Fish rooms and collecting trips.

[Eupterus]

I've left wondering how these people who do collecting trips and go to faraway places ever manage to keep a fish room going while they are away.
Most fish sitters have trouble with a few aquariums, let alone many of them. Most of us know the horror stories of the typical fish sitter.

That's assuming one could ever find a fish sitter to manage a whole room of fish tanks. Which if could be found, would be quite expensive.
Which brings up the who could afford to hire someone to manage a fish room , stop working and take an expensive trip to a faraway land.

They give a lot of info about their trips, but never these details.

 

[krichardson]

Good questions.I only have a few tanks set up and it stresses me out to have my relatives look after my fish while I'm away.

 

[nicholasdances]

if people have money to take these trips then I'm sure they have the money to pay someone with proper experience.

 

[south coast nelly]

I would imagine most people who do this have help to care for there fish, ie a good friend base who they can lean on in times like this,i mean ive met so many people in my old area where i lived,we did a lot for each other, also you have those people who have businesse's where they go around,set up tanks and care for them for people, maybe they use these people...But it is a intresting question

 

[mshill90]

How long of a trip are we talking?

I know it's not something a fish lover wants to do, but a tank could go unattended for about 7-10 days if you have the proper stocking and filtration.

Fish don't need fed everyday, and it wouldn't hurt a typical tank to go a week or so with out a w/c.

I personally don't go on vacation... lol.

 

[kdrun76]

I went on a 3 week trip last June. Not a fish collecting trip, but I left a house full of aquaria while I was gone.

I did a lot of water changes before I left and spent a lot of time letting my house sitter know what a proper running tank should look and sound like. She was given 5 meals for each tank measured out into little zip lock bags and taped to the front of each tank. She could give them their meal at any time while I was gone, I didn't care. The "meals" were a little less than a typical day's ration. Since I usually only feed 4-5 times a week any ways, it was the equivalent of 1 week of food spread out over 3 weeks.

When I got home the water levels were low and the tanks needed to be cleaned, but all was well. One fish mysteriously disappeared while I was gone. Keep in mind that we are talking about 1 fish out of several hundred.

 

[GhostShrimpMan]

^ Very Nice!

 

[Somethingfishyinc.net]

I was in Australia for 3 weeks, have 22 tanks including a 350g , fish fed five times & did not lose a single fish.
Also collected in the Amazon & gone for ten days & no loses.

Remember many fishes & Animals go through droughts, flood seasons etc. & do not eat ever couple hours!
Lights on timers, auto feeders available.

nada big deal if planned ahead.

Also a good way to show or feed correct is go get the cheap pill containers that have the days on them & portion the food out for each day to feed!

Works great for my service company & keep the woman from over feeding the fish!

me Dave

 

[bubbles123]

The pill containers idea is what I use if I'm away for more than 3 days. I put smaller portions into each container than what each tank would be fed per day. The last time I was in Vegas for a week, one of the tanks spawned while I was away. The fry were fine too.