Leaving for a week.

[Matth05]

This is my first time going anywhere for more than just a few days since getting these tanks. On Sunday I leave to go on vacation for one full week. I’m pretty confident in my current game plan, but I’d love to hear any other suggestions.

The current plan is double up on waterchanges for this week, since I won’t be here to do usual routine w/c’s. I already make an effort to keep waste at a minimum, doing routine waterchanges every 3 days. This week in addition to my usual water change on Friday I plan on doing another on Saturday.

I’ve given my mom instructions to feed the cichlids LIGHTLY every other day. And feed the livebearers a small amount of flake food each day. She knows what to do when it comes to the absolute basics of fish keeping and I’ll show her how much she should be feeding. My father has had aquariums in the house since before I could even walk, I trust she’ll do a good job.

 

[abominus]

Good luck. My dad managed to kill my two oscars just within two days of me being on a vacation. Had to return immediately to find the aquarium in a absolutely horrible condition.

 

[Matth05]

Good luck. My dad managed to kill my two oscars just within two days of me being on a vacation. Had to return immediately to find the aquarium in a absolutely horrible condition.

Sorry to hear that. I trust things will be just fine while I’m gone. My tanks are not heavily stocked at all, if anything under stocked, so I should have some leeway if my mother feeds a bit more than she should. Like I said though I think she’ll do just fine.

 

[Sinister-Kisses]

No one but me touches my tanks, not even to feed. For a week, I'd let them fast. Won't hurt them for a short period like that (unless you have fry growing out), and fasted fish will produce less waste so the water will stay cleaner while you can't do water changes.

On the one occasion I've been away longer than a week, I portioned out food portions for each tank into little ziploc bags. Because A LITTLE to someone not knowledgeable about fish is very often actually A LOT of food.

 

[abominus]

Yeah you should be fine. My tank was a bit overstocked so maybe thats why it happened. I was just about to post what Sinister-Kisses said. My cousin also left his tank for a week while gone on a one week vacation without feeding the fish. IT had some mollies, tetras, etc. and they were fine upon returning. However i recoomend keeping the water temp to 22 to 24 degree celsius since the warmer the water the faster the metabolism of the fish will be making them more hungry.
You can also purchase a auto feeder which is a useful investment in the future too if you are nervous leaving them hungry.

 

[Matth05]

No one but me touches my tanks, not even to feed. For a week, I'd let them fast. Won't hurt them for a short period like that (unless you have fry growing out), and fasted fish will produce less waste so the water will stay cleaner while you can't do water changes.

On the one occasion I've been away longer than a week, I portioned out food portions for each tank into little ziploc bags. Because A LITTLE to someone not knowledgeable about fish is very often actually A LOT of food.

Good call on the ziploc bags. No fry growing out atm, so I probably could let them fast for the week. I do think my mother would be fine if I show her what to do. Maybe I’ll just tell her to feed one small portion in the middle of the week and that’s it.

 

[Matth05]

Yeah you should be fine. My tank was a bit overstocked so maybe thats why it happened. I was just about to post what Sinister-Kisses said. My cousin also left his tank for a week while gone on a one week vacation without feeding the fish. IT had some mollies, tetras, etc. and they were fine upon returning. However i recoomend keeping the water temp to 22 to 24 degree celsius since the warmer the water the faster the metabolism of the fish will be making them more hungry.
You can also purchase a auto feeder which is a useful investment in the future too if you are nervous leaving them hungry.

I keep the tanks at 75F. And not worried about fish being hungry. The cichlids and swordtails are all adult fish, so they should be fine with less food.

 

[jjohnwm]

Do yourself a favour, and get some white latex interior paint and a half-inch brush. Apply it to the front of each tank before you go; the ideal pattern is a large skull-and-crossbones, accompanied by the message "Keep Out! Do Not Touch Upon Pain of Death!!!" Reinforce this sentiment by seizing each member of your household by the throat and shaking them while screaming "Leave my fish alone!" Take all fish food that you have laying around, place into a metal box, weld it shut, and bury it at least 6 feet deep in the yard in a secret location.

You're gone for a week. With no young fry to worry about, your fish need absolutely nothing during that time. Don't do anything different, don't change anything just before you go. Don't buy some cheap plastic auto-feeder; they often have a tendency to become auto-killers. Don't change the tank temperature, don't add any new equipment. Don't introduce any new plants or fish between now and your trip.

The last-minute water change will be fine, as long as you do it just like all your normal water changes.

Go on vacation, relax, and enjoy!

 

[esoxlucius]

I can almost feel jjohnwm frustration in his post, lol. I'm with you my friend.

This is a very common, yet totally unnecessary concern regarding hobbyists going on holiday.Do people not take a blind bit of notice of previous threads and all the good advice dished out?

A good water change before you go and that is that. Forget feeding for up to 2 weeks.

If I was going on holiday for longer than 2 weeks then I'd maybe think about some kind of contingency plan regarding light feeding.

 

[Matth05]

I trust your guys’ judgement over my own. I’ll do the double waterchange, one Friday and one Saturday, and tell my mom not to worry about feeding.