Alrighty guys, here's the run down.

I need to transport most likely...14-16 fish home for Spring Break, as I should be getting two CrownTails in the mail in approximately a week and a half.

I have two empty ten gallons.

I was planning on going ahead and making the homemade dividers for them, and gluing them into place. I'm going to try to get them to both have at least eight divisions, which means everyone gets a little over a gallon to swim. I am not going to cycle these tanks. I will be able to remove the extra dividers later to make it into a five partition dual tank thingy.

I'm going to take them home so I can fill them up, then put fish in, without having to worry about cycling, as the water is still and there isn't a filter. Then do partial water changes every day to keep everyone happy.

After eight days, I'm going to put the fish back in their cups, and transport them back, however, before I leave I'm going to set up two fishless cycles in both of the ten gallon tanks, and let my sister monitor them, so I'll have a permanent home setup for the boys and girl.

I'd like to do this so I won't have to transport oodles and bagoodles of tanks home.

Also.

I am currently cycling a five gallon minibow with four zebra danios. Can I leave them with an automatic feeder over Spring Break? Does anyone have an automatic feeder that would be able to give me some feedback on brandnames and such? I don't want to move that tank home at all, five gallons is a heck of a lot of water to not spill, and having to move the danios, empty the tank, and restart the cycle is not in my game plan. If I leave the tank and take the danios home, they're not going to have a cycled tank to stay in. We have an old one gallon fish aquarium floating around the house, and the resident home betta Kumi in his halfgallon bowl, but I'm not putting four danios in either of these, they're just too small, and I can't afford another tank this month. My 5.5 is being set up again as we speak, so it's slightly aggravating.

Any input is more than welcome.

Thanks!!
Kristen

Most fish can go about a week without food, so IMHO, I would forgo buying any kind of feeder block or automatic feeder. The automatic feeder not being nearly as bad as the feeder block. They tend to cloud up your water, and the last thing you want while you are away is an ammonia spike that you cannot take care of. Of course, don't take me wrong, they just never seem to work for me.


One recommendation I might have that would work for you though, which is especially important to me because I'm going to the Bahamas next week, is I'm going to leave small baggies with 'pinches' of flake food in them, and the blood worms come in a package that has little individual cubes.

I'm going to have them feed my fish every other day to keep the 'waste production' down and keep any spikes from happening. That way when I get back I can just do a quick water change, my fish aren't starving to death, and everything is back to normal. With the feeder blocks, you can really foul up your water quickly. It's almost better to not feed them. The automatic feeder would be a good idea. I'd just put it so it only feeds every other day. The less food they eat the less waste they make. The lower the temperature the less harmful the effect of ammonia is... It makes it less toxic per say.

Good luck and let me know what you end up doing. I may have to give it a try myself!

I just want to make sure the danios don't die and start eating eachother or something. I'll probably go look at an automatic feeder and feed every 48 hours. They should be fine as long as they have some chow. I just dunno if they have the intestinal fortitude to live without food for a week, they swim sooo fast! :P

That sounds like a good idea. I feed my eel every other day and he's been doing great! I didn't feed my fish either when I spent the night out of town last weekend. Every 48 hours will keep the food from fouling the water and creating toxic conditions. Let us know how the automatic feeder works for you. Maybe you could write a product review. :)

I've had luck out of the feeder blocks before, but it was in an already cycled aquarium. If it's still cycling, then I might be a little concerned, but my level of concern would depend on how long it had been cycling.

Danios are hardy, which is why they are used for cycling, so I wouldn't worry much if that's all you have in there. I would save some money and get a feeder block for them.

Out of curiosity, how will you be traveling home? If you're driving, the bettas will have much less than 1g to swim in each, as you definately will not want to fill the tanks completely, in fact, you will probably want to keep it to around 1/2 full, maybe 2/3, depending upon how you drive. :P

The way I drive, there would be more water and bettas on the floorboards of the car, than in the tanks, if I filled it anymore than 1/2 full. The dividers will help control sloshing if they are verticle though, so you might get away with more than 1/2 full with them in there. It will be a heavy lift though if they are full... approximately 100lbs ea tank... so at 1/2 full you can save yourself a hernia. :D

I would actually recommend finding someone to take care of your bettas while you are gone if that's an option (maybe your room-mate isn't going home?). That way you can just take 1 or 2 of your favorites, and it's not such a hassle to move them all. Of course this might not be an option if everyone that's trustworthy enough goes home for spring break. :(

Well I know I can leave them here for a week without feeding them, but I feel like I can't leave them here or I might lose one of the ones that I'm treating for fin rot by not doing daily water changes. There isn't anybody I trust staying here for Spring Break, and it's also against the rules to give your keys to anyone, and it's $150 if you lose them.

I'm going to take them home in the "betta transport" box I came up with a few months ago. It's a tupperware box with an enforced lid that I poked holes into with a screw driver. After that was set up I caught everybody in their cups and put the lids on them. I then put Velcro pads on the bottom of my bettas cups, and onto the bottom of the bin, so that they can't slide should anything happen like slamming on brakes. Then I wedge it in between my back seat and my console in the front, and it normally makes for very happy betta boos, and very little loss of water.

I'm planning on taking the ten gallons home empty, but already divided, then filling them up when I get home. I just got two crowntails yesterday, and my little wee one I'm getting from someone on another board should be coming after Spring Break is over. Then when Spring Break is over and I'm heading back, the bettas go back in their cups and on their velcro pads, then I set up the cycles before I go home.

That's the plan so far, but sometimes things can go awry! :P Hopefully it'll work.

How long is spring break?
I'm not familiar with the USA schooling/college/uni stuff.

It's March 12-19th. I should be leaving on the thirteenth and coming back on the eighteenth.

The biggest thing I could say is: IF you get an automatic feeder, test it for several days before you leave.

Occasionaly a faulty of bad feeder will just dump all of the food out in 1 day.

You could consider gradually lowering the temperature in the danio tank. I'm assuming you heat it. Danios can live in water signifacantly cooler water than other tropical fish.

Just a thought.

12th-19th? A week? Don't bother feeding them! :) They'll be fine.

I feed my fish 1-3 times a week. Including some danios. ^_^ So don't sweat and enjoy your break.