How do you deal with vacation?

[h317]

Any creative ideas to deal with discus keeping while away from home for an extended vacation?

Lawrence

[EthanCote.com]

Hi Lawrence,

The key to keeping successful Discus is not to go on vacation...kidding ;D

Top 10 suggestions:
1. The number one thing is to get someone to come on over to feed and do regular WC.

2. If have plants, then get an automatic switch to turn light on and off.

3. Get an automatic feeder.

4. Feed them once a day if adult or twice a day if juvenile. (more feeding=more waste=more pollutants in tank)

5. Change a larger than normal amount of water change before leaving.

6. Also feed them a larger portion a week or two before leaving so you can build up their fat supply.

7. Lower heat to about 82F if adult and 84F if younger, lower heat=lower metabolism = less need for food = use less oxygen

8. Upon return from vacation, do a larger WC. Having said that, get your water ready so upon your return you can go ahead and do the WC.

9. Call your fish every day to let them know you are thinking about them.

10. Buy a small gift to show your appreciation to the person that comes on over regularly to feed and WC your tank ;D


Cheers,

Chi.

[Ralph]

Great post Chi.
What food do you used with the automatic feeder? I've never used one before. Is there a good brand to use or more important, a bad one?

Lawrenence...

Right up my alley, and pretty much where it all began for me on Simply....

Here's a couple of threads that were started last summer.

Chi pretty much hit it on the nail... ;)

or u can check these out....

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=965;star t=0

or
http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=2790;sta rt=0

hth
Julz

BTW Ralph... I use (and swear) by my eheims. Have them on all my active tanks.

[EthanCote.com]

Danks Ralph,

I haven't used one as of yet, but will be purchasing one when the times come. I'm sure others will comment on theirs.

I have heard that an Eheim model is quite good.

As for food, it depends on what sort of dry food have you been feeding your fishes? I have feed my tropical fish flakes, some basic green pellets, some tetra color pellets and some tropical small granules. I would mix these food together and place them in my feeder so the Discus will get a bit of each during each feeding.

Having said that, I would only add food that your Discus is used to. This is not the time to add something new, since if they do not get eaten, they'll cloud up your water.

HTH.


Cheers,

Chi.

[liz]

Hello I would like to know the answer to that one as well.I normally go away for two weeks in the summer.This year with my other two tanks(no discus in them)I had someone come in to feed them every other day,no water changes.Only lost one little fish.Next year with the Discus(hopefully if they are still here :))What would happen.I would imagine they would need water changes.

[John_Nicholson]

If you are going a way for 5 to 10 days stop feeding a day or 2 before you leave and do a large water change on your way out the door. Leave the lights off. Don't have anyone feed them just leave them alone. When you get back they should all be fine and very happy to see you. Turn on a room light first and the tank lights after about 30 minutes.

-john

[ronrca]

I just bought a eheim auto feeder about a month ago! Very nice unit! Feeds up to 4 times a day, even double rations if needed. Stores a lot of food. On my 30G with 9 2.5"-3" discus, probably lasts me 2-4 weeks. I just use dry food! Really! No frozen or live! :o I use a mixture of pellets and flakes! A word of adice before you leave on vacation is test the feeder out for a couple of days just ensure it is feeding the correct amount. Of course the worst would be that is feeds too much.

Chi,
About point #1, Id like to add to! If you have someone come over to do feedings/maintenance, start a week before you go. Get them to watch you a couple of times, then have them do it while you watch. I say this because unless your friends also have discus or other fish, they will have no clue why and what they are doing. You never know, maybe they will get hooked too! ;D

[Richman]

I have to agree with John on this one. Have kept at least one tank with some sort of fish for almost 20 years. In the beginning, I even hired someone to come in every other day to feed. But no one is going to give the care and attention to problems that you will with your own fish. Daily feedings just dirtied the water and caused problems. Now I just make sure they have clean water and filters and walk out the door and leave them. In 7 to 10 days I return to find basically no problems except for being hungry.
Face it , fish in the wild don't eat three meals a day and stuff themselves the way we feed them. It is hard work to find food out there. FISH WILL NOT STARVE TO DEATH IN A WEEK OR SO. Aggresive fish may attack each other, but that problem doesn't seem so bad in discus. Automatic feeding just dirties up the water and creates problems that you are not there to take care of. If the vacation is longer, get someone to come in to feed them. But only a couple of times to make sure they don't begin to lose weight and start to develop health problems. When you get home, feed them and do a water change. No system is foolproof, but I guarantee you will have fewer problems doing it this way.

[RAWesolowski]

I swear by the Eheim. Very nice unit with lots of flexibility. Ethan's post is great but the cost of a telephone for your fish may be a little high. Seems they have a tendency to drop it.

Emphasize water changes for a couple days before hand. Say 50% morning and evening for two days with a heavy feed of black worms for those days.

My test is the end of this month. Hopefully, I won't report any fatalities.

[Goldfish_in_a_bowl]

THIS IS A EASY ONE FOR ME!! Can I answer... can I answer...... :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:
I DON'T GO! Haaaa ha haaa
Okay when or can I think back.....
I always Have someone Check in on my fish Daily.... check temp.. blah blah blah...
but always have my Food PREMEASURED (I don't feed Beef heart or live while I am gone) so they are not OVER fed while I am gone.
HTH some...
and By all means let me know what a "VACATION" is like!
Does hanging out in the Garden center on display picnic tables count?? :-[
Karen/ed :gorgeous: