Going Away For 14 Days...

[challdog]

howdy guys,
im going away for 14 days...
leaving a total of 6 tanks
i have a tank-sitter... but who knows...

i just need a bit of re-assurance,
im under the impression that they'll be okay for prolonged amounts of time unfed,
if the tank is well established...?


i hope it'll be okay, but only time will tell i guess


cheers,
iain

 

[Fishy friend2]

I have heard that big fish in tanks can go for a couple of days without being fed

 

[This Old Spouse]

Any fish in any size tank can go for several days without being fed. I've left mine for nearly a week and didn't lose a single one. Plus, you'll find your tanks are pretty much squeaky clean (less food = less poo).

That being said, what are your tank sitters going to do while you're gone, Iain?

 

[james_fish]

My fish went a week without any food, and were all fine when i returned. Not sure with 2 weeks though

James.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I think two weeks is too long without food, but if the OP has someone coming in, they could just feed every few days to avoid any kind of overfeeding problem. What do you feed them Iain?

 

[lilfishie]

i'd get them being fed every 3-4 days and put the food measured out in something like a pill box so over feeding is avoided

 

[Proxo]

Nice big water change before you go & as you said you have a 'tank sitter' i'd set up some amounts of food (so they don't over feed)
for them to throw in every few days or even once a week should be fine i'd imagin.

Seems lilfishie can type faster then me

 

[challdog]

ive left instructions,
they only eat flake...
and i assume he'll forget frequently, so overfeeding probably wont be an issue

 

[soybean]

When my parents were tanksitting I actually drew a grid out on a bit of paper with days and times labelled, and put a tiny bit of food in each square, with instructions to ring me if they weren't sure! I also hid the tubs of food for good measure. Tanksitters can be over generous!

 

[saz326]

This may be contrary to what some others say but in my preference:

Do a heavy water change around 4 days before going away - gives the water a chance to show any damage caused to filter (chemical test results) I WOULD NEVER do a water change just before going away and would certainly NEVER clean out the filter before going away. You never know whether you may upset the balance and come home to a cycling tank.

If you know in advance that you will be away, feed your fish up a little with a balanced and varied diet. Reduce the feeding at the time of the water change and feed at normal daily levels until you go away. Community fish will be fine for 2 weeks without food.

If however you have a cichlid tank full of agression then you may find any fish that start to become weak towards the end of the holiday may succome to bullying. Also if you have larger fish - then if they were to die (old age etc) their body size would pollute the tank as it... well... rots (gross)

Best bet is to set up an automatic feeder the week before you go away. This will give you the chance to see how much the fish get fed so you can adjust the portion sizes released by the feeder. Have someone call into the house to check the post etc and check nothing is dead in the tank. you can supliment the feeder by hand by adding things like brine shrimp and bloodworms.

for the sake of £15. Get a battery powered feeder, kind neighbours will be happy to help you out!

 

[This Old Spouse]

Battery powered feeders aren't always reliable. Put the correct amount of food into the plastic pill boxes that have a week's worth of openings, or in your case, two weeks. Can't mess up the amount that way.

 

[challdog]

im back...
all went well

 

[micko]

THANK GOD!!!

I'm just going away this morning for 10 days and I'm so glad I've read this.

 

[SchottayB]

The Old, never thought of that! Good idea. I normaly do that but in food bags

Glad everything wen't well Challdog