Advice on planted tank

[loverans]

Hi guys, please advice what should I do with the tank when I will be on vacation for 10days. Mine is a 3ft tank, 234 watts and on for eight hours daily and with cylinder CO2 supplied. There are many plants and about 40 fishes in the tank. I am worried about algae and death of fishes or plant when I am back from vacation as no one is taken care of it. Thanks

[Aeon]

What I will do is

1. Get an auto feeder to feed half (or as little as possible w/o starving the fishes) of the usual amount daily. If no auto-feeder, just feed the fish to very full before leaving.
2. Do a 50-60% WC just before leaving.
3. Lower lights and CO2 to half the amount.
4. If you don't have auto-doser, dose half of 10 days worth of ferts.
5. Water level should be very high / close to the brim.

http://www.aquatic-eden.com/2007/04/...ariums-ok.html

[ast21]

it better to get a food timer and a timer for your light and co2. set it to 7 hour.it should be fine.

[loverans]

which auto feeder to use ? Hi Aeon, how many hours should I reduce the lighting ? thanks

[bengy]

Hi guys, please advice what should I do with the tank when I will be on vacation for 10days. Mine is a 3ft tank, 234 watts and on for eight hours daily and with cylinder CO2 supplied. There are many plants and about 40 fishes in the tank. I am worried about algae and death of fishes or plant when I am back from vacation as no one is taken care of it. Thanks

you should know how much water the get evaporated in a week... so from there you judge. imp thing is do you use a fan to cool your tank? if you do, i suggest you just switch off the fan.

What kind of fishes are there inside? i presume is tetra family. just give your fishes a good meal before you leave. they will be no prob. this is unless your tank is quite heavily planted.

cause i believe if your tank is running well already, and slight changes in fert dose, lighting, or huge water change will create a dramatic change to tank paramaters. and this is when shit happens. planted tank setup actually are self sufficient once the setup is mature. so only thing you worry is evaporation of water if you use a fan.

just my 2 cents..