Sitter schedule for long vacation help

[thedavidzoo]

Next month I will be gone for a solid 31 days on vacation. I will have my usual cat/dog sitter taking care of my fish.

I currently have 2 tanks: 75 Tanganyikan, 29 juvie growout/community. Between now and my leaving I will also have 4 sets of fry (0-5weeks old...good timing) in various floating breeder boxes in the main tank and various multi fry.
I do weekly 20% or so water changes and feed a varied diet 6 days a week.

I plan on having the sitter over one day when I do the water changes so he can see how it goes and show him the basic workings of heater, filter, etc. I won't make him siphon or clean filters, just scoop water out and pour water back in. I'll also make some written instructions.

My questions:
1. Should I have him come everyday, every 2 days at minimum?
2. Should I have him feed the "daily amount" only every 2 or 3 days to keep water quality up?
3. Can I temporarily stretch the usual weekly water changes to every 2 weeks? I'm scared to death they will all die...although our last speaker didn't think water changes needed to happen that frequently.

4. What should be my special instructions for the fry in the breeders? I normally feed them 2-3 times a day with microworms and various crushed flake and pellets. Can they handle being fed every other day?

I plan on portioning out the food amounts in little baggies for each feeding day. I assume they adults won't starve if the amount is a little less.
I just want to make it as clear and easy as possible for the sitter and come back to healthy tanks and live fish.

Any recommendations are very welcome! Thanks!!!

 

[mchambers]

Have a great vacation, first of all.

I'd limit feeding to every other day. I think your fry will be okay. I think overfeeding is the biggest risk.

Two years ago, we went on a two-week vacation, and I carefully set up automatic feeders on each tank. When I got back, I discovered that all the feeders had worked perfectly, except one, the one tank that had corydoras fry, endler fry, and celestial pearl danio fry. The punch line: that tank was fine.

I'd be inclined not to have your sitter do water changes, unless you are convinced he is competent at it. I'd just have him top off the tanks as needed halfway through the month.

 

[jonclark96]

+1 on the reduced feedings. The fish will be fine and it will help with the water quality. It's a tough question on whether or not to have them do water changes. I know I would have a tough time knowing my tanks went a month without a change.

 

[Charlutz]

I agree with Matt and Jon. Reduced feedings are less likely to cause problems than trying to duplicate what you would do. I'd say have the sitter come every other day and bypass the water changes. K.I.S.S. I usually put out food in Dixie cups or a pill box so the sitter doesn't have to use judgment as to how much food to feed. I'd probably also ask the sitter to come by after any power outage to make sure the filters started up. Feed, check for leaks, filters running and temperature if you use heaters, though you could turn them off at this time of year. Keep it to a minimum.

 

[Avatar]

Garbage in = garbage out.

My $0.02 worth is to have them fed sparingly in your absence and not to attempt water changes. Less food = less waste = better/more enduring water quality. Fasting they can handle.

 

[londonloco]

My 2 cents.....Def no water changes. Had a "good" friend do a wc on a juvie discus tank I had a few years ago. She had her own tank. It was a disaster. She ended up calling TWO other friends with tanks to figure out how to start the canisters again. I'd also cut the feeding down to 2x a week, and have him top off once a week.

 

[ezrk]

I would also cut down feedings and no water changes. Topping off the tanks could be important they can lose a lot of water over a month.