How do you keep your fish safe while vacationing ?

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Joeybsmooth

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Dec 21, 2008
Messages
356
Location
South Carolina USA.
I have gone on vacation or business trips that were for over 4 days. And twice I had a mass level death. I have feeders and everything. But something always happens . Last time it was so bad. Oddly the last time it happen my blue gouramis made it when nothing else did.

And I don't know how it could be happening, it is not like I do a lot to the tanks while I am at home everyday. So why would they die when I am not there. And once I can see a freak accident. However 2 times.
 
Stop using feeders.
Most every fish can go for a 7 day no food spurt if it is healthy before hand.
I have gone on 9 day vacations and my 180g with "delicate" fish was fine(0 loss) upon return.The fish were hungry but they play that role pretty good true or not!
 
I usually have a neighbor feed them every 2-3 days. We have cats, so we always have somebody coming over for them anyway.


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how many days away was it when you had the fish deaths? i just realized you said over four days.

is your home air conditioned? you live in SC so it gets hot. are you leaving the ac on when you go away? if not, perhaps the tanks are getting too warm while you are gone? gouramis are pretty tolerant of high temps but maybe the others were not? just tossing out one theory. could be totally wrong.

*and when you say the tanks are going for a while before you leave, are you sure they are cycled? what is a while? you testing 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, low nitrates? just want to make sure these are cycled tanks youre talking about.
 
I've gone on vacations over 2+ weeks without giving my fish any sort of food with very minimal deaths(3 or less). I'd recommend just letting them go without food.


Fishobsessed7

3 tanks and counting! (6 if you count the bettas)
 
I've gone on vacations over 2+ weeks without giving my fish any sort of food with very minimal deaths(3 or less). I'd recommend just letting them go without food.


Fishobsessed7

3 tanks and counting! (6 if you count the bettas)

2+ weeks without food.!!? At least get someone to feed them once or twice during that length of time. That's pretty tough and sounds cruel like starving fish to death. Hence you lost a couple. Who basically starved to death.

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I understand fasting is actually beneficial for fish for a couple of days but come on 2weeks +

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2 weeks is not long for fish to go without food. If fish die in that period, they weren't healthy to begin with, are young fry, or you have other problems in the tank causing issues. No healthy fish in a healthy environment will die from 2 weeks without food. Fish generally take 3-4 days to digest a meal and are only missing a "required" meal or two in that time frame. Feed well before you go, do large water change after feeding, go away, come home and do large water change. If your one of these 10-25% a week water change people, your tank will not do well missing the small water change it is used to having weekly in order to barely keep the fish alive. Leaving a tank like this for 2 weeks with out food will have nothing to do with why all your fish are dead when you come home. And doing a large water change on a tank like this that is not used to having clean fresh water will send your fish into osmotic shock due to the large amount of dissolved solids being removed all at once. So if your only doing small water changes and you know your going away for a couple weeks, start doing more frequent small water changes and get your tank used to clean water. Having someone come in once or twice to feed over a couple weeks will give you peace of mind. Leave portion sizes in ziplock bags so whoever it is doesn't feed too much. I go away for a week or more at a time and even with my wife here most of the time they quite often go without food when I'm away. Once in awhile if I'm away more than a week my wife will let me know she threw some food in. I've never come home to a fish death or water parameters out of whack.
 
2+ weeks without food.!!? At least get someone to feed them once or twice during that length of time. That's pretty tough and sounds cruel like starving fish to death. Hence you lost a couple. Who basically starved to death.

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They weren't 100% percent healthy when I left, but they weren't dying either.

In the wild fish may go longer than that without food. And when you when you don't have neigbors, you're gonna have a hard time finding someone to drive several miles out of there way to feed your fish.


Fishobsessed7

3 tanks and counting! (6 if you count the bettas)
 
2+ weeks without food.!!? At least get someone to feed them once or twice during that length of time. That's pretty tough and sounds cruel like starving fish to death. Hence you lost a couple. Who basically starved to death.

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Its not ideal but certainly not cruelty. Nothing wrong with this in a pinch.
 
@ thing fish yeah they are cycled. I just don't know what could have happened. I guess never time I go off , I will just not use the feeder and see if that works out better.

Thanks all for the input.
 
I have someone who feeds my dogs and cats when I am away.(VACATION)
They come stay at my house(very good friend).:flowers:
She has never fed my fish no matter what.(That I know of...)
She asked the first year,after all the instructions for dogs and cats"so what do I do for the fish? You have so many!":nono:
I told to add X water in 5 days and enjoy watching the fish!:eek:
Even as good and trusted as she is(or anyone else),my tank is in better hands left alone.:thanks:
Too many horror stories of overfeeding,disease(from overfeeding)......:facepalm:

Lets all remember if you can't change the water you really should strongly consider how much pollution you add.:angel:
Even when my work schedule gets heavy and my tanks get less time I feed less.:rolleyes:

They are all balanced systems,can't do one without the other..for long.:oops:
If someone feeds for you get a pill box and lable everydays feeding and make it clear NO MORE!(y)(y)(y)
 
I need a pet sitter for mammals in my home when I am gone for longer than overnight, but I generally leave instructions to only feed the fish every other day. I too find that the average sitter will typically overfeed accidentally. I am not a fan of the autofeeders. I also agree fully that most healthy fish should be fine for a few days without food.
The pillbox suggestions is a really good idea!
 
I've left fish including fry for 10 days & they were fine, in a mature tank there's plenty of insuforia to keep them going for a while.
Those feeder blocks can foul the water quite quickly, I'd not use them, do a water change before you go to make sure everything's good & another when you get back.
 
My fish only get fed 2-3 times a week to begin with. I've left them a week with no problems. I feed the day I leave and as soon as I get back.

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When I'm away I ask a neighbour to feed them every third day with food I've measured out into separate pots. It's embarrassing that the fish look healthier on my return than when I'm at home and spoil them daily. Also, the nitrate level had hardly risen.


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