Too long without feeding?

[Zack]

I have to go on a short vacation and my dorm will be locked down for the break. With that being said, I won't have access to the fish to feed them. Is 9 days too long to go without feeding them? I really do not want to add a vacation feeder block.

[Europhyllia]

what kind of fish? what kind of tank? what do you normally feed your fish? (if they take flake you could just get an automatic feeder)
But yikes I'd be scared to leave them that long unattended! Do you have ATO?

[Zack]

I usually feed them Danichi mini pellets about once every other day, sometimes every day, just depends on how busy I am. The tank is a 10 gallon. I just did a water change Wednesday and another one today and turned down my lighting period by 3 hours to reduce algae growth. As for auto feeders, I had one on a freshwater and it didn't work and ended up spewing the entire lot of flakes in the tank which, in a saltwater could be VERY bad. I rigged up an ATO with a bucket, an Maxi-Jet 400 timed at two minutes daily. With the distance both vertically and horizontally it tops off almost exactly what I need (slightly less) however three minutes was a bit too much.

[Europhyllia]

what kind of fish do you have?

[Zack]

Sorry, two Clownfish and a neon goby. I think the Goby will be fine as he usually just eats algae and stuff off the rocks, the clowns however I'm unsure about.

[Europhyllia]

They need some food. Especially since you are already not feeding them regularly. They won't have much of a reserve going into this

[allan]

Nine days.

Man, I'd invest in an auto feeder. Either it's going to mess up and kill your tank, or your clowns are going to perish and kill your tank. The autofeeder seems like the best option as it may work IAW MFR specs.

[Kristy]

We have three of those Eheim auto feeders and they work great. Love them, just what you need! Adjust the opening so that it only dumps the amount you need, test it, and have no worries!

[Europhyllia]

yes. and also save up for a bigger tank. 2 clowns in a 10 gallon...no, no, no... ;)

[allan]

I can't imagine that they'd allow much more than that in a dormitory.

[Europhyllia]

I can't imagine that they'd allow much more than that in a dormitory.
That's not a really good solution for a pair of clowns though longterm. I am feeling slightly guilty about cramming my ocellaris into a 29g. I wouldn't go much smaller. Maybe rehome the clowns and just stick with the goby?

[Zack]

We have three of those Eheim auto feeders and they work great. Love them, just what you need! Adjust the opening so that it only dumps the amount you need, test it, and have no worries!

I purchased the Ehiem one and while it fed a little bit more then I wanted to, it is certainly better than them not eating, so I'll be sure to test all my levels when I return!


yes. and also save up for a bigger tank. 2 clowns in a 10 gallon...no, no, no... ;)

I have a 40 breeder and a stand that I plan to set up when I manage to get an apartment but 10 gallons is the max for my living situation due to "campus housing policies". This August, I'll be moving into an apartment apartment with less strict regulations :D


I can't imagine that they'd allow much more than that in a dormitory.
Hit the nail on the head! My RD isn't too strict on it, but she said if her boss ever did a spot check or matinence reported it, then we would both be in a bunch of trouble.

So now, I have my tank being run by a brinks electric timer on an auto top off and an Eheim fish feeder. Hopefully everything works out as I was just starting to see some nice corraline growth and coral growth!

Just a side note, that brinks timer is actually a thing of beauty. It has a bunch of programmable features AND it has a built in rechargeable battery, so if the power ever went out in the dorm, it would be able to save the programming I put into it and continue operating as usual. Definitely gives me some peace of mind!