Holiday water

[mhancock]

Morning,

I was wondering what others did regarding water changes when they go away, particularly those who do big changes.

Do you simply do a big change before going away, and/or do you reduce the frequency before this so that the fish get used to a lower frequency?

I'm going to get away for maybe three weeks next year, but wondering about leaving the tank that long. There will be someone around to do feeding, but not that I could ask to do a water change!

Thank you

 

[mbsqw1d]

Yeh if you do a big water change just before leaving and ensure you instruct the tank-sitter to not overfeed, you should be ok. If your tank isnt planted, it would be a good idea to throw some fast growing stem plants in such as elodea densa, aka anacharis. That will help to absorb some nitrogen. You don't have to plant anacharis, it will do ok just floating in the tank, doesnt look great IMO but its cheap and effective at keeping nitrogen low

 

[ClownLurch]

Yeh if you do a big water change just before leaving and ensure you instruct the tank-sitter to not overfeed, you should be ok. If your tank isnt planted, it would be a good idea to throw some fast growing stem plants in such as elodea densa, aka anacharis. That will help to absorb some nitrogen. You don't have to plant anacharis, it will do ok just floating in the tank, doesnt look great IMO but its cheap and effective at keeping nitrogen low

Makes sense. If there’s no one there to look at the tank or no one that cares what it looks like then pile it in.

 

[AbbeysDad]

The previous advice is sound. A good water change before the departure along with fast growing floating plants. Anacharis is good, I like water sprite.
I'd also have the fish tender do only limited feeding, like small amounds every other day or even every three days...as the fish will be fine and less waste yields cleaner water.

 

[Colin_T]

Feed your fish more frequently for a couple of weeks before you go. This will help the fish gain some weight and put on fat reserves.

If you have a fish sitter, measure out the food and put each feed in a container for them. Give specific instructions on how much to use and only feed a couple of times a week.

Clean the filter a week before you go so it is clean and unlikely to play up while you are away. Wash filter media/ materials in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the dirty water on the lawn.

Do big water changes and gravel clean the substrate every few days for a week before you go. This will get the tank nice and clean and the fish will be fine for a few weeks while your away.

Adding plants (as suggested by others) is good too. But add them a couple of weeks before you go. This will give you time to see if the plants introduced anything bad, or if the plants don't settle in and die.

Put the tank lights on a timer and have them run for a bit longer each day. If algae grows while you are away, the fish can pick at it, and the algae will help use up nutrients in the water. When you get home, you can reduce the lighting times to their normal time.