How do you feed when out of town...

[Jnicho]

I will needing to go out of town for about a week...I feed my tank reef crack (a frozen food similar to RODS) and PE mysis twice a day on average...my fish will eat flake food, but don't like it...I've used those battery clock auto feeders in the past with flake and I'm thinking that's what I'll do again...does anybody have any other brilliant ideas?

[Hop]

I leave my wife at home!

[Jadinop]

Don't feed. A week without food in an established tank won't be a problem.

[Frank-n-Tank]

highly trusted friend,......that willdo it in exchange for a dog feeding,hahaha!

[Phishnoob]

I have Jerry come over and feed them and do the top off every 2 days. My tank is stable enough he can dump the skimmer cup, add distilled top off and pour in a premeasured bowl of food.

All you need is a friend you can trust that is pretty good at understanding your setup.

[Jnicho]

Originally Posted by Hop

I leave my wife at home!

I don't think that will work this time, LOL!

Originally Posted by Jadinop

Don't feed. A week without food in an established tank won't be a problem.

I actually thought about that...but I hate to go from 2 x daily to nothing for a week.

Originally Posted by Frank-n-Tank

highly trusted friend,......that willdo it in exchange for a dog feeding,hahaha!

Originally Posted by Phishnoob

I have Jerry come over and feed them and do the top off every 2 days. My tank is stable enough he can dump the skimmer cup, add distilled top off and pour in a premeasured bowl of food.

All you need is a friend you can trust that is pretty good at understanding your setup.

I actually have a couple of local reefers that are not far from my house who I'm sure would help me out that way...I don't know them all that well other than chatting on the local fish board and a few face to face meetings at get togethers...I know I can trust them with the tank as they are very experienced reefers, but I'm still a little uncomfortable just giving them the keys and alarm codes...other than feeding, the tank should run on auto pilot pretty well...skimmer and ATO should be able to go for a week without issue.

[Salty O'Shen]

I use a friend to feed...a good walk through and a daily checklist oughta do it

[ibanez2k]

Yep, the best thing to do is make sure there are measured amounts of exactly what you feed for whomever is feeding already set out so you don't have to risk them overfeeding your tank. It's pretty fool proof if you do it that way. Leave out some distilled water if they have to top off for you too. Honestly though, as stated above, a week really isn't that bad if your tank is established already. The livestock will be fine and you can feed them when you get back.

[Seamore]

Neighbors/friends are fully trained, I have a checklist in the computer I print up (modify as needed) w/contact info. Have notes in non-reef talk for what to look for like the clam shells don't open or look empty and the lights are not on... Have a designated call time and number of trusted LFS(s) in the notes and in your cell. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and try to enjoy the time away, worrying will not change the outcome for the tank, only the enjoyment of the time away. Safe travels and good luck.

[NewFishGirl]

Originally Posted by Seamore

Neighbors/friends are fully trained, I have a checklist in the computer I print up (modify as needed) w/contact info. Have notes in non-reef talk for what to look for like the clam shells don't open or look empty and the lights are not on... Have a designated call time and number of trusted LFS(s) in the notes and in your cell. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and try to enjoy the time away, worrying will not change the outcome for the tank, only the enjoyment of the time away. Safe travels and good luck.

+1 on that... a simple, easy-to-follow checklist with a trusted friend oughta do it. We have a really nice friend who watches our tank. He doesn't have much fish knowledge, but has a lot of common sense, I think that's all you need! He recently watched for three weeks while we were away for our wedding/honeymoon and we didn't have any problems.

[jenglish]

I have had a neighbor do it and it was a disaster. SOmeone from my local reef club works 2 blocks away so he has watched it as well. If I had an ATO I would not worry about it at all.

[Jnicho]

Ya, that's kinda what I'm thinking...maybe a little flake food in the auto feeder...make sure the ATO container is completely full and dial the skimmer back a little bit...barring a natural disaster or weather phenomenon I think I'll be OK.

[schmnr]

Are there any frozen food timer feeders??

[Jnicho]

Originally Posted by schmnr

Are there any frozen food timer feeders??

Not that I know of.

[Jadinop]

Originally Posted by schmnr

Are there any frozen food timer feeders??

I made one a long time ago but it only works for one feeding. I wanted to feed earlier in the day and designed this using a regular flake/pellet feeder. All I did was remove the food barrel and shove the end of a measuring cup into the rotating holder. Each morning I would place a frozen cube and some water in the measuring cup. It would defrost for a few hours and then dump at the programmed time.