going away for 2 weeks

I am going to be going to visit my family for two weeks. My friend has already agreed to come and feed my fish once a day. Do you think that I should get one of those automated feeders so that the fish can be fed twice a day? Also, what do I do about the lights? I don't want them to be left on or off the entire time. Any suggestions?

 

You probably won't need an automatic. Once a day should be plenty, especially since you won't be around to do the usual weekly water change. Fed properly for a good while leading up to it, fish do fine for a week or two without any at all.
There are timers you can plug your lights into that will turn them on or off at certain times. I believe zoo med makes some.

 

Good morning,

Good tips on the lighting and adding timers from Eienna above. You can find timers at WalMart that will work just fine. I have them on all of my tanks.

Agreed too that once a day feeding will be fine for your fish while you are away. I would even recommend that you pre-measure all of the food for each day and hide the remaining food so the friend will not be able to over feed your fish and then you come home to a really dirty tank.



https://www.fishlore.com/vacationaquarium.htm

Have a safe trip!

Ken

 

would any light timer be okay or should it be made specifically for aquariums? I found a couple on amazon, but there are a lot of bad reviews. Someone even posted photos of an electrical fire it caused!

 

Hello,

Mine came from WalMart, lighting section of the store. I've never had any problems with them.

Ken

 

I use the cheap dial timers from WalMart. I hate them, but they work just fine. If they weren't three times the price, I'd have all digital ones lol I have three tanks plugged into one timer using an extension cord with three sockets ;D

 

Okay I will go check out walmart to see what I can find. Do you think since I won't be there to do water changes it would be a good idea to dump in a bottle of tetrasafe start in just before I go?

 

No, just measure out their food so that they are getting just enough, and do a water change right before you leave.

 

If your tank is cycled, no, you do not need to add safestart. If it is not, put that in and don't feed or feed sparingly while you're gone.