Vacation precautions

[cinciboy]

Hi
I will be on vacation for 10 days. Please let me know what are the precautions to be taken. I have a 26 Gal and 10 Gal.

26 gal - Community tank - recently added 1 bolivian Ram
10 Gal - 1 fan tail and 2 danios.

I have made my PWC for this week and also bought two 10 days food cake. Checked the hoses and pipes on my FLUVAL and AQUACLEAR for any blockage..

At present fishes are doing fine.. anything to add.

 

[greenmaji]

Maybe you could do a larger then normal PWC just before you leave.. I havnt used the food cakes before.. I would worry about that little 10 gallon getting dirty..

 

[cinciboy]

Maybe you could do a larger then normal PWC just before you leave.. I havnt used the food cakes before.. I would worry about that little 10 gallon getting dirty..

Thanks for the Idea.. I have a over capacity Aquaclear 300 on my 10 gallon.. hope it can handle it.

 

[Meredith]

I wouldn't use the food cakes. I have heard nothing but bad things about those. If you can, see if you can get an automatic feeder.

 

[cJw]

I remember reading that you could let your fish go for two weeks, even, and they would be fine w/out food.

I'm not sure how 'spoiled/tame' fish would handle a two week fast, but I'm sure they'd be fine with a lot less food than we'd give 'em. :d

 

[greenmaji]

Ive also read about the 14 day fast.. I would have said not to feed them if it were 4 days..

 

[cinciboy]

I have used previously 3 day cakes. No problems.. But this is the first time I am using a 10 day one.. So I am kind of nervous..

 

[cJw]

Well, worst case scenario is what : a dirty tank that needs a pwc when you get back?

I don't think there's so much food in that cake that your fish don't eat that will cause that much problems, do you?

You could set aside a small amount or three of flake food and have a trused friend come feed them ONLY THAT amount on designated days instead of using the cakes. :shrug:

 

[greenmaji]

What are those things made of?

 

[afishoutofh2o]

Pro Balance brand Large Fish 10-Day Floating Pellet Blocks published their ingredients.
Ingredients: Calcium sulfate, Calcium magnesium, Fish pellets, Fish meal, Oat meal, Shrimp meal, Dried daphnia, Hydrochloride, Vitamin B-1, and Vitamin B-2. Note: The block itself does not float - only the food pellets do. 4.9 ounces (138 grams).

The more acidic the water, the faster these things dissolve.
HTH

 

[Zezmo]

Hmm, what would all that calcium do to your water? I picked up a auto feeder for 15 bucks at PetSmart for my vacation later this summer.

 

[frenchpea2002]

for $15 you can get an automatic feeder. I'd take that back and get an auto feeder, just make sure to test it out before you go.

 

[TomK2]

I just got back from a two week vacation, 16 days away. I had two of the dissolvable 1 week feeders, and a new auto feeder that I did not have time to test. I put the dissolvable food pyramids in, filled the feeder, and left. When I got back, there were no food pyaramids, the auto feeder was half empty, and all the fish looked happy.

I chose to use the food pyramids in case the auto feeder was not working. In that case, there would be some food for the first week, and none for the second. Unfortunately, the auto feeder was a kind that makes a complete rapid rotation once every twelve hours then stays put in the interval between rotations, instead of continuously rotating. Thus, I could not monitor that it was working by watching it spin over a few hours. Unless you watched it all the time to catch the rotation, you would never know if it failed.

Other than the feeders, I did multiple water changes in the week prior to vacation, and a 40% change when I got home. The tank had lost about two inches of water level to evaporation.

 

[cinciboy]

I got back from vacation yesterday.... Found out that both my 10 gal and 29 gal are doing fine.. Looks like the fishes seems to be hungry and I fed them.. All fine.. except some plants are dug out probably by my catfish.