Going On Holiday - 4 Weeks!

[mp7125]

Hi I'm going on holiday in August for 4 weeks. Got somebody to pop in twice a week to feed but worried that it will not be cleaned during that time. Any suggestions on what I need to do. Thanks

 

[vinylman]

Don't worry about it; the fish will be fed twice a week, not every day, so the water quality shouldn't suffer. Are you leaving the food already measured out and hiding the rest away?. However well-meaning your 'minder' may be, the sight of a tub of food might just be too tempting. Just do a water change a day or two before you leave, just so you know everything's working fine after being switched back on before you go. Enjoy your hols.

 

[FiSh123FiSh]

Well looking at your sig you have quite a few hardy fish. I personally would do a really good clean out the day before you go; as this will probably be fine. BUT you must clean them out as soon as you get back from holiday. If you tell the person to feed them half the time you would normally eg. once a day - once every 2 days. This will not affect the fish as in the wild they will be getting hardly any food anyway. This will also mean that the fishes waste will be getting cut down reducing the ammonia and any left over food will not be in any great number, it looks like though that you have a good balance of feeding level fish so you won't get any left food.

All should be fine and have a nice holiday

Tom.

 

[mp7125]

Don't worry about it; the fish will be fed twice a week, not every day, so the water quality shouldn't suffer. Are you leaving the food already measured out and hiding the rest away?. However well-meaning your 'minder' may be, the sight of a tub of food might just be too tempting. Just do a water change a day or two before you leave, just so you know everything's working fine after being switched back on before you go. Enjoy your hols.

All measured up and the rest hidden. My minder got tempted once and fed a little bit extra from the tub. When I came back there was left over food everywhere.

Thanks for you advice and fish123fish, very reassuring.

 

[joecoral]

you may need to instruct whoever is doing the feeding how to top up water too, as if its warm then there might be a considerable amount lost from evaporation

 

[vinylman]

you may need to instruct whoever is doing the feeding how to top up water too, as if its warm then there might be a considerable amount lost from evaporation

That's a good point; try to fill several large plastic bottles with dechlorinated water and leave them in a cupboard somewhere (out of the light). Mark a level on the tank and tell your helper that if it falls to that point, to empty the bottled water in to bring it back up to the usual level.

 

[mp7125]

you may need to instruct whoever is doing the feeding how to top up water too, as if its warm then there might be a considerable amount lost from evaporation

That's a good point; try to fill several large plastic bottles with dechlorinated water and leave them in a cupboard somewhere (out of the light). Mark a level on the tank and tell your helper that if it falls to that point, to empty the bottled water in to bring it back up to the usual level.

Thanks Joecoral and vinylman. Didn't even think of the need for topping up. Excellent idea of leaving decholrinated water bottle.

 

[gaz gun man]

make sure you instruct to use the bottled water only!

Dont know how clued up your friend is, (s)he might find it helpful to give them 'fresh' water from the tap instead.