Vacation Time...

[fishwatcher]

I thought you had to have special ones, too, that's why I've never gotten them. I'll have to check around now that I know I can use regular timers.

 

[Dark Wolf]

Wait!! Don't take that as certain, don't want you going out and buying the timers and then finding out they are wrong, i've only ever said i don't see why you couldn't use regular timers. There may be some important reason why you have to use special ones, so maybe you should wait until someone can either confirm or deny this.

 

[fishwatcher]

Oh, ok then. Thanks!

 

[Teelie]

They are just household light timers. They aren't anything special and the ones at the fish shop much like anything else are terribly over-priced. Just remember to get a grounded timer if your lights use a grounded plug. There are several models ranging from the cheap to the expensive digital that do all kinds of fancy stuff. The ones I use are the 24 switch/dial types that allow you to manage the lights in one hour increments. There are cheaper ones that just have a set on time and off time with no way to turn the lights off inbetween for an hour or two if you wanted but the difference in cost is minimal.

 

[Dark Wolf]

Thanks teelie, the dial type one was the one i tried, and didn't make a very good job, to explain.

So it's as i suspected, they are just the common ones. Don't bother with the digital ones when the dial types do a perfectly good job.

 

[fishwatcher]

I'll try to get down there before we leave then. Or even after we get back... for that cheap of a price it'd be worth it to have them anyway.

 

[l.michelle]

If you end up deciding to have someone come in to feed your fish, I suggest to get one ofthose pill a day plastic things at the drugstore, and put the amount of food you want them to give in there. I learned this from experience, as I went away for several days, and beforehand showed my mother a few times how to feed my fish, then let her do it, as I watched, and I ended up coming home to food all in the filter (she put some in there, why I have no idea0 food all over the bottom of my tank, it was a horrible mess. And truly not a pleasant way to end my vacation.