tanks once, I was hoping it would work for 2 weeks. It dropped all the food into the water at once, and if you can't remember, in FW, there aren't any hermit crabs and snails to pick up the extra food for you, so I am now paranoid of the things. Also, having just gotten my PO4 down, I'd rather not bring it back up with any flakes/pellets.