Going on vacation

[nczipp]

Hello everyone! I will be taking a short vacation soon and I was wondering what the best way to care for my tank would be while I am gone. I have a 10 gal with a yasha goby and Pistol shrimp pair and various corals. I have a timer for my light but how often do I need someone to come over and feed? I will be gone from Friday afternoon through Tuesday afternoon. I figured I can feed both Friday and Tuesday. I typically feed once daily in the afternoon. Supplements should be fine for that short of a period IMO.
I typically do them MWF. I'll have my water checked Thursday afternoon to be sure. Let me know what you think.
Thanks!


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[nereefpat]

No feeding for Sat-Mon probably won't be an issue. I would be concerned about topoff water though.

 

[thegrun]

I would invest in an auto feeder, I use an Eheim and they work great. While your livestock will survive that long without food assuming they are in good shape, it is not recommended. You will need someone to top off the water every other day if possible.

 

[billdogg]

^^^Pretty much what they said^^^

If it is a well established tank, it should be able to easily go a few days to a week without feeding. There will be enough things in there for the critters to eat. The exception would be certain difficult/frequent feeders such as Mandarins, Seahorses, and even many of the Anthias.

An auto feeder is not a bad idea, but PLEASE do not go out, get it, set it up and leave. Murphy is alive and well and there will be something wrong with the settings. Your tank is way better off being under, rather than over, fed.

Topoff would be my concern as well, especially in such a small tank where a little evaporation can equal a large swing in salinity. This is another situation where auto top off would be a good idea, but once again, not right before you leave. You need to be home to monitor either item for a week or two at least to make sure they are operating properly.

jm.02

 

[Ron Reefman]

billdogg covered it perfectly.

We have a cat so a friend feeds the cat twice a day. So I have her feed the fish (amounts od food I set up in advance) and add top off water (the sumps have water level labels).

 

[MondoBongo]

I have her feed the fish (amounts od food I set up in advance)

this is key. whenever i go away i make sure to pre-portion the food and leave instructions as to how much and how often.

well intentioned caretakers can sometimes overfeed, causing at best algae blooms, and at worst other problems. people not familiar with keeping tanks can often be tricked because "the fish looked hungry", not realizing that they always look hungry

and as for the auto-feeder, great idea, but i'll echo the others. i have a rule that i don't make any changes to my setup for at least two weeks prior to leaving. that usually gives me enough time to get anything new dialed in and working.

 

[Syntax1325]

I wouldn't bother feeding, three days is no big deal.


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[nczipp]

Thanks everyone! I feel like having her come just Sunday would be good then?
I have thought about both an auto feeder and an auto top-off but I haven't done much research and haven't had much of a need for them yet.
The tank itself is over a year old, but the goby and shrimp I just got about a week ago. They have been doing great but this morning my pistol shrimp got covered in slime from a coral. I made a thread regarding this: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=25102105#post25102105
I'd greatly appreciate any input on this.

 

[billdogg]

The polyps in the picture from your other thread are (very common) palythoas. Around here that color morph gets referred to as "texas trash" palys. They can and will spread like a noxious weed. If you keep them isolated on their own little island you might be able to prevent that from happening. If they do spread, or you just need to move/get rid of them, WEAR GLOVES. That particular species is known to contain a fairly high concentration of palytoxin, a substance that you DO NOT want to mess around with. Rated #2 on list of most toxic naturally occurring poisons, as little as 7 or 8 nanograms can be fatal. It would have to be put directly into your blood stream for that to happen, but they can and do cause large blisters to form on unprotected skin, and if you got it in your eyes could cause permanent injury.

I say that with certainty because I found out the hard way just what happens when you get careless with them. Cost me a trip to the Urgent Care, then to my PCP, and a week off work. I no longer have any in my systems.

I would guess that your shrimp got poisoned.

 

[nczipp]

The polyps in the picture from your other thread are (very common) palythoas. Around here that color morph gets referred to as "texas trash" palys. They can and will spread like a noxious weed. If you keep them isolated on their own little island you might be able to prevent that from happening. If they do spread, or you just need to move/get rid of them, WEAR GLOVES. That particular species is known to contain a fairly high concentration of palytoxin, a substance that you DO NOT want to mess around with. Rated #2 on list of most toxic naturally occurring poisons, as little as 7 or 8 nanograms can be fatal. It would have to be put directly into your blood stream for that to happen, but they can and do cause large blisters to form on unprotected skin, and if you got it in your eyes could cause permanent injury.

I say that with certainty because I found out the hard way just what happens when you get careless with them. Cost me a trip to the Urgent Care, then to my PCP, and a week off work. I no longer have any in my systems.

I would guess that your shrimp got poisoned.

Oh yeah, I know they are prolific. I bought one that is slightly larger and mostly brown before that has taken over it's rock. They are both on fairly small rocks so I'm not too concerned about overgrowth. There isn't anything else on their rocks also except for the grasping Xenia that was in the picture, but that is on a smaller rock glued to it so I could easily pop it off.
I also know that they are toxic. They are related to zoas, right? I also have zoas in my tank. The extent of my touching them is just if I move their rock. I do that with bare hands so long as I don't have any open wounds. I wouldn't think of fragging or cutting them back without more knowledge about it nor without the proper equipment and precautions.
Unfortunately, my shrimp did die this afternoon. I suspected it was the toxins.
Sorry to hear about your experience! It's so weird to think that such a small, pretty thing could be so deadly!


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[pfan151]

Oh yeah, I know they are prolific. I bought one that is slightly larger and mostly brown before that has taken over it's rock. They are both on fairly small rocks so I'm not too concerned about overgrowth. There isn't anything else on their rocks also except for the grasping Xenia that was in the picture, but that is on a smaller rock glued to it so I could easily pop it off.
I also know that they are toxic. They are related to zoas, right? I also have zoas in my tank. The extent of my touching them is just if I move their rock. I do that with bare hands so long as I don't have any open wounds. I wouldn't think of fragging or cutting them back without more knowledge about it nor without the proper equipment and precautions.
Unfortunately, my shrimp did die this afternoon. I suspected it was the toxins.
Sorry to hear about your experience! It's so weird to think that such a small, pretty thing could be so deadly!

I wouldn't trust someone to top off the water. If it were me, I'd just add a little more RO the day you leave than you normally would to bring the level to around 1.023. It won't have any negative effect on your tank and by the time you get back it will probably be back to perfect.


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