Feeding while on vacation

[jordala]

I'm going out of town for 5 days and was wondering what would be the best way to feed my fish while I'm gone. I have a 45h Xhigh FO with:

Maroon clown (2")
Firefish
Royal Gramma
Yellow Watchman Goby
Coral beauty
Green Bird Wrasse
2 Camel shrimp
hermits

I feed both flake and frozen. Can I get by with just getting a feeder on a timer with the flake food???? Or should I have someone come in 1 or 2 times and drop in a frozen cube as well???

TIA

[Nek]

Is it easy to have someone stop by?? This way they can check for other things, just in case.

[griss]

I agree with Nek, your best bet is to have someone feed and check the tank everyday. During my last vacation, my tank tripped my GFCI and would have died if it weren't for my sister checking on it.

It also helps if the person caring for your tank knows something about keeping reefs. Again I am lucky, my sister used to manager a pet store:)

Griss

[Guy]

As long as it's less than two weeks I wouldn't even worry about feeding.

It would be smart through to have a pet sitter come over once a day to make sure everything is running.

[gas4544]

I agree, have somebody stop by every day to check things out. Keep the tasks simple and show them how to feed the fish and add topoff water if necessary. Give them a phone number to reach you at and also the numer of a local saltwater person.

[tyoberg]

I usually have someone come by daily to check on things and feed every other day (they ALWAYS overfeed).

I leave them a checklist:
Check the temp
Count the fish
Don't freak if the shrimp looks dead; it isn't.
Add topoff water
Make sure powerheads and skimmer are running
Remove anything that's dead (other than the shrimp)

Lastly, I show them where the plugs for everything are, and the circuit breaker box.

[jordala]

Thanks for all your replies everyone! My ex is coming over 1-2 times while I'm gone to check on the cats, so I'll just have him feed them then. I'll also give him a list of things to check. He likes looking, just not messing with them :rolleye1:

[Nek]

"As long as it's less than two weeks I wouldn't even worry about feeding."

Guy--Im not so sure this is a good idea in a fish only system. Fine for a reef, or even a FOWLR.

IMO

[Guy]

Nek - You are absolutely right! I missed that part. Thank you for setting me straight :)

[Nek]

Not a problem. This is why these boards are so great, many different ideas.:D