Going on hols - leaving tank for 2 weeks. Query.

Hi All,

I am going away next month for 2 weeks. Plan to just get a feeding block and pop it in the tank and do a good decent water change before I leave.

Should I get a timer to pop the light on for a few hours in the evening/night?

I am concerned there has been a few power cuts in the area and my filter seems to have a problem kicking back in again (once I get a glass and pop some of the aquarium water into the filter it kicks off again) so am worried. Is it safe to leave an air filter running for 2 weeks without turning off or is there a risk of it burning out?

Any other advice appreciated with regard to leaving tanks while going on hols.

Thanks to all

I have tried 2 methods, the let a member of the family feed the fish method, which when I came back the floor of the tank was covered in fish food and needed an extreme emergency make over (nice when you walk straight in the door), The other method was when i went on holiday for 10 days, I had the fish on a tmer and gave them some nice big feeds before I went and then left them unfed over the 10 days, when i came back i slowly started to re feed them, small amounts untill I built it up to the normal 2 - 3 times a day. I had less problems this way, In the wild fish are never guarented a feed twice a day and some end up going a long time without finding food, but again this does depend on what fish you have.

Most fish are not bothered wether they have a ligth on or not (if you have plants or marine its a different story), most of the time the lights are just for our viewing pleasure.

The filter might be an issue, im asuming its an external, if it stops you will have no filtration and algea can take over fast and the biological thingies in the filter will not be able to break gown all the nitrates and you could have an issue here, also if the filter stops running for a day then all the bilogical bacteria dies and then you hae to rebuild it which takes time and the filter will be starting off from scratch, the same will apply if you stop the filter and run and air filter there is no bacteria to break down the bad stuff and if you turn off the current filter it will kill the bacteria, if you have soem one who can check the filter is running daily and have been trainined on how to get it working if it stops this would be better.

At least you dont have the issue i had with my fluval 404 where when I had a power cut it would leak all the water out the tank.

Sorry i cant give you any more easy solutions

Do a water change the night before you leave, Id personally be cautious about feeding blocks,Ive heard bad things about them fouling the water etc and the fish dying etc..Yes the timer for the light is a good idea,Id personally put a timer on the tank full time anyhow. I have it on my own tanks and I find it works v well and give a routine also to the time of the fish. I turn it down about an hour or two during the summer also as there is more natural light available. Being honest I think you should try to get someone to come over every day or 2nd day if possible. Fish will survive without being fed everyday,remeber fish in the wild have to survive and in a well established tank there will be plenty for them to pick off. I think you should get someone to come down and check the tank every day or 2nd day if possible. Leave a list for them to check, eg. Heater,temperature,filter and of course that there is no dead fish as one of them could become an ammonia engine. If you want you could put an amount of fish food in a box for them to feed the fish. Just a few ideas but I hope they will help you out.

Gavin

hi d,went on holidays lately for a week,gave them two big feeds every day for a week before i went,done 50% water change the night before i went and then just left them for the week,came back to a healthy tank full of healthy fish,dont know if it'd work for two weeks,what i was going to do before i was told to do this was get a weekly pill box,just a little box with 7 compartments in it,and put enough food in it for each day,that way you wont risk overfeeding the tank,i think this would be a better option for you if you need someone to check the filter anyway


Paul

Facing the same problem myself in a couple of weeks, I have a timer on the lights, plan on doing a large water change and adding some 'easy balance' the day before I go, and having a friend who lives nearby feed them at least once over the two weeks although I'm pretty sure they would be fine without food so long as the water was clean & fresh...

Why not get your friend to call over twice a week perhaps? Feeding once over 2 weeks is not ideal,while the fish would probably be fine I think perhaps you should have someone over twice a week anyhow to check that all is working in order eg filter,heater etc..
Remember the cleaner the tank the better,but also means probably less for the fish to eat if it is cleaned to the last so hence the need to possibly try to get someone over maybe twice a week. Make sure he doesnt overfeed them when he gets there either.
Gavin

i would agree with all that has been said here. i would have some one check as often as possible on equipment. in the natural environment fish may go for long periods with out food.

My biggest worry would be equipment failure but with regular checks this is less of a problem. as for air bumps i have three elite 802 running 24/7 for at least the last 12 months just remember a check valve is a must!!!!!!!!!!!

keep some oxygen tablets to hand show your friend how to clean and check equipment and you should have no problems and we are only a phone call away these days.

When bailing on holidays here's what I do

I raise the air pump above the tank to stop back flow ( I don't trust a check valve for 2 weeks)

I stick the lights onto a timer switch.

I do a large water change beforehand

I place portions of food into individual baggies for each feed, one to be dropped in each time, with clear instructions that if one is missed not to give 2 at a time.

Service the impeller in your pumps before you go to

I'd leave a spare heater, switched off in the tank & get my \"sitter\" to check the temp when feeding them. if it had dropped hugely to plug in the other heater and plug out the original.

Pray to what ever god pleases you.....

If you cant get someone to feed them, auto feeders are cheap as chips online these days...

as for powercuts, a computer ups backup might sort you out for the time periods it was missing, ask your friendly local IT worker can you borrow one for the period you'll be away:blush:

all the advise above is spot on but for situations like this i have a sponge filter set up which if you put it in the tank asap should have enough good bacteria in it to see any filter failure from your other filter, as for feeding the new tetra 2wk food is better than than plaster holiday food imo and seems to be eaten quite vigourously by all fish... i'd also do at least a 20% water change the day before leaving, hope all goes well.... enjoy the hols
Seamus

Hello All,

Thank you for all the replies/tips.

Just got back yesterday and all fish doing well. I had a friend come up every few days keeping an eye on things. He did a great job and I didnt lose any at all

Starting the process this morning of getting the water changes done.

Thanks again all

I aslo came back from hols about a week ago...Friends fed twice over 10 days...No casualties, just some hungry discus...did a big water change and a few big feeds when I got back and the discus spawned the next day... pity the fry dissapeared...