MB07

Hi so a year ago I was given a 5 gallon Eclipse corner 5 fish tank and I have 2 clownfish inside along with 2 live rock. I mostly do weekend trips which is no big deal but I am going for a week this time. So the problem is I do have an auto feeder but because of the style of tank it is, When it is sitting up there the lid is really open and the evaporation rate is obviously really fast. For a weekend alone i will lose say a finger thickness of water. Earlier this year I did a week trip and I put the auto feeder as always and once I got home the water was literally close to half way down which also now meant the built in filter system etc also stopped working. Luckily the fish made it I just do not want to go through this again. So here are my options now..

a) I can top it up normal before but prior to doing that I can remove some water from it and keep it in a jug as is beside the tank and maybe ask somebody to show up once or twice throughout the week to top it up and that way the auto feeder can do its thing but I am a little worried about how good it is to keep the fish water aside for a few days. Im not sure if it can go bad before someone comes and tops it for me

b) I put the feeder and i maybe duct tape the huge opening of the lid being open. Would that slow down the evaporation rate drastically where I wouldnt need to pull water and keep it aside to have it refilled midway through the week? Because with me home and the lid closed normally the evaporation rate is very slow and barely moves as long as its closed

Any advice is greatly appreciated and also should I reduce the number of hours the light turns on?

eiginh

I read from diff. members that fish can go without food for up to 10 days...I wonder if they make food tabs for saltwater? If so grab those and you're good to go!

MB07

Yes I have seen those fish tablets but none specify if it does for these types of fish. I asked the staff at the store and of course they do not know. I didnt buy any because the fish on all of the packages are all freshwater goldfish and whatnot and apparently it replaces flake food. They get the pebble type. I have heard they can go without food but I feel bad

eiginh

Yes, I would too. When are you leaving? If you are not leaving anytime soon you can try out the food tabs. Check this out http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums...od-108146.html and http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...6032954AAMJVLB and http://www.3reef.com/forums/tropical...ing-38210.html. Exactly how many days will you be out?

MB07

I am going for 7 days. Well through one of the links you sent me there was another link to petsmart and for the 7 day weekend pyramid feeder it says there it also does saltwater fish so Im gonna head there now and see this in person again. Thanks again for all your help so far!

eiginh

No problem Enjoy your trip. I forgot to mention Welcome to Fishlore!

MB07

So I just went to one of the best places in Toronto for this kinda stuff and the guy there helped a lot. He showed me all the 7 day feeders and whatnot and showed me the best one. He was still insisting I use the auto feeder but either way i looked at this feeder And it said on it good for "tropical freshwater fish" so I phoned the company itself and they said no to salt water fish. Back to square one then I mentioned my idea about pulling some water from it and keeping it aside for someone to come pour it and he reminded me that water evaporates not the salt so I don't need to pull fancy water from the tank which makes total sense he said just have freshwater dumped in there with the capfull of chlorine killer in there. As long as my salt level is good before I leave that's all I need. I even asked about sealing the tanks lid opening a little so it slows down the evaporation and he quickly replied no and that will kill them from lack of oxygen so I'm just gonna have someone come midway through my week and dump water and the chlorine stuff with my auto feeder. All these problems because the feeder is huge! We should invent a tiny one so the lid can close lol. This tank is just too small that's the real problem but it was a gift.. Ah well. For the next batch they will be in a kingdom!

eiginh

I think I read that adding chlorinated water straight into saltwater tanks may actually be hazardous for the inhabitants but I could be wrong make sure you research it! Good luck.

click

Welcome to Fishlore. May I ask where is this great place in Toronto and how is it called? I'm new to the fish hobby, so I don't know all the places yet.

Thanks!

MB07

big al's they are located in scarborough on kennedy road south of ellesmere

click

Thanks...same place where I was. Trully they have great staff there.