I got a babysitter for mah fish. Not sure how to mark this thread as "solved"
Do I need an automatic fish feeder?
- Thread starter Urgula
- Start date
i have a 125 with a single 10 in Black Nasty i have left him for 10 days no problem i once had a O go on hunger strike for a month.
But with that stock i would be worried about nitrites you should be doing Fin Level WC everyday.
But with that stock i would be worried about nitrites you should be doing Fin Level WC everyday.
Yeah ensuring that all the poop has been removed is a must and i would consider putting in a algae block, worked for me
With a tank heavily overstocked I'd be more worried they'd turn aggressive towards each other if they started to get hungry. Don't know hoot about the auto feeders though. Neat concept, makes me nervous though. What you already mentioned, malfunctioning and all... With electronics it happens...
Nitrites are not an issue. Nitrates do get high (obviously), but fish are good for 2 week after a water change.
I do have a bigger tank coming eventually (need to sort out a couple of things first)
Not sure what's a fin level water change. I add about 1-5 galongs of water a day since it evaporates. I take around 10-20 galons on bi-weekly basis to water my plants, so that gets replaced too. So it looks like +1-3 gal a day of fresh water, water plants on week one (+20 gal), full water change on week 2).
I love my fish, but I'd not be able to keep up with daily water changes. Full time job, chores and life kinda prevent me from dedicating my existence to my fish tank xD (Sorry for the sarcasm, not meant to be mean, rather dramatic)
Here's the nitrite test of today. Fishtank is very nasty at the moment because insert_life_drama_and_depression. I've missed the water change when it was due (changing water tomorrow hopefully... again... life). However, nitrites are fine.
Nitrates are at "f*ck, must change water today level". Smell is "definitelly need to clean", but definitelly not "apocalypse, all inhabitants will die".
I don't have a test for ammonia. The strips are off and always show "crisis". I've stopped buying the liquid test because it shows me how much I've shaken the bottle rather than an accurate reading. I can tell ammonia is fine by how the fish look and behave + smell. My main indicator for anything dangerous is Blue. He turns white if there are issues (only happens when I'm cycling a fishtank with him inside (see examples below), he's not going white under this conditions), also there's no fin rot.
I do daily water changes when there are issues:
Moved, got a new fishtank to move fish from old house to new house [cycling], moved fish in[suddent poop load, more cycling], had the fishtank leak and got a new one [cycling again, but better than keeping fish in buckets], then had to move again [tank drained for a day, bacteria in filter cooked, it was a hot day. Had to cycle again] etc. All those cycling examples included daily water changes to make sure water paremeters are ok. That's a lot of work and quite hardcore.
I never have algae in the tank. I have to clean the glass like once in 2-3 months or so. Not sure why, I don't see "pleco roads"on the glass... and he prefers meat anyway.
Plants grow amazing on the tank water, so algae should too, but I don't have algae (shrugs.jpeg).
The only time I have algae is when I have to change tanks and failed to keep my filter bacteria alive.
I have two automatic fish feeders: a commercial model I bought a few years back and which I have never trusted, and a flesh-and-blood domestic model with whom I have been living for several decades. I like the second one so much I even married her! 
But they both require some programming to get them to do the job correctly. After a few instances of fairly extreme overfeeding while I was away from home for work, I began to rely on pre-measured food doses stored in individual small containers from the Dollar Store. Now each tank has a neat little row of these things, loaded with the desired quantities and varieties of food for each tank based upon its individual needs. No more overfeeding, no more stress on me or my wife. I would suggest a similar set-up for your fish-sitter.
But they both require some programming to get them to do the job correctly. After a few instances of fairly extreme overfeeding while I was away from home for work, I began to rely on pre-measured food doses stored in individual small containers from the Dollar Store. Now each tank has a neat little row of these things, loaded with the desired quantities and varieties of food for each tank based upon its individual needs. No more overfeeding, no more stress on me or my wife. I would suggest a similar set-up for your fish-sitter.
I have two automatic fish feeders: a commercial model I bought a few years back and which I have never trusted, and a flesh-and-blood domestic model with whom I have been living for several decades. I like the second one so much I even married her!
But they both require some programming to get them to do the job correctly. After a few instances of fairly extreme overfeeding while I was away from home for work, I began to rely on pre-measured food doses stored in individual small containers from the Dollar Store. Now each tank has a neat little row of these things, loaded with the desired quantities and varieties of food for each tank based upon its individual needs. No more overfeeding, no more stress on me or my wife. I would suggest a similar set-up for your fish-sitter.
Thanx. I thought of pre-packaging food, but quite honestly, it's hard to overfeed them unless the whole food container is dumped in the water.
Just measured and the minimum amount I feed is 1/8 cup of pellets. They will eat 1/4 cup in about a minute or so. Will just leave the 1/4 measuring cup out ?
If overfeeding happens, I'll just be back to a bigger Cuban and maybe slightly bigger Terrors. Those are about a year and something old and don't think they're done growing... hopefully, not much bigger pleco...?
The sitter will also water plants, so some water will be changed aswell.
She'll send me pics of test strips, so I'm not worried any more. It's not her first time aquarium sitting and she didn't kill more fragile fish.
An automatic aquarium feeder is a must for those constantly away from home. Automatic feeders are also very useful for fish farming during the rearing of young fish when you often need to give out food. An auto-feeder, whose price is not high, allows the owner to be absent for several days. But in this case, when choosing an accessory such as an automatic fish feeder, you need to pay attention to its volume. The automatic feeder for the aquarium works on a timer but is a drum with holes. But such a feeder is configured very easily and quickly, but it is quite cheap.
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