Going on Holiday....what must i do?

Any type of glue is fine, since it will only be on the collection cup, which is not exposed to the tank. Most regular glues are safe for the tank anyways.

 

oh right fair enough ill get on with it tomorrow still got a week or two before we actually go away but at least it gives me more than enough time to get everything ready

 

on a feeder I would recommend the Rondomatic 400 - Aquarium Automatic Feeders: Rondomatic 400 - It seems much more reliable than the other automatic feeder, since it only feeds as mush as you put. The only problem is that it is pretty expensive.

 

I think pharmrjohn gave you all the info you need.

But in any case.

Feeding is not an issue over five days. I used two feed twice a day, every day and had constant ammonia issues. Now i feed three times a week, everyone is just as healthy (if not healthier) and no ammonia issues, etc.... Five days without food is not a problem.

If you get an auto feeder (I think they're a waste and never work right), set it to do on the second, and forth day. That's my suggestion, cause you can never trust the amount that will be released.

Lights, you can do a timer or just leave them off.

If you heat isn't hitting like 90+ f, then don't sweat it. I see a lot of people panicking on here about temps exceeding 83f. I cannot afford a chiller and had fans on and was topping off every other day cause of the massive amounts that evaporated. The fan fell in the water one day and died, didn't buy another. Now my tank hits 89f some days and everything is fine. I'm sure they suffer some discomfort, but popping out $800+ for a chiller then having to worry about where it's gonna go ( my fish space is kinda small and they release so much heat, I'll probably have to plumb it through a wall or such), I opted out the headache. I wouldn't worry about the heat too much.

Skimming, like john said, you can do a water change and leave it off. Or You can set it really slow/low. I know what you mean about sometimes the skimming and you get ALOT or a LITTLE. You can just run it really low and you'll end up getting a really dry skim, I prefer it a little wet. But if I know I'm not going to be home for a couple days I'll let it run dry, atleast I know it's still skimming and won't over flow.