My husband and I are going out of town for two weeks, we've had the fish for two weeks, so that will be a total of a month with no cleaning. Is this going to be a major problem? Right now the tank is very, very clear with no signs of cloudiness or dirtiness whatsoever. I guess I just want to be sure they will still be alive when I get home.
2007-07-17 16:57:19 · 11 answers · asked by Muffin 5 in Pets ➔ Fish
Okay maybe I should have mentioned I have a friend feeding the fish, I just am worried about the dirt that will be in the tank after that long.
2007-07-17 17:04:30 · update #1
it kinda depends on how many fish you have in there. please don't have people come over and change it unless you know that they have fish experience. personally i would just leave it. but it would be a wonderful idea to buy a plecostomus. http://www.schillmania.com/photos/35mm/image/collection/at_home/pleco.jpg
they are great at keeping tanks clean. and relatively cheap.
also make sure you buy those vaction chunks of food for your fishies. here's a 14 day one: http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/23416/product.web
2007-07-17 17:12:03 · answer #1 · answered by sunshine 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It might be...how long has the tank been set up and is it cycled yet? If not, they quite possibly might be dead by the time you get back. Just because a tank looks clear, doesn't mean the water quality is good. A month with no water changes is a long time, but some people have gone longer and the fish survived amazingly :)
As far as them eating, fish can go quite a long time without food, not to mention there's usually algae or leftover food somewhere in the tank for them to scavenge on. That would be the least of my worries...
2007-07-17 17:03:03 · answer #2 · answered by tikitiki 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Your biggest potential problem will be ammonia in a tank that newly set up. I would suggest you change 50% of the water before leaving to insure there is no ammonia problem from the start.
If your fish sitter is not an experienced fish keeper, leave single serving packets of food for them to use feeding your fish. make them up yourself in small containers of some sort. I like to use plastic 35MM film canisters (yeah, I still have some around lol) but small ziplock bags or anything else that will seal up will work fine. Also have your fish sitter to feed them only once every other day while you are gone. This will help prevent the water from fouling in your absence and the fish will not suffer for it at all.
DON'T add a new fish of any sort before leaving, that's only asking for trouble. Also DON'T try to use any type of vacation feeder blocks, those will really foul such a new tank and result in serious problems.
MM
2007-07-17 17:21:23 · answer #3 · answered by magicman116 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
I'd suggest you clean the tank before you go. What kind of fish do you have? How many fish? All of this plays an important factor in this situation. Do you have proper filtration?
2007-07-17 21:58:55 · answer #4 · answered by blushing angel 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well you could always clean tank before you go if your worried as you will be back in 2 weeks. other problem you did not mention the feeding.... buy an automatic feeder from wal mart and a aa battery and all your problems will be solved
2007-07-17 17:08:22 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
the type of fish play a major factor, how many, type of air pump and filter, what kind of weather you live in, where in the house is the tank set up (window or away from window, house, apartment, or trailer), and how often are they going to be taken care of during the time your gone? not enough information. like going on the trip w/o clothes to change.
2007-07-17 18:19:13 · answer #6 · answered by choices 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
well, it actually depends on the kind of fish, my uncle has this kind that last weeks without cleaning or feeding...but then there's also the betta fish that'll die within a day if not properly taken care of
2007-07-17 17:03:05 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, the first problem, Do you think the fish wil have enof to eat? seconds, maybeh you could ask a litt boy 8-10 years old to take care of it. You kno, tell him to try and clean it. Dont get adults, maybe best frends, but not next door naighbors, you don't kno what they might do to your house
2007-07-17 17:00:59 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 3⤋
You might want to use an automatic feeder. They will not last without food for that long. The tank should be fine.
2007-07-17 16:59:54 · answer #9 · answered by Steph 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Buy a suckerfish. They do great work.
2007-07-17 17:00:38 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋