Out of Town, reef tank questions

[mochlate]

I have to leave unexpectedly out of town for about a week. I've got a few questions for the community:]

My tank has fish inverts and coral

1. how long can my fish go without food
2. should I leave the light on or off for this time
3. how badly will the swing in salinity while im gone affect my fish?

I dont have time to get an ato or auto feeder or timer for lights.

 

[mcgyvr]

1) They should be fine without food for a week.. You can pick up a feeder block though at the pet store that dissolves over the course of a week and feeds them or an autofeeder..
2)You don't have a timer for your lights? Again.. get one but I would not leave a tank with corals without light for a week.. A few days is ok but a week is a bit much IMO.. Fish don't need light.. The corals will probably be fine but its not something I would ever do..
3)I can't answer that unless I know how big your tank is and how much water you evaporate a day..

No one can come check on them for you?
You really can't run to the store and pick up a timer/feeder? do you live in a remote village or 3rd world country where you don't have access to such products ?

If you don't have time then well.. good luck.. everything should be fine or it won't based on missing information necessary to answer the questions correctly but as soon as you get back I'd get working on taking care of these issues..

 

[RobZilla04]

Fish and inverts will be fine for a week without food.

Is your light not already on a daily schedule? Don't leave the light on 24/7 for a week.

You should have someone come by at least once or twice to top off the water to replace evaporation. It's hard to say how much the salinity will swing (upward) due to the unknown rate of evaporation.

The best thing would be to try and have a friend come by once or twice to feed and top off the water.

 

[ryeguyy84]

1)fish should be fine.
2)I guess leave the lights off, I think it would be worse to leave them on
3) you could add some freshwater before you go this way it won't swing to much or run your pumps dry.

 

[Sk8r]

Go to the hardware store and get a simple timer for electrics: plug your lights into that. They should be on a timer anyway. Also, if you have a large fish store, they may have an Eheim autofeeder. Those are good for simple flake (not pellet!) food and can be set to run multiple times per day. If you set one up, push the test button with a paper under the outflow so you can see how much it's dispensing and adjust the slider/aperture accordingly.

And after you get back, get an ATO. Hydor SmartLevel is a decent fairly inexpensive one.