Hi All. I know this has been covered a lot and I've read a lot of different threads. I'll be going on a 10 day hike in August, so have stopped at 3 fish to keep a low bio-load until I return from vacation.
I have a auto-top off, and will put the pump in a larger rubbermade container when I go away rather than using the 3 gallon resevoir built into my sump for auto top-off.
I have a UPS in case there's a power failure, to run only the powerhead and heater. (return pump seems to be too much power for the UPS, so I removed that).
I also bought a small pump hooked to an airstone that's plugged into a wall, but it senses when you lose power, and will run on 2 "D" batteries for several days to at least get some air into the tank if I lose power and the UPS runs out. We rarely ever lose power for more than a couple of minutes.
I bought an automatic feeder and a feeding ring to keep the food contained until it absorbs enough water to sink. Tried it out for a 3 day weekend this past weekend, and it seemed to work well. There were a couple flakes floating in the water inside the ring that didn't sink when I got back. My question is, would I be better to mix flakes and pellets in the feeder like I did, or do the pellets or flakes work better as far as sinking after floating on the surface of the water for a while? Would freeze dried cycopese be good to add to the auto feeder? Any other type of food? I have formula 1 pellets and formula 2 flakes.
I'll try to get someone to come over once in the middle of the 10 days to check on the tank, and throw in some frozen food that I measure out for them.
I purchased an extra large skimmer cup, and because I have a small bio-load right now, I'm only collecting about 1/4" of dark wet skinmate every 3 days or so. The large skimmer cup should MORE than handle the 10 days, but since I won't be able to empty the cup, would I be better shutting the skimmer off, or leaving it running? If the skimmer cup is large enough to handle the 10 days with a light bio-load, is there any problem leaving the skimmer going?
The fish I have, are a Pygmy Possum Wrasse (which might be able to live off the rock for 10 days), a Tail-Spot Blenny (which is eating the algae off the rock and would probably be fine without food for the 10 days), a purple firefish, that eats like a pig and I have never seen him pick at the rock, and a peppermint shrimp. I just can't bring myself to let them starve for 10 days, and would feel more comfortable using an auto feeder.
Thanks!
Pam
I have a auto-top off, and will put the pump in a larger rubbermade container when I go away rather than using the 3 gallon resevoir built into my sump for auto top-off.
I have a UPS in case there's a power failure, to run only the powerhead and heater. (return pump seems to be too much power for the UPS, so I removed that).
I also bought a small pump hooked to an airstone that's plugged into a wall, but it senses when you lose power, and will run on 2 "D" batteries for several days to at least get some air into the tank if I lose power and the UPS runs out. We rarely ever lose power for more than a couple of minutes.
I bought an automatic feeder and a feeding ring to keep the food contained until it absorbs enough water to sink. Tried it out for a 3 day weekend this past weekend, and it seemed to work well. There were a couple flakes floating in the water inside the ring that didn't sink when I got back. My question is, would I be better to mix flakes and pellets in the feeder like I did, or do the pellets or flakes work better as far as sinking after floating on the surface of the water for a while? Would freeze dried cycopese be good to add to the auto feeder? Any other type of food? I have formula 1 pellets and formula 2 flakes.
I'll try to get someone to come over once in the middle of the 10 days to check on the tank, and throw in some frozen food that I measure out for them.
I purchased an extra large skimmer cup, and because I have a small bio-load right now, I'm only collecting about 1/4" of dark wet skinmate every 3 days or so. The large skimmer cup should MORE than handle the 10 days, but since I won't be able to empty the cup, would I be better shutting the skimmer off, or leaving it running? If the skimmer cup is large enough to handle the 10 days with a light bio-load, is there any problem leaving the skimmer going?
The fish I have, are a Pygmy Possum Wrasse (which might be able to live off the rock for 10 days), a Tail-Spot Blenny (which is eating the algae off the rock and would probably be fine without food for the 10 days), a purple firefish, that eats like a pig and I have never seen him pick at the rock, and a peppermint shrimp. I just can't bring myself to let them starve for 10 days, and would feel more comfortable using an auto feeder.
Thanks!
Pam
