Going out of town - fish feeding question...

[g8er_h8er]

I go out of town on occasion - usually for just the weekend, leave Friday evening, get back Sunday evening.
My question is, when I get some fish in my tank, what method should I use to keep them fed while I am gone. Having a neighbor do it is out of the question, and I'm wondering if an automatic feeder would be necessary in my case.
If I get some food that doesn't degrade rapidly, would it be ok to feed a generous portion on Friday so that more remained than the fish would eat and they would have some left for Saturday? If the food sinks to the bottom, would they go searching for it the next day?
Little about my tank: 36 gallons; 10 lb LS; 20 lb reg sand; 46 lbs LR

 

[khaotic2]

I go out of town during the weekends frequently as well. I would recommend a feeder that will feed your fish twice a day. You can get one that is fairly inexpensive and can be set to feed at different intervals. Your fish deserve a variety and I'm sure they look forward to thier feeding time.

 

[bona42na]

Eheim makes a good quality battery operated feeder I would recommend. Its a bad idea to throw in any extra food. In fact it would be better to miss an occasional feeding than to overfeed and potentially spike your ammonia.

 

[g8er_h8er]

Thanks for the replies so far.
OK, I've been looking at a few feeders and this one below, although quite cheap ($15), looks like it would be the only one that would work for my needs because I have a hood on my tank.
I would have to remove one of the pre notched cutouts on the back of my hood so the food could reach the water, but most of the feeders sit low and appear to be too wide for my cutout. This one looks like it sits above the hood.
Are they any others with this design? The Ehiem looks like a nice feeder, but I haven't been able to find a picture of it attached to an aq., so I'm not sure if it would work with my hood.

 

[bona42na]

To followup , the Eheim is heavy and just sits on top of your tank,hood etc and a small section maybe 1.5 inches square hangs over a hole and drops the portions in . Battery operated and neat. I think about 35-45 bucks .

 

[khaotic2]

I use this particular feeder as well. I have the same problem with my hood. I have an Eclipse system right now, so I have to move the top to the side to make it work. This is fine for short term, but when we went on vacation for a week, I had major evaporation. For now, it would be a quick fix for you.

 

[g8er_h8er]

A question I totally forgot about is the lights. Would it be ok to leave them off for the weekend on a FOWLR tank.
My tank is in a room with lots of windows so it gets plenty of indirect daytime light.

 

[pufferman]

Does Eheim Feeder work with frozen food, too? I'm planning a week-long vacation, and I'm not sure what I should do because none of my fishes eats flake food. Is it okay not to feed them for about a week?

 

[bona42na]

No frozen food !! I would suggest Formula 1 and 2 in pellet size as the closest thing to my frozen foods.

 

[khaotic2]

I have to agree on no frozen food. It will rot. I like to take a combination of foods that I feed and mix them together in the feeder. That way, the omni's get veggie's and the carnos get meat. The pellets also sink to the bottom quickly for the guys that live there. Variety is good.

 

[tizzo]

I skimmed through so forgive me if this has been mentioned...
Friday evening til Sunday evening??? They will be fine!! Don't overfeed before you leave though, cause they won't eat more than normal, it will only cause it to fall to the floor and rot. Or get eaten by the claen up crew. 2 days is not even enough time to even consider it. Just make sure they are fat and healthy fish, and they'll be fine!! I know ALOT of people that don't even feed their fish but every other day!! As far as the lights go, they don't need to run in a fowlr either. If you have any doubt as far as coralline is concerned then you could buy a $10 timer from Home Depot.

 

[g8er_h8er]

Interesting that you say that Tizzo. That was my thought at first.
Really, since I plan on only feeding once a day, they will only be going one day without food (Saturday). I will be able to feed them Friday evening, and Sunday when I get home. I could possibly even feed them twice on Friday to help hold them over for Saturday.
What does everyone think about this?

 

[shawnhardy]

I agree with Tizzo. Fish do not need to be fed everyday. I would buy a timer for your lights and feed your fish friday evening before you leave and then fed them on Sunday when you return. I do this all the time and my fish are fine.

 

[rbmount]

I only feed every other day as it is, you'll be OK. You do need timers for your lights.

 

[greatfullreefer]

I feed 3 x per week they will be fine.

 

[moraym]

if you MUST feed them, do NOT buy that Nutramatic thing in the picture. I used to have one. It would always clog up, no matter what, and it'd dump no food for a few feedings and then dump a huge clump of way, way too much. It did absolutely nothing. Use a feeder with separate compartments for each day, that way you're 100% sure that too much isn't going to come out at once. The Rondomatic is great, but way out of the $15 price range unfortunately
But I agree with everyone else. I leave for four days at a time many weeks and let the tanks alone. Lights on a time for 10 hours a day, maybe a little less, and I get back and my tank has never looked better. Not feeding for a few days clears my water up to a level I never thought possible, gets rid of all that nasty waste, gives the LR time to re-filter and clear up any cloudiness you may not even be aware of. So I'd say feed normally during the week, and just don't feed them the couple days youre gone.