Goin on Vacation, will my aficans be okay?

[bingerz]

Ive read some posts on here on what to do to set up your tank while you're on vacation. Ive got some africans that are a little more than a year old in one tank and fry that are about 3 months old in another. So far, ive dropped the temperature of both tanks and ive cleaned them. Im thinking about doing water changes every other day till i leave. I feed them once a day. Ill b gone for about 10 days. I was thinking bout leaving some romaine lettuce in there right before i go, for them to munch on for a couple days. You guys think theyll be okay while im away? Am i overlooking anything?

[Vman]

I'd definitely clean the filters,real well,and do a 50%water change the night before you leave.If you're going away for 10 days,then I'd get a timed feeder.If you can get a feeder then I'd feed them every 3rd day.Last time I went away for 2 weeks to Costa rica,I had a friend feed my Africans every 2nd day. I also had him do a 50% water change after 7 days.When I got back all was the way I left it.

[bingerz]

thx for the advice vman! i was trying to avoid getting an auto feeder cuz i have two tanks. i didn't wanna have to buy two of them. =/ i'm hoping one of my wife's relatives can come by and drop some food in there while we're away. hoping's the key word there. i was in the market for a feeder last year, when i went away...but it ended up just being me so i always had someone at home to feed them and i just never looked into it again. i know j&l's got some eheims for 30 bucks ea. maybe i'll just do that. or maybe someone on here's selling one i could pick up.

[tony1928]

If you get an eheim autofeeder, they only operate on a daily basis, I.e. You can't skip a day once its has been programmed. You can have multiple feeds each day though. This is their "everyday" feeder model. Its a great feeder though, just missing that added functionality.

[-DC-]

I' away 2-3 times a ear and all i do is feed well the week before, a huge water change night before leaving and that's it. Hungry wont kill them, and if the filters fail/ heaters fail, power goes out ect the tank isnt polluted with a weeks worth of fish waste.

[bingerz]

tony, which one do you recommend? i just found a demo video of the everday eheim it on youtube. in case anyone's interested.
Eheim Auto-Feeder Demo for your fishyz - YouTube
looks legit. i guess if i could set the opening to dispense exactly how much i want...it could last me the 10days im gone. i usually feed them once a day anyways. i think i'll go pick it up on my break.

[tony1928]

If you daily feed, then no problem with this model at all. Just make sure you test it for dispensing quantity for a few days. I try to reduce feedings to a few times a week to try to maintain water quality.

[bingerz]

this is besides the topic, but maybe i don't feed them enough. i do probably 10% water changes every week and i check it about 1nce a month and so far they've been pretty good ea. time.

-dc- i was thinking the same thing...but this is the first time i've ever been away for an extended period of time. so i'm just kinda scared to, you know? i read some ppl on other threads saying they'll be okay, but i'm thinking it might just be one of those freak moments where the bad luck hits me, like i'll win the "bad luck" lottery.

[tony1928]

For two weeks, adult fish would probably be just fine without food. I'd only be worried about fry. Polluted water will kill a lot quicker than starvation.

[Cichlid2010]

I used that eheim feeder on all three of my tanks while I was away and they work great. I feed fish once a day. I also put another xp4 on my crowded african tank (75 gallon), so three xp4s on the tank just in case water go bad. When I come back, all fishes were healthy and fat, water was still clean. The only thing worrys me is a leaky filter, so make sure all filters are sealed properly.