Fish-sitting

[MtbGirl]

Well, we purchased an Eheim automatic feeder... so far the test runs have been successful, of course that's outside the tank. We plan on running it next week to make sure it works for Labor Day weekend, when we will be away. I'm not too worried about next weekend since it's only a few days.

Here's a question: what about our algae eater?? Every 3 days or so we drop a little piece of wafer in there for him, would he be okay going two weeks without these?? The tank never seems dirty to me but I'm assuming he's finding algae and eating it...

 

[jayjay]

CAE's aren't very good algae eaters, they'll eat fish food that reaches the bottom probably.

 

[MtbGirl]

CAE's aren't very good algae eaters, they'll eat fish food that reaches the bottom probably.

Really?? He was sold to us as an algae eater... I've never seen any algae building up in the tank, so isn't he eating it??

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

id use a big vacation feeder block and a mineral/vitamin block if your not going away for too long (2 weeks or so) and id clean the filter and do a 70% water change rite before i left

 

[jayjay]

Please don't use feeder blocks, they are made of plaster of paris and just make a mess.

 

[MtbGirl]

Nope, I don't want to use a feeder block. We bought an automatic fish-feeder for the flake food, I was just concerned about the algae eater.

Normally we feed enough food just for the fish, thinking Herbie is eating the algae. I don't want to add more food and overfeed the fish while we're gone, but I don't want Herbie to starve either. We won't be around to give him pieces of algae wafers.

 

[DiscusKeeper403]

by algae eater do u mean chinese algae eater or a plec? i think both will b fine tho i noe mine was wen i went away for 2 weeks

 

[MtbGirl]

by algae eater do u mean chinese algae eater or a plec? i think both will b fine tho i noe mine was wen i went away for 2 weeks

He's a Chinese algae eater... I think we'll be fine feeding him a few pieces of wafer before we leave. Our vacation isn't for a while yet, we were planning for the upcoming three-day weekend and I figured I would ask about two-week vacations while it was on my mind.

 

[jayjay]

Can't you just put algae wafers in the automatic feeder?

 

[Saedcantas]

To reiterate what Tolak said;

Unless you are going away for longer than 14 days, or have particularly delicate fish or fish in poor health then they will manage fine for that length of time.

Customers who come to me to buy feeding block rubbish are turned away and advised that no food while you're gone and cant do a water change is far better than dumping a load of rubbish in there in the form of a plaster of paris feeding block

 

[MtbGirl]

Can't you just put algae wafers in the automatic feeder?

I'd have to crumble them up small to fit thru the opening we've set, which shouldn't be a problem, but is feeding the wafer crumbs every day too much for him??

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Can't you just put algae wafers in the automatic feeder?

I'd have to crumble them up small to fit thru the opening we've set, which shouldn't be a problem, but is feeding the wafer crumbs every day too much for him??

All your fish would do just fine without any food for up to 2 weeks so don't worry about them not getting enough.

If you want to use the feeder though I wouldn't worry about putting any algae wafers in it for herbie. He'll be just fine scavanging left over's from the other fish.

One of the main problems with being away is that you can't do tank maintenance, so the less food they eat, the less waste they produce and your tank is therefore much less likely to be in a complete state when you come back. Bear in mind too much waste in the tank can easily lead to the water getting polluted which can cause diseases.

I would advise setting the feeder to feed about half what you normally give them. Then they're still getting some, it won't do them any harm but it's much less likely to mess up your water.

 

[Jules H-T]

I've got my housemate into fish, so we cover each other.

In the rare event we go away at the same time, they starve.