2 WEEK VACATION HELP

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BigO6687

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Mar 23, 2010
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banana land
So Im going to israel for two weeks this summer so no water changes for two weeks.

I need a way to temporarily keep nitrates down while im gone

I plan to tell my sister to feed once a day and not so much and probably buy some purigen.

Will this actually keep my trates down or is is bs

another idea is putting lucky bamboo with only the roots submerged near my sponge filter where surface agitation and flow is highest but i need a way to put it there

ideas?
 
dont have your sister feed once a day once every 3 days seems better to me
 
idk my oscar goes nuts when hes hungry... im planning on feeding a lot then a 50% wc before I leave to the airport or should i change more?
 
You could try to keep the temp low : less nitrates production in all of my tanks. Don't know why (slower metabolism rate or less organic decomposition).
 
I went away for 2 weeks once as well and this is what i did.
I did as many water changes as i could to basically get my nitrates around 0ppm.
I went to a dollar store and bought 2 pill boxes(the ones that go from monday to sunday)
I put food in there for my sister to feed. I fed less than i normally would.
I told her to make sure that all the food was eaten before she left(she does not keep fish)
When i got home i did some water changes and everything was fine. I also had purigen in my filters whether that helped with nitrates or not i have no idea.

hth,
Chris
 
Fatten your fish up by feeding abundently the week prior to the trip. Change your water a few days before your trip. If you must have your sister feed your fish, limit the feedings to once or twice a week. Making her feed your fish daily allows for increased chances of error. Why create a situation where she could over feed on 10 occasions? Why not reduce her opportunties for failure? Keep it simple. Your fish can survive a fast.
 
My experience:

I went to Vancouver for Winter games for a week. I did a massive W/C before I left (50% 2 days before, and 50% the day before). I did not feed them at all while I was gone. I came back to a hungry bunch of african and american cichlids + koi/goldfish. None died!


Like the others have said, your going for 2 weeks, you can have her feed them one or twice a week. (I personally would put a normal feeding worth of food in a bag and have her give it to the fish 7 days into your trip). Less feeding = less nitrates.

Good luck and have fun!
 
ok time to revive this thread.

so the fish are a 6 1/2 inch oscar, an almost 5 inch gt, a ~7 inch leptobarbus hoevenii, 3 3" gold barbs (there were 4 but the oscar picked the smallest one off the other night), and two 2 1/2- 3 inch opaline gouramis
these fish aren't adults, so can they all survive a week long fast?

im scared of the oscar getting hungry and going after a gold barb too big for his mouth and choking

also, what in your experience helped bring down nitrates the most? would water lettuce help?
 
How soon is the trip? I ask because for plants to have any impact on nitrates they have to be established, in a large enough quantity and enough light to grow fast. I'd say the plants would need a good 2 weeks before they become established enough to start sucking out a bunch of nitrates.
 
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