Fishies will be without their mommy for ten days in March...

**mermaidwannabe** · 02-25-2011, 02:02 AM

Hubby and I will be embarking on our annual 10-day vacation in Oregon as he attends classes at an electronics convention.

Before we leave, I will be doing a thorough vacuumming of the gravel and a 50% water change. I'll clean the filter and rinse all the media, including the pre-filter sponge.

I'm going to see if hubby can rig up a timer on the hood light so there's no variation from the routine my fishies are accustomed to, regarding their light-on, light-off situation.

Now for feeding:

From what I've seen and heard of those preset timer feeders, I really don't trust them.

The other alternative are 14-day feeding blocks I can put right into the tank that slowly release a balanced food blend. I'm not crazy about them, either, but they seem a better, and easier to work with, alternative. I got some from PetSolutions, and the label says they will help "neutralize my water". If they're referring to the pH, I don't necessarily want it neutralized. My fish are accustomed to 7.4-7.5 consistently. If they do alter my pH, I just hope it's gradual enough that my fish will become acclimated to it.

Since I do water changes at least once a week and usually twice a week, this means my fish will go for ten days without having their water changed. I'll be relying heavily on my filtration system to keep their water quality good in the meantime. That's why I'll be cleaning it before I go.

My dojos and my other fish are accustomed to seeing me show up in the morning to manually feed them, and are accustomed to seeing me in the room watching them fairly often.

This is going to be a different experience for my fish, and I hope it's not too stressful. I'll leave them with the very best conditions possible, but what happens while I'm away I'll have no control over.

Hopefully, everyone will thrive, or at least be okay. I would stay home, except hubby has already made reservations for both of us at the lodging we'll be staying at, and he will want me with him, in any event.

Let's hope this works out well. I have a pump that will tide the tank over with the airstone in the event of a power outage for 24-hours, but after that, if one happens, there will be no water agitation, and the filter will have no water running through it. Should the power come back on while we're away, the motor of the filter will start up dry, which it isn't supposed to, as I won't be there to fill the chamber with water while it primes. This could ruin my filter and/or start a fire. The upside is that the airstone will continue working.

Am I justified in my apprehension, or just being a worrywort? I am not comfortable being away from home that long -- too many unforeseeables...

-- mermaidwannabe

**Lab_Rat** · 02-25-2011, 02:05 AM

They should be fine. I left my fish for 2 months, with only a friend coming in twice a week to feed and top off water (didn't want to bother her with WCs or anything). I've also left them 2 weeks with no food and they were fine. If the tank is mature, there are plenty of organisms for the fish to graze on.

**Goes to 11!** · 02-25-2011, 02:12 AM

Originally Posted by Lab_Rat

They should be fine. I left my fish for 2 months, with only a friend coming in twice a week to feed and top off water (didn't want to bother her with WCs or anything). I've also left them 2 weeks with no food and they were fine. If the tank is mature, there are plenty of organisms for the fish to graze on.

+1 fish in the wild don't eat every day.

They will be fine and there will be less waste also.

**Kazenouta** · 02-25-2011, 02:12 AM

I too left my fish for 9 days last summer. I left some of those plastic daily vitamin containers with the right amount of food for them in each day so that the friend I had feeding them had no confusion as to how much they were supposed to get and when. It was a bit of a change for the fish going from two smaller meals a day to one larger one I'm sure but they were fine when I got back.

Hope this helps

**fishmasterflash** · 02-25-2011, 02:15 AM

Originally Posted by Lab_Rat

They should be fine. I left my fish for 2 months, with only a friend coming in twice a week to feed and top off water (didn't want to bother her with WCs or anything). I've also left them 2 weeks with no food and they were fine. If the tank is mature, there are plenty of organisms for the fish to graze on.

+2 i leave my fish for two weeks every summer and they are usually fine. I've used the 14 day feeders before and my fish have never come to any harm usiing them.

**Lab_Rat** · 02-25-2011, 02:17 AM

I don't use the weekend feeders at all. They are known to foul the water. If the fish are healthy and well fed, a 2 week fast should be no big deal.

**Goes to 11!** · 02-25-2011, 02:21 AM

Originally Posted by Lab_Rat

I don't use the weekend feeders at all.

Me either, Look at it this way.

You can come home and have two weeks worth of leftover rotting food and waste sitting in the tank.
OR:
You can come home and NOT have two weeks worth of leftover food and waste in the tank.