Vacation - Fish without food ?

john-nyc

Member
I might be going away for 4 days and have nobody to feed my fish. How long cna they go without food or am I taking a huge gamble ??
 

payton 350

Member
Originally Posted by ReefNut
They will be fine for four days... what about water evaporation??

water evap...should be fine for 4 days....how big of a tank
 
Your fish should be fine for 4 days. Most of those automatic feeders are a joke and don't work. There are a couple that run off a digital timer with seperate food containers that work alright but stay away from the ones that say they feed twice a day....they basically dispense food every 12 hours and there is no way to tell it when to start the cycle. Plus, they have a tendancy to collect salt creep and will jam up the thing and prevent it from working. Top off your water level right before you leave, feed them well and they should be fine. Another course is to ask a trusted friend or relative to feed them while you are away.
 

lion_crazz

Active Member
The fish will be fine without food for 4 days. The real issue is topping off the water. I would highly recommend you look into an auto top off to install just so that you do not raise the salinity very high by not topping it off for that long. I know if I let my tank run without top offs for 4 days, my sump would be running dry for sure.
 

gwh57

Member
I have used this one when I was gone for a few days at the time and it works wery well. It was about $25.

 
Catawaba, I am up in Farmington, NM. Closest decent LFS is in Durango..how about ABQ? What's good down there? I head that way quite a bit and would be interested in knowing another good place.
gwh57, that one is a good one. It has the ability to tell it when to dispense food and has seperate compartments. The ones I would never use are the ones that hold all the food in one big container and runs on a 12 hour cycle with no timer control...waste of time.
 
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xnikki118x

Guest
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
I know if I let my tank run without top offs for 4 days, my sump would be running dry for sure.
If I let my tank run without topoffs for like 30 hours my sump would be running dry!
 

sepulatian

Moderator
I realy think the top off is the main concern here. The SG can raise quite a bit in 4 days. My 55 takes about a gallon of top off a day.
 

gwh57

Member
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
Automatic top off is the way to go. I set mine up for $30.
I agree no one should be without an ATO. DIY is easy and cheap.
 

payton 350

Member
i think everyone is going a little over board here.....unless he's losing a ton of water from evap...it's going to be okay for only 4 days.....even if he loses a gallon a day the salinity isn't going to change very much.......i have gone a week without topping off lost about 5 gallons in a 55 and the salinity only went up .001...................
 

gwh57

Member
That depends on whether his system can handle a 4-5 gal water loss without running his pump dry. An ATO is a wise move for anyone. You never know when an emergency my come up and you are forced to depend on your tank to look after it's self for a few days.

For $30-$40 bucks why take the risk?
 
Sepulation, you evap a gallon a day? Wow....I must be lucky then, I top off about 2 gallons a week and I live in the southwest where it is dry. Maybe you have lighting that causes more evap??? I run PC's and 2 MH pendants but still no major evap even with a ton of surface agitation.
I'm not seeing what type of filtration John-NYC has on his tank....if he has a HOB or canister then I wouldn't think 4 days would be a problem if he tops it off right before he leaves for vacation.
 

mrsgoose

Member
I had no idea you need to top off so often - I have a 29g with a conventional light and hood from my old FW set-up and just a HOB filter, no sump or anything. I only need to top off 1-2 times a week. Am I missing something?
 

fbm

Active Member
IMO you need to maintain salinity at a constant value. I feel you should be topping off everyday or on a automatic top off system. I do not have auto tap off and I add water 2 a days sometimes once a day. The ocean doesn't change so why should our aquariums?
And no, a evaporation of 5 gallons in a 55 does not equal a .001 it equals .003. You must be using a hydrometer and not a refractometer. Simple math to calculate this. Also if you are running at 1.025 to 1.026 you can see how bad this is for your critters.
 
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