what to do with my fish during a long weekend trip?

Question

I plan to take a 4 day trip during this coming weekend, but what should i do w/ my fish?

they are trapical fish, and i use a tank w/ light as heater. should i leave the light on for the entire weekend?
will they be okay if i dont feed them for 3 days?

also, i noticed that the algea or do u call them lichen? is growing faster than before, now that i can see it on my plant and tank, is it because i turned the light on too long? i have a algea eater, and it wasnt like this in the first month of setting up the tank.

thanks

Answer 1

First of all stay away from these feederblocks, they will do more harm then good, and will only pollute your tank

I assume you're talking about your 12 gallon tank, get a heater for it, and set the temperature at 76 degrees,

also a timer for your light and set it for 10-12 hours on during the day and 12-14 hours off at night

As for your algae, i think it's a good thing that you're going out of town, that way you don't have to give them light, just cover your tank with a blanket and the algae will disappear

As for feeding, do a partial waterchange of 25% before you leave, and feed your fish just as normal, they will be absolutely fine without food for 4 days, and when you come back you don't have to deal with a crashed tank


Hope that helps
Good luck



EB


Feel free to email me for further questions

Answer 2

Hi, go to your local pet store, they sell weekend or week long plant food. It's a fish feeder you put in you tank and it dissolves over a weekend while releasing food for your fish. They are very cheap and easy to find.

They also sell timers for your fish tank light. The heater should automatically keep your tank at the proper temperature, but the light will need an automatic timer. You just set the time the light comes on and when it goes off. It's probably not necessary if this is a one time occasion, but it's convenient for every day use.

The algae growth may be due to the light exposure, is it near a window where sun can hit it? It may also be due to the fact that it's just a new tank, it takes time to adjust. I would give it a few weeks and if you're still having problems, adjust the amount of time you leave the light on.

Answer 3

There are self feeders just for that. So don't have to worry about your fish be fed.

They need about 12 hours of light per day. They need it dark so they can sleep. Depending on the size of your tank you could leave just half the lights on. They know when to go over to dark side of the tank.

I did this just last night. but set up a towel so the light wasn't bright. More like moon lighting. Which by way you can purchase so you can observe what fish do at night. In there natural setting. They can see the moon. That would be for pure enjoyment, unless of course you need to see if any fish are being injured and which one(s) is the guilty party(s).

Had to rig up the moon light thing, because my Discs was severely injured by two loch's. Discs must have put up a good fight, because loch's died within a 1/2 day of each other. Discs must have had time to use it's stingers. Discs is now healing and growing back, stingers, fins and scales.

Your algae eater probably can't keep up. Maybe it's the quality of water. Someone else out there will have to answer
that question.

The tank I have is my daughters that I am taking care of until it can be moved to her home along with her two other tanks. But I have leared a few things, but not all.

You'll get your answers. Thanks everyone who can be of more help.

Answer 4

Listen to anyone who says to leave them. Fish are cold blooded and 4 days is a swim in the pond for them.

Don't listen to anyone who mentioned 'feeder blocks'. They contain almost no nutrition and can pollute the water. Those who use them are essentially paying extra to not feed their fish anyway.

Training a neighbor to feed them, or going with an electric auto-feeder, are two reasonable choices, but unnecessary for such a short trip.

Turn off the light! Otherwise you risk coming home to an algae infested mess. The fish will do FINE at Room temperature, the plant will revive after the few days without light. It's not a big deal.

Answer 5

Pay someone you trust to come and feed your fishies. Maybe like a kid you trust that is looking for some extra cash. You could also go to the pet store and purchase an automatic fish feeder but I think it is expensive. Maybe get another algea eater for the algea. Maybe get some new filters if your tank is dirty and stuff.

Answer 6

Since you are having an algea problem i would leave the light off. We usually do. You might want to get your algae eater another buddy if he is getting behind, worst that could happen is needing to buy algae pellets if they get hungry.

As for feeding your fish. You have 3 options.. They have 10 dollar automatic fish feeders at walmart that dispence flakes for you on a timers.. Or 1.50 time release feeders you can buy that you throw in the tank.. they are white and have food that gets released into the tank as the white dissolves. Or don't feed them.. but then you might risk them chewing on each other and they will be sad :D

Answer 7

Yes, the algae is probably due to your light cycle being too long. You should probably invest in a timer. They are pretty cheap and will keep you from having to worry about turning on and off the light.

As for food, generally 3 days isn't too much of a problem with fish. However, if you are going to be gone longer than that you can but time release feeding cubes that are designed for just this purpose.

Answer 8

Your best to find someone who can look after your fish. If that's not possible then find a heater and buy some fish food that will slowly release food for a few days. If you can't regulate the temperature then your just asking for problems (dead fish).
Algae grows faster with any kind of light (inside or outside). You can drain half the tank, clean some of it out and fill it with fresh. You may need more than one Algae eater to keep up with it though.

Answer 9

Perhaps you can have a neighbor or friend watch them. They also sell weekend feeder blocks or you can buy an automatic feeder and put the light on a timer. As far as algae, there are some products that you can add to the water and use them regularly to cut back on the growth and maintain your tank.

Answer 10

You can buy time release food at a pet store, just ask the clerk, they will be fine with that for a few days.

As the tank matures the algae will grow more, you can clean the tank or buy another algae eater.

I would leave the light off but leave a light on in the room. Also make sure you heater is set properly to maintain their heat while you're gone, don't want them burning up or freezing.