eaglescout316

Ok, coming up is the leading factor that i had to deal with before i decided to start this hobby, and that's christmas break.

I'm in a new city, all my relatives are too far away and all my friends are also on christmas break, so the fish need to survive on their own for two and a half weeks. I have a reliable automated fish feeder that is mechanically incapable of dumping the full load of food (even better, it allows me to vary the diet while i'm gone), it will last for 2 weeks. I had a secondary tank heater for redundancy should one fail, but when i plugged it in to check things out, it sounded like a coffee maker so i pulled it and threw it away. I've throughly vacuumed the gravel, and my new 1.5 inch-long kid bristlenose pleco (i never thought i'd say a fish looked cute before, but he kinda does) is working over the algae like a dream come true.

Only one small problem. What if a fish dies while i'm gone. I see this as being two possibilities. 1) A fish gets sick and dies, the other fish decide to feast and get sick too, this is something i have to just hope against and 2) Fish dies and the other fish don't eat it, and there's an ammonia spike. I have AmQuel+ handy, and was wondering if giving the tank 1-2 doses of it would work as a preventative measure. It locks ammonia without starving the bacteria, but i'm wondering if it will just lock the ammonia the bacteria would've taken care of anyhow, or if it will stick around in the water in case there's a spike.

If you know about AmQuel+ or have another suggestion, please let me know. This is a hobby i wasn't going to start unless i could take it seriously, so if i'm missing something i'm all ears.

Alessa

the problem with that is that those kind of products usually work for 24hrs and then after that they "unlock" the ammonia again... thats why we usually recommend a water change.

Mike19

You can take your fish with you on your vacation, im kidding this is impracticable.

If your tank is cycled and has a consist level of water parameters you shouldn't have much to worry about. just before you leave clean the tank and enjoy your trip. don't worry too much on the what if's. you could always let a relative or something check on them after week too i guess.

P.S
(i have seen some fish last a very long time in poorer water conditions).

Matt

Should be too much of a problem if you have an automatic-feeder. Keep doing water tests before you leave and make sure they are always the same or extremely close to the same.

-Matt

Dozey

One thing to consider is your heater. My place is so dry this time of the year that I have to top up my water every few days. In two weeks I would likely loose 3 or 4 inches of water. In my case I’d be alright as I have a submersible heater that sits horizontally near the bottom of my tank. But if you have a conventional heater the thermostat sits near the top of heater usually just below the water line. Even an inch lose of water could expose the thermostat and the results of that would not be positive.

If you have a conventional heater you really should consider a submersible.

Mike19

whats a conventional heater :s

Steve113

Eaglescout:

If a fish dies, it will be eaten, so do not worry about amm' spike.

Amquel would not do any harm but I don't think it is needed - if your tank is cycled then it should look after it's self - (there should not be any ammonia build up) only nitrate if anything builds up!

As for water changes, I have been lazy in the past and left my tank for more than this time with no major problems (i know it's wrong but it happened, and this is not good practice but i'm just pointing out the fact that it'll be fine)

Is your heater seriously likely to fail? If you think it might, then maybe you should get a new one.

A spare in the tank wouldn't do any harm either though - And they are cheap.

Your auto feeder will keep the fish fed set it to the minimum so that it will last longer (without knowing what kind you have it's difficult to advise)

consideration could also be given to slow feeder blocks that will feed your fish for a few days.

combine the two - use the weekend feeder blocks with the auto feeder (depends on your feeder type again) this should cover any gaps of a few days. I do not feed every day anyway so a day (or even 2) without food will not kill your fish.

Just do a good water change before you go and then right away when you get home.

Don't worry - Your fish will be fine!

eaglescout316

Both it and the heater i threw out are submersible. As far as evaporation, i seem to lose precious little this time of year, maybe a quarter inch per week or something insignificant like that. Thanks for bringing that up though.