Vacations

[Pencil Pusher]

I'm sure this questions has been asked by newbies thousands of times, but I'm too lazy to research it. I am planning to set up a 29 gallon freshwater aquarium, but I have a question first. What do you do when you go on vacation? I went to the pet store, and they have food you can put in there that slowly dissolves over the coarse of a few days. However, the longest I can find is for one week. Are there any products out there that will feed fish for you for over a week (perhaps two weeks)?

Thanks!

 

[Richer]

Those dissolving vacation feeders are not worth your time or money. I experimented with one once in a bowl, and the thing didn't even last 4 days before it completely dissolved. I've heard of horror stories of how people would come back after a short vacation only to find their tank polluted.

If you really want to invest in a vacation feeder... try getting one of those mechanical ones. I've heard that the Eheim auto feeders are the best. However, these can be unpredicable at best. I spent weeks calibrating one over a dish before I finally got it going correctly... but even then, it messed up every now and then.

The best vacation feeding method is to get a friend to feed the fish for you. Set the correct amount of food aside in little baggies, and hide the rest of your food (in case your friend decides that what you have set aside just isn't enough).

HTH
-Richer

 

[aquariumfishguy]

I dont even bother with feeding my fish if I go on vacation. My longest time away from my fish without feeding them was one week. Fish are not like humans in that they can last more than 1 day without food. If I am away from home for more than one week then I wouldn't leave them without food however.

 

[Peter99]

I've gone on Vacation for 10 days without feeding the fishes and all of them survived. I fed them everyday for 3 days (2 small meals a day) before going on vacation.