Total newbie dorm room tank?

OKay.. as I'm getting closer to actually going out and getting this going I have another question.. What are the logistics of my fish living through christmas break without having anyone to babysit them? What would I need to do? My break is Dec. 18 - Jan. 3. I'm guessing I'll need some sort of cleaner fish(s), plants, and an automatic feeder? I really have no clue I'm just guessing here.
 
It would be best to take the tank home with you or get a babysitter. I've left my tank alone for one full week, but I think two weeks is severely pushing your luck, especially in smaller tanks.

However, I also understand that sometimes bringing it home or finding a babysitter are impossible. Some things can't be helped, so here are some ideas that could help reduce the risk (remember, the less heavily stocked your tank is, the greater your chances for survival)...

Of course, perform a large % water change before leaving and as soon as you get back (making sure parameters such as pH are the same of course).

I wouldn't add extra "cleaner" fish-- they are still fish and add to the total bioload of your tank. Plecos are often sold as "cleaners" which is kind of true, but they are also *very* messy themselves.

Plants are an excellent idea to help lower nitrates if you have the wattage. Anacharis and water sprite are two fast growers that come to mind, and there are many others. If you are going to leave a planted tank alone, however, you'll need a timer for your lights.

I've never used an automatic feeder, but I have used drop-in dissolving feeder pellets. They seemed to work fine and were a lot cheaper.

Also, consider getting two lower watt heaters rather than one powerful heater. In case one heater gets its thermostat stuck "on" it's less likely that you'll be greeted by cooked pets upon your return.
 
I am really appreciating all this input! About the plants. If i got my tank started this week, I would be running a fishless cycle for about a month as I understand. Can I put plants in the tank during this cycle? And about the dissolving food pellets.. would I be able to put in enough for 2 weeks?
 
No plants during fishless cycle. One idea for plants over the holiday would be floaters like salvinia, egeria, hornwort, or hydrocotyle, relatively slow growth compared to duckweed, which is a little tough to control.

Feeder blocks aren't a terrible idea, just remember to do a big water change before and after you use them. I'm pretty sure they're CaCO3 with food embedded, so they will alter your KH and pH, but if you're up on your cleaning, it should be fine.

I think that they make feeder blocks for up to 1 week long, if it dissolves at the rate they figure. However, your fish will be fine over the holidays with the one, food-wise, anyway.
 
Something to consider... not sure how your school handles it, but during winter break at my school, the RA's were supposed to key into everyone's room and unplug everything prior to leaving themselves. Double-check this with your RA and see how they do things. Would really suck to come back to a graveyard you know.
 
Here is my dorm tank in a pretty raw state still.

Sorry the pic is pretty crappy I am sure. I am going to resize it better.

tanksmall.jpg
 
I have my betta in a bowl and would like to move it into something bigger, maybe even get another tank. I have my own car, so space isnt an issue when traveling. But I was just wondering how difficult it would be to bring my fish home for xmas brake and such? What steps would I have to take to pack my fish up safely so they dont die on the 3 hour car ride home? How about plants?
 
Alerin said:
Alright, it sounds like i should go with a 10 gal tank. As I understand it.. I need to set it up and run the tank without fish for a little while? What do I need to do to condition the water out of the tap?
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you need to cycle the tank, not just let it sit empty. you can cycle the tank with, or without fish. its safer to do it without fish. you will need a test kit either way though.

fish waste is basically ammonia. ammonia is eaten by bacteria found everywhere and turned into nitrItes. these nitrites are in turn eaten by other bacteria to form nitrAtes. "cycling" is just the process by which you build up a large colony of these nitrifying bacteria in the filter and gravel of your aquarium to process all the waste your fish produce.

you can either add a few hardy fish to get the cycle going, but then you would have to do constant water changes and testing to make sure the ammonia and nitrites stayed as low as possible, as they are deadly and stressful to fish. nitrAtes are less harmful, but they should be kept under 30 or so parts per million through regular water changes. water changes are the only real way to remove nitrAtes.

the other way is to do a fishless cycle. go to walmart and get some plain ammonia (in the cleaning aisle. it should only contain water, ammonia, and chelating agent. anything else will kill the fish when you add them when the cycle is through)

add a tiny amount of ammonia, maybe half a teaspoon, let the tank run for a while, then test the ammonia level. you want to add enough ammonia to reach about 4-5ppm (parts per million). then you wait. you can test every other day, just to keep an eye on it. when the test starts to show nitrites, you know your in the second stage of the cycle. the bacteria are eating the ammonia and puting out nitrites. keep an eye on the levels, and if they start to get out of the readable range of your test kit, do a water change to bring them down. if they get WAY high, it can stall your cycle.

when your ammonia starts droping, add a little more to keep it around 2ppm.

when you can add ammonia to 2ppm and its gone within 24 hours, and your nitrites are 0 as well, then you can do a LARGE water change to get the nitrates (which have been building slowly this whole time) down below 20-30ppm, and add your fish!

it takes some patience, but its much safer for the fish because they arent exposed to all the harmful chemicals. make sure you add the fish as soon as your cycle finished though, or keep feeding ammonia. if the bacteria dont have something to eat, they'll die and you'll have to start all over.
 
oh, one more thing.

invest in a liquid test kit, rather than dip strips. i bought an Aquarium Pharmasuitcals freshwater liquid master test kit at petsmart for $14.99. it was on sale on their website (and may still be) and all i had to do was print out the page it was for sale on, bring it to the store, and they price matched it for me.


the liquid test kit has over 700 tests, tests for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH high, and pH low. it is far more accurate than the dip strips, and MUCH more cost effective in the long run. if i'd bought the 25 pack of ammonia dip strips, plus the 25 pack of master dip strips, which are each $10, i probably would have bought at least three bottles of each by now, which would be about $60, since at one point during my cycle, i was testing ammonia and nitrites twice a day. with my liquid test kit, i havent even used half of the ammonia testing solution.

liquid test kits are WELL worth the extra expense. even if they're not on sale and you pay $25 for it, its still more than worth it.
 
i cant resist

nice post, Rockabilly. I think writing a fishless cycle process is like a rite of passage for aquarium forum browsers... hehe

and this is a three month old thread brought up by a new members first post

nice post though

:cool:
 
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