Leaving for 7 days, fish sitter or no?

[Maxi]

So, I am leaving for vacation for 7 days. Sunday - Sunday. I already have someone lined up to come in and feed the fish, and I will be teaching them one day, and testing them the next haha.

But I've read on the search function that they should be fine. I feed them every day, all I have is a 4g pico and I spot feed everything. Yellow goby and tail spot blenny. It is a 4 year old tank and it is very well established. LPS and Softy tank. I even spot feed the Anemone crab. Water evaporation isn't an issue, as I've tested it out when I use the cover it takes more than 2 weeks for the water level to even go down much. (LED system). But I keep the cover off when I'm home as it is more aesthetic and I can keep an eye on it.

Should I hire the sitter? Thoughts? I will be warning them how much every single thing in here is very valuable. But I won't be able to have any contact with the individual since I will be somewhere that there is no communication to the main land unless you pay and I contact them.

Just concerned because it is 7 days. I leave Saturday night, arrive back Sunday afternoon.

Thoughts?

[sherief.elsayed]

I was in a similar situation. I normally due a water change a day before I leave and tell my sitter to use portioned bags that I set up to feed daily or every 2 days of she couldn't make it in for any reason. And leave lots of RO/di water near the tank for her to top off. Went on an 8 day cruise and suffered all but one casualty and it was a chromis lol

[joshky]

If you have ATO setup you don't really need a sitter, but if you don't, I would just have them top off your tank and feed already portioned amounts of food. I wouldn't ask or expect anything more than that.

[soulpatch]

There are auto feeders that have portion sizes built into them so you could portion the food and have it feed the tank in your leave. That is typically what I do just setting up an auto feeder. My top off handles the rest of the maintenance for the week.

[Webmanny]

Oh man. I wish you had more time. Everything in my tank is automated. With the exception of water changes, but for your tank size, I understand that it may not be worth the money.

You could at least get an autofeeder and set it up a few days before you leave so you can test it. They are very cheap on eBay, but I'm sure Petco and Petsmart have them.

I would go this route, but the other ideas about already portioned food containers or bags may also work.

I love my setup and I have already gone on two cruises and even though my brother stopped by to make sure everything looked ok in the house, he didn't have to do anything with the tank.

[Ginger bay]

Highly recommend auto topoff, even for a 4gal. Don't need to feed tank more than every other day while gone. Fewer feedings cuts down chances of something going wrong.

If you want to be sure everything is OK while you're gone and even see how your tank keeper is doing, setup an IP Camera with smartphone appl.

[Ginger bay]

Answer to your question, no, you don't need a tank sitter for the 7 days you're gone. Just someone to dropby every other day to feed lightly and topoff water.