Feeding Fish/Fish Sitter

[roadkeel]

I am on the verge or beginning to buy a tank and sump tank and all the other things I need to start a saltwater tank. Then today I talk to one of my friends and he tells me he is in the process of having to rebuild his entire system since the person who was fish sitting for him while he was on vacation must have overfed his fish and disrupted his entire system. This is his assumption. He has a 29 gallon Biocube that is about 6 years old.

I have been reading about the different foods different fish eat. On my stocking wish list is a pair of clowns, maybe a couple of pajama cardinals, a blenny and a couple of shrimp. Will the feeding for this small list be too complicated for our house sitter to feed our fish when we are away from home. My wife and I always spend 4-6 weekends and 2 weeks each spring/summer at the beach. I just want to make sure I am not going to come home to a stressed system because of feeding complications.

What do you folks do when you go on vacation to ensure your fish are well taken care of?

 

[stunreefer Verified Sponsor]

Look at Eheim automatic fish feeder and a good auto top off system (Tunze is the best fail-safe option IMO/IME). Everything will be fine while you're away and no worries about neighbors. You can set up a webcam to view or controller to monitor too if you want to get real fancy - or paranoid

 

[Small triggers]

And a weekend without food is not a problem...
But the automatic fish feeder for the long vacations is a good idea.. I don't trust anyone except other hobbyists to really feed my fish, as they do have a tendency to over feed...

 

[Dalmatia]

For 5 little fish? Tell the sitter 1 cube in the morning and 1 cube in the evening!
Or as mentioned,,,, get a auto fish feeder and put in some flakes

 

[Dalmatia]

Sorry for your friend, maybe the sitter polluted the tank some how, did he run an ammonia test? That would tell him more about his situation and maybe to what needed to be done to save his tank