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#1
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![]() And don't make any last minute changes or adjustments. Get everthing running stable for at least a week before and let it be. That little tweak just before you leave is the one that ends up causing a problem.
DAMHIK ![]() Most importantly though, enjoy your trip ![]()
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I retired and got a fixed income but it's broke. Ed _______________________________________ 50 gallon FOWLR, 10 gallon sump. 130 gallon reef, 20 gallon sump, 10 gallon refugium. 10 gallon quarantine. 60 gallon winter tank for pond fish. 300 gallon pond with waterfall. |
#2
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![]() Been thinking about autofeeders ... I found out a couple of things when I went away at Christmas.
I use the Nutrafin autofeeders on three of my tanks, 2xFW & the other is on the reef tank. I like these and have them running all the time - keeps me from forgetting to feed and gives the tanks a consistent feeding amount and feeding time every day. I can't recommend them enough, but I echo the comments about setting them up before hand and having them run for a week to make sure they dispense the amount you want. They work perfectly on the FW tanks, but I have run into a couple of problems I've run into on the Reef tank. This is a battery operated feeder. That's not a problem, just make sure you've put in fresh batteries before you head out - They seem to last for months. The problem is that I have a hood on the reef tank and two things happened: 1. The dry food (flakes & pellets) picked up the humidity from the tank and gummed up inside the feeder in about 1-2 wks. The only way to solve this would be to try the Eheim autofeeder that has some way of drying the food in the container - I've got one on order to try it out. 2. Salt water evaporation + battery connections = corrosion. In order to fix this, I think I'll need to solder extensions to the wires and put the battery holder outside the cover.
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~ Vic ~ 75gal Reef 35 gal sump/fuge ~ about to move all to new condo! Ottawa Tank Build My 1st Reef Tank Build |
#3
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![]() Good point Vic, I hadn't considered the effect of long term humidity on the autofeeder...
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#4
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![]() Just so you don't get the idea that humidity is always a problem, the other two feeders that are above the glass and drop through a hole, have no humidity problems at all. I've had food in them for months at a time without any clumping.
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~ Vic ~ 75gal Reef 35 gal sump/fuge ~ about to move all to new condo! Ottawa Tank Build My 1st Reef Tank Build |
#5
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![]() My tank has a canopy over it which the feeder would have to be inside of. I did run it for a week at Christmas without issue, but wasn't confident that it actually did anything for the fish. The feeder I have does have an "anti humidity door" on it, but the battery connections corroding isn't something that I had considered. I think the best thing to do is to just set it up and let it run for a couple of weeks before I leave and see how things do.
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