Going on 2 week vacation!

[LilBangarang]

Well it's more like 12 days. They are all young. I don't feel comfortable leaving them that whole time. What should I do. I don't want to use feeding blocks. I have 3 panda cories, yoyo loaches, yellow labs, and giant danios as well as one clown pleco. I know my clown pleco will be okay because I have never even seen him eat the algae wafers that I give him, and he's still goin'. What should I do.

 

[jcolon]

I'm in the same boat! I'll "only" be gone 10 days.

What I intend to do is do a 25% PWC, filter maintenance and feed them the day before I go. I'm having a neighbor feed them once a day ... skipping Tuesday's and Sat.

Aside from that not much else you can do. Do you have someone you trust to feed them? Really you can have someone do it once every other day ... your fish wont starve ... they can go every other day eating.

 

[rich311k]

All you really need is someone to come in once maybe twice. Leave a premeasured amount of food. They will be ok regardless. Fish are cold blooded, they can go a long time without eating, they do not need food to maintain their body heat so they do not need food on a regular basis like us mammals, think more on the lines of a reptile.

 

[mfdrookie516]

I agree with Rich, I think 2 time would be plenty, 3 if you're really really concerned. And, normal portions, not extra to make up for what they've missed. They'd probably be just fine the whole time, but that's just a bit too long for my comfort.

 

[henry1245]

I am planning a 2 week holiday soon too - would the tank be ok for 2 weeks without a PWC?

 

[kaiofcanada]

I agree with all above about the once to twice per week. With them eating less there should be no concern for a missed weekly water change. Just be sure to do one as soon as you get back. If your tank is established and not at it's filtering capacity, two weeks should not be too much of a concern.

Also, when I take vacation, I premeasure the food and hide the rest from the care giver. In the past I have had "sympathetic" people who decided that the fish "still" looked hungry. I am sure you all know what I am talking about. Twice the tank was overfed despite explicit instruction and was a hot mess when I came back from vacation.

 

[Homedog98]

I'm going on vacation for 6 days... Not planning to do anything. I figure there's enough plant matter for them to feed on if they get desperate, and I'll do a parameter check and water change the day before I leave.