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I plan on leaving my 90gal african cichlid tank unattended for eight days. I was once told that cichlids can go without food for long periods of time without a problem. I've consider an automatic fish feeder but my fear is that a malfunction may do more harm then good. Looking for suggestions and first hand experiences of leaving the tank while on vacation. I look forward to any replies...Thanks[/b]

As someone who kept a 75 gal. mbuna (Malawi) tank at one point, it is true that they can go without food for a couple days. In fact, it's considered a good idea to fast them once in a while - I hear it keeps the bloat away.

8 days is a long time, though. One suggestion would be to get a few algae clips and put a few large romaine lettuce leaves in there. Not sure how many fish you have - my fully stocked tank could go through a lettuce leaf in a day with no problem (when they got big, it was faster than that).

However, there's the problem of the lettuce leaves rotting and getting _ into the filter before they even provide food.

Another thought might be to put some cheap plants in there that won't die right away in the high pH. Mbuna love plants (and it's a healthy diet for them)

Anyway, just my $.02

- Amy

GET:

penn plax daily double auto feeder

with Kent reef-herbivore pellet food

always reasonably priced at Uncle Ned's

we also ship or deliver

I have heard the eheim auto feeder is good too. It is expensive, but so is everything eheim.

I have had nothing but good luck with my eheim stuff though.
Make sure you test the autofeeder a few days before you go to make sure it is working as you want it to do so.

Fyi, there are people who use the eheim full time to do their feeding to maintain a steady and constant supply of food. That is a bit much for me.