Ei And Going Away For A Few Days

[aaronc]

Hi All

I am going away this weekend for 5 days and am worried about my tank.

I switched to high light and EI 2 weeks and all is going well at the moment.

What should I do to prepare the tank for this break.

Lighting and food isnt an issue, my main concern is ferts etc

Should I do a 50% water change on thursday night and dose with ferts and trace?

Any advice appreciated

Aaron

 

[BHornsey]

Hi Aaron,

Do you dry dose and can anyone dose for you?

I had a few days out recently. I made up the doses and put them in some empty fish food containers with instructions for my lad to 'dump this in on xxday'

If no-one can then another option is to turn the lights off! Minimal light, minimal uptake requirements. You would also need to reduce CO2 to prevent gassing the fish.

 

[aaronc]

Hi Brian

There is no one that can dose. Apartment will be empty.

I think it would be best to leave the lights off, but for 5 days seems a bit too long. Unless I change the photoperiod to say 5-6 hours instead of 10


Aaron

 

[nry]

You could use an automatic fishfeeder if you can dry dose for the time you are away. I may need to do this myself in a few months when I am away for a week.

 

[aaronc]

Hmm not sure about an automatic fish feeder, I dose liquids. Plus I can't afford one lol.

 

[Dave Spencer]

Basically, what you will need to do is slow the tank down for the time you are away. Light and CO2 are the main drivers for nutrient uptake, so just reduce the photoperiod or WPG before you go away. I think your CO2 is DIY, so I doubt there is a great deal you could do here.

Do a 50% water change before you go, dose nutrients to target levels, and the reduced nutrient uptake from your plants should see them through the five days.

I think your fish should be OK without food for five days. Just give them a decent feed before you go.

Dave.

 

[aaronc]

That is pretty much what I have decided to do. I will reduce photoperiod and take one CO2 bottle out of the loop which should halve co2.

Just gotta hope I don't come back to a green tank next week