what to feed while on vacation

candi22

candi22

New Member
i'm going on vacation for 4-5 days, and worried about how to feed the fish in my tank. i just moved into a new town, so i don't have anyone around i'd trust with my key to feed them. it's a 20 gal, which i've had for a little over 6 months... i have:
-one cardinalfish (which won't eat flake food)
-one maroon clownfish (just got over illness)
-2 blue tangs
-two cleaner shrimp
-one small hermit crab
some books say you can leave fish without food for a weekend, but this is a longer trip than i usually take. right now i feed them live brine, but i'm wondering if a flake food auto feeder would be the best plan while i'm away (even if the cardinal fish would not eat it for those five days). any suggestions, tips?
 
musipilot

musipilot

Member
I'm gonna help you out here, because I know what most of my good friends here are thinking. They are right, of course.
Don't worry about feeding over a 5 day period, the fish will be fine. A larger concern is water evaporation over that period, which will raise the salinity in the tank.
Oh yeah, duck. When people go "What, TWO tangs in a 20????" its gonna look like fireworks night at Shea Stadium in here. Since you're a new poster, heres the gentle version.
Tangs need as a minimum 48" of tank to swim in, which means a MINIMUM of a 55 gallon, preferably much larger. I also can't believe they get along in there, they must be VERY young. They will get territorial and destroy each other before long in that sized tank. I know you didn't ask -- but I would recommend selling/trading one of those tangs immediately, and making plans to get a larger tank. Best of luck!
 
candi22

candi22

New Member
the tangs are slightly larger than my thumb, and are very sociable with eachother... i'm gonna get a larger tank as time goes by, but for now it's all i got. sadly, learning about saltwater tanks as i go along.
also, i haven't really noticed much salinity change over week-or-longer time periods.
 
musipilot

musipilot

Member
Ok, you're in good shape if your evap is not a problem. I'm assuming you have a cover on the tank, which will help.
Do NOT be tempted by the urge to overfeed them before you go, that will cause more problems than its worth. Just feed them normally before you leave, they'll be fine.
Good luck, keep us posted on the tangs.
By the way, where are you located?
 
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