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Going on vacation

5K views 21 replies 5 participants last post by  jd lover 
#1 ·
Hey all, I'm going on vacation for 2 weeks and I want to know what to do with my tank. I don't like the idea of having someone come over to feed the fish while im not there. I was looking at automatic fish feeders but I don't know how reliable they are.

Also, I have a wet/dry filter and I'm worried that the water level will get too low due to evaporation in those 2 weeks and it will stop pumping.

Any suggestions? Thanks
 
#2 ·
what i did was i went to walmart and bought those zip lock bags the really small ones ment to hold spare buttons and stuff (crack packs lol) and pre-measure the food amount in those bags. have them feed only the amount in the bag. have a few 5g bucket full of water and a pump to pump the water into the sump and tell them to check the level everytime they feed the fish. if possible ask them to do water change
 
#4 ·
I just changed the water yesterday, and I let more water in the sump, so I'm going to see how long it takes to evaporate.

JD- Thanks for your input, but I really don't want anyone in my house while I'm not there.

I've read on multiple websites that fish can go about 2 weeks without feeding. Is that true?

By the way, I got 6 mbunas
 
#7 ·
I'm not really concerned about water quality, because my wet/dry does a great job. I've gone 2 weeks between water changes and my numbers are still good. My main concern is the food and the fact that water evaporates from the sump and I'm afraid that the sump will run dry.
 
#9 ·
Auto feeders can fail, worst case scenario is they dump in too much (or all) food. If you have fry that would be your only choice. If you have adults, I'd let them go the two weeks without food.
 
#14 ·
Well, I would not do it because they are just fish. But they can hold for 28 days or more without eating, and that is unlikely to kill them. However, a food dump in the tank IS likely to kill them due to pollution. And I think the auto feeders are less reliable than heaters or filters.

Heaters we have 2 so one fail should not kill anyone. Filters we have 2 so one fail should not kill anyone.
 
#16 ·
I've read too many bad reviews about auto fish feeders. If they can go for 2 weeks, then it's all good. I'm not worried about the heaters since I'm in Fl. and the AC will be set at 85 while I'm not there.

As stated before, my main worry now is the sump running low on water.
 
#19 ·
Lets try this for the 5th time...

Don't worry about your fish not eating they wont starve. Them starving will be the last of your worries.

If youre scare the sump wont have enough water put extra before you leave and cut a sheet to fit over it to help with evaporation. All you can do... DONT FEED THE FREAKIN FISH. You will only worsen your water quality....
 
#21 ·
jd lover said:
Lets try this for the 5th time...

Don't worry about your fish not eating they wont starve. Them starving will be the last of your worries.

If youre scare the sump wont have enough water put extra before you leave and cut a sheet to fit over it to help with evaporation. All you can do... DONT FEED THE FREAKIN FISH. You will only worsen your water quality....
I know......... I already said that I'm not worried about the fish eating. As far as the sump, I'm gonna try covering up the top with some plastic wrap to see if that helps.

I'm also looking into an automatic top off, but I don't think I'll have enough time to fab one up before I leave
 
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