Preping the tank for a 4 week vacation

[Albertan22]

So I'm getting ready to leave the country for four weeks. I have a good system in place to handle top off water, and I've arranged for a tank sitter that will be able to stop by every 2 to 3 days to check on things, empty the skimmer cup, and feed frozen food. However, I've been debating whether to put on my automatic feeder (feeds flake food twice a day) while I'm gone. My tank is purposefully understocked right now in anticipation of this trip, with only 2 occelaris clowns, 4 chromis, a few corals and the CUC in the DT right now. Will the automatic feeder running for 4 weeks without a water change cause nutrient/algae problems? My fish are used to being fed everyday, and 4 weeks seems like a long time to go only being fed every 2 or 3 days...

Another idea that I've tossing around is maybe putting a heater and several air stones into the DT and powering them from a separate breaker. That way, if the breaker or GFI trips on the regular plug for the tank, I'd at least have heat and oxygen in the tank until my tank sitter arrives and sets things right. These wouldn't be on a GFI though. Would this be a good idea? Am I being paranoid? I've never had problems with triped breakers or GFIs in the past, but better safe than sorry right?

[hillegom]

I like the idea of an auto feeder. Start using it now, and you will have it fine tuned by the time you go on vacation.
That separate breaker is a good idea as well. I would then use a heater, set up for 1 deg lower than your reg. heater. and a small powerhead pump.
JMHO

[rstar]

Best to err on the side of caution i think! You know murphys law! Looks like you have a solid plan, the only thing i would say is that i wouldnt worry too much about the fish finding food. Ive never really trusted auto feeders, heard too many stories about them failing!

[Albertan22]

There are plenty of pods in my tank, and not many fish to pick at em... I'm not even sure that the autofeeder would get a feeding response from the fish without a person standing in front of the tank to let them know there's food coming. Maybe I'll try running it for a few days to see if they notice and eat the flake food first.

[vic622]

...
Another idea that I've tossing around is maybe putting a heater and several air stones into the DT and powering them from a separate breaker. That way, if the breaker or GFI trips on the regular plug for the tank, I'd at least have heat and oxygen in the tank until my tank sitter arrives and sets things right. These wouldn't be on a GFI though. Would this be a good idea? Am I being paranoid? I've never had problems with triped breakers or GFIs in the past, but better safe than sorry right?
I went to the hardware store and bought a regular GFCI socket, a wall plug box (a plastic one if you can find it) and cut off about 1ft off the end of a 3-prong extension cord (male end).
I ran the cord through one of the knock outs, wired the GFCI onto the extension cord and secured it to the box.
The GFCI even comes with the cover plate.

Voila, instant GFCI protection!
It works, too!
When my Mag 7 crattered 2 months ago, it kept tripping the GFCI and that's how I figured out there was a problem.
Vic
PS: a tip from Holmes on Holmes: Don't feed a GFCI from a circuit that already has a GFCI (like at the breaker). One trips the other and they won't work.
Here's some pic's:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/GFCI/GFCI-1.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/GFCI/GFCI-2.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e178/fire622/GFCI/GFCI-3.jpg

[mark]

What ever you do, have it setup and working well in advance of your trip.

[banditpowdercoat]

Maybe auto feeding a little once a day? Heck, I only feed my fish once a day mainly. Sometimes they get snacks during th day, but mostly, a 6-7PM feeding. Also, I do monthly WC too, not weekly, so you should be fine.

[MrsBugmaster]

yeah, I think you would be fine without the auto feeder. In in wild, fish don't eat everyday.

[BMW Rider]

And don't make any last minute changes or adjustments. Get everthing running stable for at least a week before and let it be. That little tweak just before you leave is the one that ends up causing a problem.

DAMHIK :redface:

Most importantly though, enjoy your trip :biggrin:.

[vic622]

Been thinking about autofeeders ... I found out a couple of things when I went away at Christmas.

I use the Nutrafin autofeeders on three of my tanks, 2xFW & the other is on the reef tank.

I like these and have them running all the time - keeps me from forgetting to feed and gives the tanks a consistent feeding amount and feeding time every day. I can't recommend them enough, but I echo the comments about setting them up before hand and having them run for a week to make sure they dispense the amount you want.

They work perfectly on the FW tanks, but I have run into a couple of problems I've run into on the Reef tank.
This is a battery operated feeder. That's not a problem, just make sure you've put in fresh batteries before you head out - They seem to last for months.

The problem is that I have a hood on the reef tank and two things happened:
1. The dry food (flakes & pellets) picked up the humidity from the tank and gummed up inside the feeder in about 1-2 wks. The only way to solve this would be to try the Eheim autofeeder that has some way of drying the food in the container - I've got one on order to try it out.

2. Salt water evaporation + battery connections = corrosion. In order to fix this, I think I'll need to solder extensions to the wires and put the battery holder outside the cover.

[Albertan22]

Good point Vic, I hadn't considered the effect of long term humidity on the autofeeder...

[vic622]

Good point Vic, I hadn't considered the effect of long term humidity on the autofeeder...
Just so you don't get the idea that humidity is always a problem, the other two feeders that are above the glass and drop through a hole, have no humidity problems at all. I've had food in them for months at a time without any clumping.

[Albertan22]

My tank has a canopy over it which the feeder would have to be inside of. I did run it for a week at Christmas without issue, but wasn't confident that it actually did anything for the fish. The feeder I have does have an "anti humidity door" on it, but the battery connections corroding isn't something that I had considered. I think the best thing to do is to just set it up and let it run for a couple of weeks before I leave and see how things do.