What to do when away for a month?

So I'm going on a holiday for about a month
Currently I have a 5 gallon shrimp tank with 10-20 shrimp juvies
Yellow tiger and blue dream (cherry)

And I have a 20 gallon with 10-15 endlers and a pair of dwarf gouramis (male female honey)

Now both tanks are 100% cycled no ammonia no nitrites 10+ nitrates

I have a neighbour/friend that can feed my fish daily but I was wondering if I can stretch water changes
So instead of doing 25% water changes weekly do a water change before I leave ask someone to water change once when I'm away and I'll change water when I'm back
(It's cause I don't trust them with vacuuming my tank very much)
And is it ok to not change my shrimp tank water at all for a month given they don't/didn't breed?
Does my neighbour have to feed the shrimp too? Or can I just leave almond leaves/soybean husk out for them to munch on?

Or is this really risky for my fish?

 

I don't know about the shrimp....
I have gone without a water change for a month though in my fish tank...the only adverse affect (if you can call it that) is that my algae built up, i'm assuming from not vacuuming the gravel in so long. But the fish themselves were fine.
So if your neighbor is willing to do one water change while you are gone, i'd say you're golden with the fish!

 

I see thanks! Yea I have a small container which measures exactly how much I feed my fish now for them to use.

I was nervous on them changing water because I am trying to carpet my hairgrass and have moss attached to drift wood that I don't want to up root, I was also nervous with the shrimp water because I'm afraid they would suck up babies (if the shrimp had them when I was away)

 

I wouldn't have them feed every day if they're not doing water changes while you're gone (or only one). That'll dirty up the water quickly, and fish can go a while without eating anyway. Maybe have them feed 2-3 times per week while you're gone? It'll help keep the water clean enough until you get back and can resume normal water changes.

 

I was thinking it is because I feed them every day I was afraid they would starve because their regular feeding schedule

So if I ask them to feed them 3 times a week I could technically go with a 2 week per water change?

 

I was thinking it is because I feed them every day I was afraid they would starve because their regular feeding schedule

So if I ask them to feed them 3 times a week I could technically go with a 2 week per water change?

They won't starve! I think you'd be fine having them only do 1 water change while you're gone if you feed less, yes.

 

This summer we were gone for almost 3 weeks.

A couple of weeks before we left we doubled filtration, made sure there were enough fert tabs in the tank and set up lights to turn on and off every 6 hours. Even not fed fish produce ammonia in urine. When the lights are on plants consume ammonia.

We stopped feeding fish 2 days before we left. The night before we left we did massive water changes in all tanks.

When we returned both ammonia and nitrites were 0.

We resumed feeding fish sparingly, returning to normal portions within a few days.

Good luck.

 

This summer we were gone for almost 3 weeks.

A couple of weeks before we left we doubled filtration, made sure there were enough fert tabs in the tank and set up lights to turn on and off every 6 hours. Even not fed fish produce ammonia in urine. When the lights are on plants consume ammonia.

We stopped feeding fish 2 days before we left. The night before we left we did massive water changes in all tanks.

When we returned both ammonia and nitrites were 0.

We resumed feeding fish sparingly, returning to normal portions within a few days.

Good luck.

Umm so does that mean you didn't feed your fish for 3 weeks....

 

Prior to you leaving, I would do a couple of large water changes. Like 75% two days before you leave, then another 75% change the day before you leave. Or the day before and the day of your departure if you have time. I would also stop feeding them the day you do the first water change. Feed them before you change the water, but then not at all after that.

I would have your neighbor feed them once a week while you are gone. Put the food for them in a bag or a container for them. Do not feed them any more than you normally would on a daily basis even though they are only being fed once a week. I would also not leave the rest of the food out. Your neighbor may decide they need more food.

I would not worry about them changing the water while you are gone. Unless they keep fish themselves, it's not something I would trust them with.

When you get back, do a large water change and resume feeding as you always have.

 

I see wow, I'm so nervous to feed my fish once a week.
They do keep fish but they are one of those.... More ignorant people when it comes to fish keeping (skip water changes, overstock the 16 gallon tank with comet goldfish and community)
But you're right I'm afraid they will get the water chemistry wrong too because our local tap water is SUPER SOFT of 0-1 (but they don't know that either) it's not RO and I've tested it with multiple test kits

As long as the fish survive I guess it should be ok I'll let them know thanks for your help!
If anyone still wants to chime in I'm still open to opinions and experience
Any extra advice would be great!!

 

We considered a number of scenarios before we decided not to feed the fish at all.

Fish produce ammonia even when they are not fed. Melting plants produce ammonia too. For that reason we made sure that lights turned on regularly so plants could consume ammonia produced by fish urinatingo. Had we had someone feed the fish, no matter how sparingly, plants would have not been able to consume all ammonia and fish would have been swimming in their urine and feces and nitrates would have been through the roof.

If I were to go somewhere for a whole month most probably I would have had someone give fish a small amount of food during the last week, but definitely not the first couple of weeks.

When prepping for the trip we made sure that all filters, decorations, tank walls were clean, bottoms vacuumed, all plants trimmed, etc. Because several of the tanks have Fluval HOBs, which don't always self start, we added an AquaClear 70 to each tank. We also added bubblers and/or sponge filters.

As I said, when we returned ammonia was 0, nitrites were 0, nitrates varied from tank to tank, depending on the nitrate reducer used, but all were under 40. We have high nitrates in tap water.

Oh, one more thing, completely forgot. Starting a few weeks before the trip slowly and carefully we lowered the water temperature to the almost lowest possible for the inhabitants of that tank. Fish are less active in water that is cold for them, and as a result, they are less hungry.

Good luck to you. Enjoy your trip.