75 Gallon Tank- Never Home

[Straydum]

nothing to worry. the automatic feeder would do the trick. just make sure you clean the tank everynow and then to keep the water specs in check.

 

[jayjay]

You could always just put some sort of oddball/catfish, that won't need feeding so much. Not all of them need to be feed every day. Some of the larger predatory catfish need feeding just once a week. You wouldn't get the community tank you've talk about, but the fish would be off most likely.

 

[Dorkhedeos]

im planning on doing that myself as well once i move off to college. i will be home 2 days a week, every sat-sun.

No offense, but I didn't know a single person who went home every weekend during college...even the people who lived 20 minutes away from campus. I thought I'd go home all the time, and I didn't. In fact my cat died while I was in college, and my parents didn't even tell me about it. Things might be different for you, but don't underestimate all the effects of college life.

well, if things work out, i will be working at my lfs every weekend so im pretty much forced to come home to work

 

[rdd1952]

I will get 2 heaters for that reason.

Having 2 heaters won't matter. If the thermostat hangs so that it stays on all the time, one heater can still raise the temperature of the water to a point that it kills the fish.

As for the automatic feeder, I would definitely NOT get one. As mentioned, fish can easily go a week without food. You said you would be there Friday through Sunday nights. That means you could feed them Monday morning and again some time on Friday plus Saturday and Sunday. That would be fine. If you say your son will be there, he could also fee them. Just measure out a normal feeding portion and put it in a cup (some people even use the 7-day pill boxes that people use to remind them to take medicines) and all he has to do is pour a cup or days food in. Lots of people do that when they are on vacation and have some one take care of feeding for them.

The other plus to not feeding while your gone is that since you will be cycling with fish, no food for those 3 days will help keep the ammonia and nitrite levels down while you aren't there to do water changes.

 

[Pimp]

thanks rdd-- but whats wrong with an automatic feeder?

 

[rdd1952]

Auto feeders perform fair at best. So many people I've seen post about using them on vacation said they either got wet and all the food clumped up so nothing went in the tank (which isn't terribly bad) or they hung up and kept spinning until they dumped everything in the tank at once (a nightmare as the food breaks down and creates an enormous ammonia spike that can kill your fish). Personally, I would just let them go for the 3 days (Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday) without food before I would risk the auto feeder. I have left mine twice this year (once for 3 days and another time for 6 days) without food and they were all fine.

 

[nukeonekitty]

Not trying to be an a hole, but why would you even want to make this investment. You wont even know if something goes wrong over the week and it could be too late come the weekend.

 

[Pimp]

My son will be able to check on them every tues and thurs - i guess ill let him feed them and ya