Feeding over vacation

[tbrook27]

Hello,
I'm new to the forum. I have a figure 8 puffer fish who is only a baby, maybe a little over an inch long. She is in a five gallon tank at the moment but will be in at least a 25 gallon tank by June. My problem is that I am leaving for a two week vacation in a week and a half. I have been feeding my puffer a mix of dried bloodworms and freeze dried jumbo shrimp. She has never been very picky. there are two ghost shrimp still left from the pet store that she has not eaten yet, they are always hiding under things.
I purchased several options for feeding.
Fish Mate F14 Aquarium Fish Feeder. (I'm worried that the humidity here will clog it)
Tetra Vacation Tropical slow release feeder Plaster free gel formula
API Vacation pyramid fish feeder
pro Balance Vacation feeder

I'm worried that my puffer won't like these slow release feeders or that the diet of them for two weeks could potentially be harmful. I do have a guppy and a very small pleco in with her. The guppy is a little dumb and doesn't know to keep it's distance so if the puffer does get hungry I'm sure the guppy would become lunch. My pleco knows to keep its distance and spends a lot of time hiding so I'm not too worried about it.
I appreciate any help I can get!

[Iliveinazoo]

I feed my puffer frozen food such as shrimps, bloodworms, cockles etc. i have not tried him with pellets so wouldn't know if he would take them or not. You mainly want to try and feed crunchy food to help wear down the teeth but a temporary pellet diet, so long as your puffer will take them, wouldn't do any harm while you're on holiday. Just avoid floating food to avoid your puffer taking in air accidentily.

I know that you already know that your current tank is overstocked but you need to think about upgrading as soon as you can or temporarily rehoming the fish. Your puffer and guppy will do fine in the low salinity environment that your puffer needs for long term care but your plec is out of place and will need a seperate tank set up for its own needs. Your Guppy will also appreciate some company of its own kind.

[tbrook27]

So I take it any of the slow release foods will be okay?
As far as feeding goes in the future what kinds of harder foods would you recommend? Being the cheapest and easiest to obtain that is still good for my puffer. I don't have a vehicle so I have to mail most everything.
I'll be moving the guppy out as soon as possible, but the pleco will stay until I upgrade.
Thank you for your quick response!

[Pufferpunk]

Absolutely not, in a tank that is already much too small. It will become toxic quickly. Is there nobody at all, you can ask to come over to care for it? Or at that small of a tank, it would be easily moved to someone's home to take care of it--even do the regular weekly WC on it?

[Iliveinazoo]

I agree with Pufferpunk that it would be best for a friend or family member to look after the tank for you because feeding every other day will be fine for your fish.

I can't see a reason why the motorised feeder that stays above the water line would pollute your water any more than a usual feed but it is a good point. You would first have to check that your fish are taking the pellets and then you would have to test the feeder to see how much it feeds over a given time. You can substantially reduce a usual feeding regime while on holiday with no ill effects so you could leave many of the compartments empty to reduce the impact to the tank water.

Please bear in mind that your current tank only holds a 1/3rd of the water that your puffer needs and you have 2 other fish in there so you can just imagine how quick your tank can become toxic.

I notice that you would like to remove the Guppy and keep the plec. but unfortunately this is completely the wrong way around, your Guppy and puffer can thrive in a low salinity environment - if you provide larger tank - but your Plec. will get ill and die in these conditions. If you set up your new tank for your Plec. then your Puffer and Guppy will die prematurely. If you want to keep your Plec. and it is a common Plec. then you should think about rehoming your Puffer and Guppy and buy a tank with about a 2m x1m footprint.

[tbrook27]

I do weekly water changes and I test the water regularly. I understand that the conditions of my tank are not ideal. I have not added any marine salt yet to the water considering that my puffer is so young and that it would hurt my pleco. I read that people in some cases don't ever add the marine salt and the puffer grows to be happy and healthy so I didn't think that there would be any harm in waiting a month or two. When I purchased my puffer they let me know it would not be a problem. The fish store is a trusted one as well.
I can send the test results of what my water later.
I do not have the option to have someone come over and feed them for me. The dorm here requires a 'hotel key' to get in and they won't give me a spare. I even considered having someone jump in the window to feed them. I'll be gone 11 days, not a full 14. I can do a water change the day I leave . I did not think the added four days without a water change would be such a potential risk to my fish.
The automatic fish feeder I got lets you control the amount you put in the slots and its a slow release. I know pretty much the exact amount my fish eat during their meals so I'm not too worried about leftover bits of food polluting my tank. The puffer will eat anything and if any of the tetra food is missed the pleco picks it up. I'm more worried about the automatic one getting clogged. I'm thinking on using that and one of the slow release as a back up?
At this point I understand all of your concerns for my fish but right now they all appear happy and healthy with no signs of illness or disease. So for now I'm looking for the best way possible I can leave my tank unsupervised for 11 days.

[Pufferpunk]

Please rehome that pleco! That tank si MUCH too small to support both those fish. That pleco produces a TON of waste & will grow to 18"!

Your best bet would be to transfer the tank to someone else's room while your gone & get rid of the pleco before you go.

[tbrook27]

I will re-home the pleco when I have the means to, probably with the guppy. Again the pleco is about an inch in length.
I'll look into moving the tank but in all likelihood I will have to use the automatic feeder and the slow release pellet. My actual intended purpose of this discussion thread.
last time I checked the water as I said I would later post:
Nitrate 20
Nitrite 0
Hardness Hard
Chlorine 0
Alkalinity 120
PH 7.8

As much as I've read about water levels these were all good numbers.