Tropical Fish Forums

[squarej05]

Okay. I'm going on vacation this weekend and I will be gone for a week. I have a 55 gallon cichlid tank that holds 1 JD, 1 yellow lab., and 1 rusty cichlid plus a pleco. How do I go about them eating? Is there any type of feeder cube or something that I can purchase for them? I just feel really bad about not feeding them because they get so excited every single day at feeding time. I also have a 25 gallon marine aquarium that holds one ocellaris clown, and I'm in the same situation here as well. If there are any suggestions, I would love to hear them. (The reason for finding a feeding alternative is to avoid having someone who knows nothing about fish come and feed them for me.) Thanks for ya'll help!

[patarick]

If you are having someone come round and feed them, get them to do it every second or third day and have portioned food ready for them, so all they have to do is take a single portion and feed (with it being every second or third day even less risk of over feeding). If you still don't won't to do that, you could feed your fish up gradually before you leave. A week isnt to long to be away for. Some even say its good to miss a day of feed every now and then, YOu try telling that to my eel

[Luna]

There are feeder blocks available, but they tend to mess with the water chemistry. Tetra has a gel-feeder (click here) but those have gotten mixed reviews.

You can purchase an automatic feeder (examples here) for anywhere from $11 to $90. You can find at least one version of these at the chain stores (even Wal-Mart carries one).

One plan I have seen that sounds like a great idea: Portion a days worth of food in the little pill boxes that have the days of the week. If you're gone longer than Sun-Saturday, use a second box. It's probably best to have them fed only once a day, or less (as suggested above), so you don't have to worry about a mess in your tank.
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[sakurazero]

I used the Tetra Gel Feeder in my tank when I was gone for a week. It killed both fish (a clown and a green chromis) and completely polluted the tank. Luckily my shrimp, crabs, and snails are pretty robust... they survived.
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[nikelodeon79]

Late response, but the fish will be fine for a week without food. Those feeder cubes are worthless.

That aside, that's an interesting group of fish you have. I'm not a fan of mixing mbuna with any other kind of fish.
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