# Month on vacation



## opufoor (Jan 31, 2004)

In july i will go a month on vacation. The problem is there is no one home to feed my 3 rbp's, and I can't give a key to one of my friends becouse of the alarm.
What should I do?

I'm scared if I starve them they will attac EATchother!!
Should i put 20 feeder goldfish in the tank ore will they kill them all in two days??

Help me out here?
Is there anyone who tryed this?


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## vanz (Sep 11, 2003)

That's a toughy dude...

They will surely kill each other if they run out of food. But they can also survive a long time without eating...

If I were you I would seperate the 3 using dividers. Then maybe you can stuff them up really good with fattening food before you go and have feeders in there too.

I still wouldn't do it though...try to find someone that will take your tank for a month.


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## kouma (Sep 1, 2003)

thats a good question, how about cleaning and water changes? could one not worry about it for 1 month?


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## imachode (Jun 3, 2003)

opufoor said:


> I'm scared if I starve them they will attac EATchother!!
> Should i put 20 feeder goldfish in the tank ore will they kill them all in two days??


 i put 20 feeders in expecting them to last atleast a while, but after 3 days... my 2x 6" rbps ate them all. of course conveniently while i was at school or clinic.
the bottom line being that don't expect it to last for a month


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## redrubykiller (Jan 2, 2004)

ya just stuff the tank with feeders the more the merrier, remember piranhas only eat when they're hungry and only leave the others if it's full. Another option is to get an automatic feeder machine that is set on a timer. I was away for over 3 weeks without a problem when I returned 3 goldies were left out of the 35 that I bought as my 5 juvenile P's left them alone and they probably survive on the mini pellets that were automatically fed to my P's. The only problem of doing this is the excess waste that is accumulated in the aquarium so make sure you have a good filtration system before you try this procedure.


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## Xtremek43 (Dec 5, 2003)

yeah that automatic feeder sounds cool, i would pick up another filter though like a extra emp 400 or something since there will be alot of extra wastes


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## kouma (Sep 1, 2003)

redrubykiller said:


> ya just stuff the tank with feeders the more the merrier, remember piranhas only eat when they're hungry and only leave the others if it's full. Another option is to get an automatic feeder machine that is set on a timer. I was away for over 3 weeks without a problem when I returned 3 goldies were left out of the 35 that I bought as my 5 juvenile P's left them alone and they probably survive on the mini pellets that were automatically fed to my P's. The only problem of doing this is the excess waste that is accumulated in the aquarium so make sure you have a good filtration system before you try this procedure.


 Thats not totally true. My rhoms kill for the fun of it, even after eating shrimp. They'd just bite the tail off and let the feeder bleed to death.


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## opufoor (Jan 31, 2004)

> Thats not totally true. My rhoms kill for the fun of it, even after eating shrimp. They'd just bite the tail off and let the feeder bleed to death.


Yes but eventualy they wil eat the goldfish, even if they killed him a few days befor for fun..
Or am I wrong?


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## mantis (May 16, 2003)

a month is too long unattended, See if the LFS will hold on to them for you.


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## X-D-X (Jul 3, 2003)

shut off the alarm dude or do u live in the ghetto


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## opufoor (Jan 31, 2004)

> shut off the alarm dude or do u live in the ghetto


I live in Brussels the capital of Europe(not the ghetto)







. After they broke into my hous twice we installed the alarm







. No way my mother wants to shut it off for a month!!


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## kouma (Sep 1, 2003)

mantis said:


> a month is too long unattended, See if the LFS will hold on to them for you.


 great suggestion, pay lfs a small fee to feed and take care of your reds.


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## Chad_linden (Dec 3, 2003)

opufoor said:


> > Thats not totally true. My rhoms kill for the fun of it, even after eating shrimp. They'd just bite the tail off and let the feeder bleed to death.
> 
> 
> Yes but eventualy they wil eat the goldfish, even if they killed him a few days befor for fun..
> Or am I wrong?


 Rhoms are different than RBPs, Rhoms kill because of territory, RBPs will only kill Golds if they're hungry. I'd say listen to everyone in this post, stock up on feeders, get an extra filter, and get a auto feeder from LFS or walmart.


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## opufoor (Jan 31, 2004)

Thax for the great ideas, I'll see what I'll do... I still have some time.
I'll let you guys know how it turned out...


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## smtNL (Feb 12, 2004)

heeys,, ja das nie zow best een maandje op vakantie jonge... maar die voedermachine werkt perfect... je moet hem natuurlijk niet gewoon in stellen maar bijvoorbeeld om de 2 dagen dan hebbe die maatjes van jouw rbp erge honger en laten ze niet veel over.... en natuurlijk wat goudvisjes erin voor de beweging


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## STIFFY (Jul 9, 2003)

Just give them all the catfish they can eat and when they are as full as can be give em a couple dozen feeders and some crawdads. It should hold them off and when you get back give em a mouse and enjoy the show. 
btw...this one jackass I know starved his rbp for 2 months and they didnt kill each other.


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## Kreth 10RBP (Dec 5, 2003)

My suggestion with the accumlation of information gathered in this thread.

Clean the tank throurouhgly a few days before, followed by a filter change and water change.

then load the tank up with goldfish, estimate ( 1 piranha eats 1 small goldfish per day, or 5/ per week, so give him 20 + 10 incase of stress and as a safety net..

be sure to divide them up with dividers or something homemade and safe.

do not leave pellets or beef heart in the tank... it ruins the water quick...

LFS idea isnt too bad at all if its legal to have em in brussels... Gl


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## opufoor (Jan 31, 2004)

Yes i'ts legal to have them in Belgium









Thank you for the info.

Ps: SMTNL --> chech out the international forum...


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