Going On Holiday

[Salam]

What do you do when you go on holiday for a week? Is it possible to keep a reef tank going?

As you know I am currently reading up a lot on marine and got my tank waiting to be set up. But we have already booked two holidays for next year, one for five days and one for seven days. I am planning on having coral and from what I have read they have to be 'hand-fed' (you know what I mean) at least once a day depending on the coral. So, what do you do when you are away? I don't think I could trust a neighbour, it would be too much to ask anyway.

 

[ainsy]

It is only the non-photosynthetic corals that need 'gross' feeding. The majority of coral needs only light or the microscopic stuff which swims around the tank (phyto & zoo plankton) and will be fine for a week with just the lights on.

 

[Salam]

Thanks, that's putting my mind at rest. I will stay clear from those corals then.

So, waterchange before we go and all will be good with fish and coral for a week? No food at all? I know it is ok with tropicals, just want to make sure all will be ok especially as it should be quite established by the time we go and I don't want to lose it all and have disaster when we are back.

Are those automatic light on and off things any good? The ones with a timer?

 

[SaltNoob]

Thanks, that's putting my mind at rest. I will stay clear from those corals then.

So, waterchange before we go and all will be good with fish and coral for a week? No food at all? I know it is ok with tropicals, just want to make sure all will be ok especially as it should be quite established by the time we go and I don't want to lose it all and have disaster when we are back.

Are those automatic light on and off things any good? The ones with a timer?

No. The fish need to be fed. More than a few days and they will be STARVING. Imagine if you didn't have food for more than just a day... Same thing. They eat multiple times a day...

If you could get someone to pop some food in once a day, that would be acceptable, but don't go more than a couple days. Fish need food. There are auto feeders to for flakes/pellets if you are concerned.

You can buy simple timers in the hardware section of any box store, just make sure it has a grounding plug on it. You can set it to turn on and off when you want.

-Tyler

 

[Salam]

Thanks, very helpful! Will see what I can arrange, if it is just feeding the fish I will speak to the neighbour, sure she can do that. If not I will look into those auto feeders.

It's still time until we set it up and then go, but want to make sure that I can keep everything running while we are away.

 

[Donya]

No. The fish need to be fed. More than a few days and they will be STARVING. Imagine if you didn't have food for more than just a day... Same thing. They eat multiple times a day...

Starving and possibly rather nasty! Desperate animals can do strange things. Bigger tanks will be better about supporting fish for a while since they can forage on pods if it comes to it (the sort of environment that can support a mandarin), but that's basically impossible in anything smaller. Not to mention CUC animals like hermit crabs...you could easily come back to rather a lot less snails after an extended vacation with an un-fed tank.