Tank at work, questions!

beckysuemomof2

Registered Member
Jul 23, 2005
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I recently moved my fish from home to a new tank at work. All seems to be going well and the fish seem healthy and happy. I have an automatic feeder (cheap drum type) for the weekend when the pharmacy is closed, but I don't like it much. The amount of food it dispenses is either too much, or too little. I can't seem to regulate it. Do you have any suggestions for an automatic feeder (that won't cost too much!) that I could use that has a more specific release of food? My tank is an Eclipse 12 and the opening is at a funny angle, so that poses a problem as well.
Another question, I am using spring water for water changes (still treating it, even though it doesn't have chlorine), but I've been told I should be using tap water. Is this true? The spring water is at room temp when I add it to the tank, if I only change 15 to 20 percent of the water with water changes, will this be too hard on the fish? The tap water at the pharmacy is brown and yucky and nobody drinks it, so I hate to put it in my tank! We get huge jugs of non processed spring water and I just feel better about putting it in with my fish!

Thanks!!
 
Well there are feeders that allow you to fill a certain ammount for every day/ feeding period. Like this one.

DrsFosterSmith has a few more - but some seem really expensive. I think the one i posted is the cheapest.

I think a lot of people will actually suggest to not feed over the weekend as (most) fish can go many days without food. Of course without knowing what fish you have there might be limitations.
 
Feeders are a disaster waiting to happen. The last thing you need is for a feeder to dump -- for whatever reason -- all the food in the bottom of the tank for two or three days. People have lost all their fish when this happens.

Just leave your fish for the weekend. They'll be fine and in the long run it's better for them since we all tend to overfeed our fish.

Most adult FW fish can go a week easy without being fed every day. Just make sure you give them a good feed before you leave, and feed LIGHTLY the day you get back.

Roan
 
I knew it was o.k. to leave them occasionally without food on the weekends, but I was concerned about not feeding them EVERY weekend. You're sure this isn't going to be a problem? I currently have a small pleco, two cherry barbs, one male guppy and one black widow tetra. I've had all of these fish for a couple years. I was considering adding a few zebra danios sometime in the future, but not for a month or so.
It really would make my job so much easier if I didn't have to worry about the weekend feedings.
I really do appreciate the responses!
Becky
 
Not to worry. Many of us feed for 6 days and skip a day. Some skip two days. They'll be fine. Just remember to feed lightly for the first day when you get back.

FWIW I'm going on vacation for a week in May and I'm only having someone come in to feed my pufferfish. The rest will be fine for a week.

Roan
 
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