I'm in college, so I am taking all 22 of my fish (gold barbs, leopard danio, harlequin rosbara, etc's) home with me for christmas break. I kind of want to leave at least one fish in my tank, so I am thinking about leaving my algae eater in there (because they are near impossible to catch anyways). I have a 14 day feeding block I can throw in, but my break is about a month long. Think he will be alright? He'll probably double in size by the time I get back.

If I decided to take him with me too, would a fishless tank be alright for a little under a month while I am gone? Should I keep the HOB filter running?

Thanks

If you have an auto fish feeder that would be helpful feeding the BB being as the bioload on the tank will be next to nothing once you remove the fish and rotting fish food is a good producer of ammonia. The only issue I can see is if you leave the algae eater in there and a feeding block then the BB will die off due to the drop in waste that will be produced from the other fish. Definitely do not turn off your filter because your water will go stagnant. That is about all I can think of at the moment.

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75 Gallon Planted

I don't have an auto feeder, and nor do I really want to buy one.

That's the best I can suggest. I think that you are probably going to have to deal with having to cycle your tank once you come back from vacation. All your BB will die off soon after you take the majority of your fish out of the tank so once they go back in, well, ammonia will spike then comes nitrites and after that come the nitrates. Auto fish feeders are only like $10. I suggest you get one. good luck.

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75 Gallon Planted

I am surprised your school is letting you keep your tank there over xmas break. Mine is not

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Why you just give it to some friends who live in the city where your school located?

Because all my friends are students, and they are all going home too. Plus I would think that if I were to leave him in there, he will be giving off some waste so the BB can feed off of. I'll have a feeding block in there for him, and plus algae doesn't really stop growing, so he will have that to eat too.