Bill

Just wondering because next summer I'm going to America for like 3 weeks... I'll get an automatic feeder by then, so feeding will be okay, but what about water changes? No one I know would be able to do that. Even if I did a 50% change before I went away, nitrates would still get too high, especially for my rams. This hasn't happened yet, but in hte scenario what would you do? I want to prepare a bit in advance :P

armadillo

3 weeks is on the long side for no water change at all, I'd say. When we go away, I get a friend to come and do the water changes. I don't ask her to vaccuum or anything.

Our feeders were all blocked when we came back. Thankfully, she visited 1/2 way through our stay.

If I were you, I'd leave ready portions of food out for your fish-sitter, and ask them to visit every 5 days or so and check on the feeders, and do PWCs. My friend understood pretty quick about PWCs (i.e. leave bucket out for them, and the conditionner, and show them how much conditionner to put in and tell them to switch off the fitler first and that's about it).

Bill

Yeah, I guess I could get someone to do it - it's risky though, any of the people we usually ask to feed the pets (couple of my friends who live nearby, or the next door neighbours) might be on holiday the same time we are

armadillo

Yeah, that's one of the biiiiig problems with fish-keeping. Getting someone reliable to do it.

jsalemi

Pet sitter services are pretty common around here in the Washington D.C. area; they usually take care of dogs or cats, but I'm sure they wouldn't turn down the business of coming in once every couple of days to check on fish. You might want to check with neighbors who have a dog/cat or the local animal society to see if they know of any such services in your area. The cost is usually nominal, and since they don't have to do any walking or curb-side poop pickup , they may even cut their rates if they're already in the neighborhood anyway to just look in on your fish.

armadillo

Ooo, that's a good suggestion, although the US is generally quite ahead in the services/commercial sectors. Maybe the UK is OK on that one too?

Bill

Hmmm, I'll check that out. Might be a good solution When I had tree frogs I took them to the reptile shop for frog-sitting, but I can't take the fish to my lfs

armadillo

If the reptile shop is as knowledgeable about reptiles as the average LFS is about fish, you could always bring your fish to the reptile shop and say they're reptiles!

Tom

I haven't gone for more than 4 days since I have gotten my fish tanks. But next summer, I am going to Europe for my graduation all paid for by my parents. I will be gone for about a month or so, I will probably get a timer for my lights and automatic feeders for the food.
Tom

COBettaCouple

automatic feeders have a reputation for failing. i'd trust the slowly dissolving gel-based holiday feeder blocks/sticks/etc. Gwenz used some recently so she could point you in the right direction for the best product in the UK.

armadillo

I'd second that. We had 5 running, and I think that 3 or so were stuck by the time we got home. Thankfully, we were only gone one week

Bill

OK, no automatic feeder then