Vacation and Power Outage Questions

[Zenobia]

Hey everyone!

Well thanks to a lot of help from some of you here on the site, I've got my 10 gallon tank successfully up and running for about 2-3 months now. Got 4 awesome female guppies in there that have been doing quite fine so far. I love the little guys .. Er, girls.

My husband and I will be going on vacation for the entire month of September (I know, still a long ways off) later this year and I have a few questions:
- How will they get fed?
- Can they survive for a whole month by themselves?
- Can the tank go for a whole month without any water changes?

We went on vacation last month for 4 days and they did absolutely fine. A month is a lot longer than 4 days though.

Also, we've had a few small power outages (1 hour at most w/o power) due to some severe storms out here recently. But it got me thinking again:
- What do you guys do in the event of a power loss?
- Do you have a backup generator?
- How long can the fish go without any circulation and/or heat in the tank?

Those are all my questions for now .. Im sure I'll have more for you guys later.

 

[mudraker]

How will they get fed?
- Can they survive for a whole month by themselves?
- Can the tank go for a whole month without any water changes?

You are obviously going to have to find someone to feed the fish at least a couple of times a week. A month is too long to fast guppies.

If the tank is well-maintained prior to your vacation, you should be able to get away with a month of no PWC, as long as whoever feeds your fish does not overfeed.

When I have to be away, I premeasure the amount of food to be feed in a seperate baggie for each day. Less chance of a screw-up that way.

What do you guys do in the event of a power loss?
- Do you have a backup generator?

Yes, but we only use it for really long outages and its super cold.

How long can the fish go without any circulation and/or heat in the tank

If the tank is healthy, well-maintained and not overstocked it can go a couple of days without filtration before it starts to go down the tubes.

Heat, it depends on the ambient temperature of the room. If 70 in the house, the guppies can go on forever. If its 40 degrees, not for very long.

A lot of people who just went through recent huricanes and last winter's storms probably have tons of valuable advice

 

[shadowstars123]

If the tank is healthy, well-maintained and not overstocked it can go a couple of days without filtration before it starts to go down the tubes.

Heat, it depends on the ambient temperature of the room. If 70 in the house, the guppies can go on forever. If its 40 degrees, not for very long.

A lot of people who just went through recent huricanes and last winter's storms probably have tons of valuable advice

Wouldn't the beneficial bacteria die?.. What do you do then?

 

[Zenobia]

Thank you for the useful info mudraker.

If I can't find someone to feed our fish while we're gone, will an automatic feeder work just as well (any particular kind that's best?)?

Thankfully we haven't gone longer than an hour at most without power so far (definitely not the case for a lot of people in the rest of the area though, unfortunately).

Ugh, I hate leaving these guys alone for so long .. But my husband and I both terribly miss CA!

 

[AquaOne]

Get a battery powered feeder so the electric doesn't affect it, but I don't know if the fish-food will last a month outside a sealed container. Come to that not sure if even a tumbler-feeder would have enough supply for a whole month ! Neighbour ?

 

[James_in_MN]

I would think that a whole month without water changes would create a problem unless your tank is so heavily planted that your nitrAte levels don't ever go up much.

 

[jetajockey]

if you do go with a auto feeder, I suggest making it to where the fish only get fed a small amount once a week. This will minimize waste and keep the water cleaner, and the fish will be fine and hungry enough to not let the food sit around.

You'd be surprised how long a tank can go without the filter running, especially if it has plants in it.

 

[James_in_MN]

Get a battery powered feeder so the electric doesn't affect it, but I don't know if the fish-food will last a month outside a sealed container. Come to that not sure if even a tumbler-feeder would have enough supply for a whole month ! Neighbour ?

Some of the auto-feeders have an air pump attachment to keep the food dry. That doesn't exactly keep it sealed, but it probably would be OK. At least tank moisture wouldn't mold the food.

The real trick might be finding a feeder that will last a month without feeding them daily. The typical feeders I've seen allow you to program one or more feedings per day, but I don't think every other day was an option. I'm sure a google or amazon search might turn up something.

 

[Pecktec]

A UPS (Uninterrupted power supply) like they sell for PCs may keep the power going if it just flickers on and off every now and then. Sometimes that can mess with filters and heaters. It won’t work if it’s out for a long time but at least it would give them another hour or so. With just the pump attached, maybe several hours.