What to do for 9 days...

[Chad Hughes]

I'm leaving Wednesday night for a wedding in North Carolina and I'll be gone for 9 days. Normally I would just leave my discus on a once a day automatic feeder. Being that these are contest fish, I'm looking for some input on what might be the best way to deal with this 9 days off of diet time.

Any input would be helpful!

Thanks in advance!

[seanyuki]

Hi Chad,

Do a massive water change b4 leaving on the trip....set the auto feeder with only one very small feeding per day.....less pollution and better water quality while you are away.....just my 2 cents.

[Chad Hughes]

Francis,

Thank you for the feedback! I guess I should have mentioned that I was going to knock out a 100% water change prior to leaving. I was thinking along the same lines as you in regards to the feeding. Although I do not change water daily, going 9 days is pushing things. I've gone 14 in the past, but that was me being here to make sure I didn't kill anything. LOL!

Best wishes!

[seanyuki]

Hi Chad,

Forgot to ask.....is it BB tank or planted tank?....might need some minor adjustment.....perhaps others could add their opinions too,:)

[Chad Hughes]

Well one is the contest tank and the other is a similar 150 planted. Both are extremely stable.

[calihawker]

I think you're gonna be just fine with a big w/c before you leave and one when you get back. It's only a couple days beyond your normal routine and you'll be feeding less.

[Chad Hughes]

That is true. Thanks for your input Steve!

[Eddie]

I agree with Steve, since you do feed more times a day and it is only gonna be for a few days more, you should be golden. In fact, I would push 2 feeds a day since you won't be using any mixes which surely impact water quality a little bit more than dry foods.

Just my opinion,

Eddie

[poconogal]

I've been away for 15 days with no problem. Did a few large WCs right before I left, set the autofeeder to feed lightly once a day and when I got home all was well. Did a few more big WCs then.

[Chad Hughes]

Eddie & Connie,

Thank you for your inputs. I think I'm going to settle on a 100% water change the day that I leave and I'll set the feeder for morning and afternoon feedings. I'm hoping that the feeder will not run out of food. Typically with two auto feedings per day (normally) the feeder is just about out on day 7. On the 150 I'm going to do the same. Hopefully this won't impact the growth of the fish too much. This is a competition after all! LOL!

Thanks again for all the great inputs!

Best wishes!

[Eddie]

Eddie & Connie,

Thank you for your inputs. I think I'm going to settle on a 100% water change the day that I leave and I'll set the feeder for morning and afternoon feedings. I'm hoping that the feeder will not run out of food. Typically with two auto feedings per day (normally) the feeder is just about out on day 7. On the 150 I'm going to do the same. Hopefully this won't impact the growth of the fish too much. This is a competition after all! LOL!

Thanks again for all the great inputs!

Best wishes!

I think they will be fine Chad, for sure. ;)

I've done a few 2 week stints and left my juvies with one feed a day, no waterchanges and those are the big fish I got now! Straight from Forrest!

All the best and have a nice trip!

Eddie

[Chad Hughes]

I think they will be fine Chad, for sure. ;)

I've done a few 2 week stints and left my juvies with one feed a day, no waterchanges and those are the big fish I got now! Straight from Forrest!

All the best and have a nice trip!

Eddie

Eddie,

Good to know! Thanks for that. I'll also be asking the other contestants to do the same while I am away. LOL! Yeah right! You have to keep things fair, right? LOL!

This trip should be interesting. I'll be attending a wedding for a girl that I have known for years. The guy that she is marrying is a complete "DB". I'm curious how long it will take for me to open my mouth and say something I'll regret. I'll have to try and stay somewhat sober. LOL! I guess as long as she is happy....

Best wishes!

[poconogal]

Eddie & Connie,

Thank you for your inputs. I think I'm going to settle on a 100% water change the day that I leave and I'll set the feeder for morning and afternoon feedings. I'm hoping that the feeder will not run out of food. Typically with two auto feedings per day (normally) the feeder is just about out on day 7. On the 150 I'm going to do the same. Hopefully this won't impact the growth of the fish too much. This is a competition after all! LOL!

Thanks again for all the great inputs!

Best wishes!
It'll be fine. Oh, I do several WCs before and after only because I keep my WCs to 50%-60% so that my PH remains stable in my tank. I don't normally do daily WCs, so before leaving, I step up the WCs and do a few daily changes of 50%. Have a good trip and try not to be too hard on the DB, LOL! :D

[Chad Hughes]

Connie,

I'll only have time to knock out one 100% water change, so that will have to do. I'm starting with the 150 this eveing and will knock out the 110 challenge tank tomorrow. I think all will be fine as well.

Thanks for your help!

Best wishes!

[poconogal]

Wish I could do 100% WCs :D

[Chad Hughes]

Connie,

I still add baking soda to my water to keep the Ph stable. Typically a tablespoon in 100 gallons brings the KH from 1 to 4 degrees. Works out well for a 7 day span. No waivering.

Best wishes!

[Scribbles]

Chad,

I agree with your idea of doing a large wc before you go. You're only gone 2 days longer than normal between wc so I wouldn't think that that would be a problem. If you have a spare auto feeder I would put 2 of them on the tank and feed 2-3 times daily. That's still less than usual and your water parameters are ok after a week on heavier feedings. Besides with 2 auto feeders you wont run out of grub.

Chris

[Chad Hughes]

Chris,

Good point about the double feeders. I hadn't thought of that. I can set this one for 7 feedings a day, but it would certainly run out of food in that amount of time. I may just pick up another feeder! Can't have too many of those laying around! LOL! Thanks for the suggestion!

Best wishes!

[shawnhu]

Chad,

Definately get the extra feeder if you can. I really wouldn't worry about the 2 extra days, I'd feed as normal, live on the edge!

By the looks of it, everything in your 110 is automated anyway, aside from the water changes and feeding your mix. I don't see a problem at all. In fact, I don't even think the 100% water change is necessary, might do more hard than good.

Shawn

[calihawker]

Eddie,

Good to know! Thanks for that. I'll also be asking the other contestants to do the same while I am away. LOL! Yeah right! You have to keep things fair, right? LOL!

This trip should be interesting. I'll be attending a wedding for a girl that I have known for years. The guy that she is marrying is a complete "DB". I'm curious how long it will take for me to open my mouth and say something I'll regret. I'll have to try and stay somewhat sober. LOL! I guess as long as she is happy....

Best wishes!

Well OK, to be fair I'll only do 8 feedings a day instead of ten.:D

Have a great time and don't get yourself in too much trouble.;)

[Chad Hughes]

Well OK, to be fair I'll only do 8 feedings a day instead of ten.:D

Have a great time and don't get yourself in too much trouble.;)

LOL! I'm glad you know how to joke Steve. I like that quality in people. I plant on having a great time. Haen't taken this time off work in years. Typically it's just a day or two here and there.

As for the fish, they'll be fine. I am cusrious how the growth will be affected though. I guess 9 days isn't that big of a deal.

Best wishes!

[Ardan]

I usually do a lg wc before I leave and then let the auto feeder on one or 2 small feeding per day, no wc's. I believe 8 or 9 days max in my case.

Your fish are doing very well and growing nicely. I was curious how they would do with the once a wk wc's. Looking good.:):) (on second thought here, if you sent your fish to me, I could babysit while you are gone, but can't promise I would send them back:D).

take care
Ardan

[Mr Wild]

Oh Chad can;t beleive I missed this thread.

No your idea will just not work, I can tell you that straight as we are friends.

What you need to do is pay for me to come there and feed your fish. Silly thinking I wouldn't come over to help you out! Of course I would !lol

[Chad Hughes]

Oh Chad can;t beleive I missed this thread.

No your idea will just not work, I can tell you that straight as we are friends.

What you need to do is pay for me to come there and feed your fish. Silly thinking I wouldn't come over to help you out! Of course I would !lol

Hey Kath!

I wish I would have caught this before I took off for the holiday! I wold have happily had you come baby my babies while I was away! LOL! :p

Anyway, returned yesterday and all is well. No issues whatsoever. Well, I guess the only issue was that a couple of the sumps were about to run dry, but that's not a big deal as they are not the primary filters. Anything over the amount of time that I was gone and I would have to invest in automatic top off for the sumps.

Best wishes!

[wgtaylor]

Woohoo, good job Chad.
Hope you had a great time off and enjoyed yourself, no sense telling you
what I was doing while you were having fun.......changing water !
Really glad your setup is allowing you the extra time, that's great. :)
Take care, and welcome home.

Bill

[Chad Hughes]

Woohoo, good job Chad.
Hope you had a great time off and enjoyed yourself, no sense telling you
what I was doing while you were having fun.......changing water !
Really glad your setup is allowing you the extra time, that's great. :)
Take care, and welcome home.

Bill

Bill,

Yes, I had an excellent time. I was constantly thinking about the fish though. LOL! Anyway, I do feel a bit more comfortable about leaving for any length of time now. The discus were VERY happy to get back to their multiple daily feedings though. I had one that I swear did a happy dance when I fed them their first beefheart in 9 days. He did some sort of corkscrew maneuver when I stuck my hand in the tank. I can't say I've seen that before. LOL!

Thanks for the welcome home! I really appreciate it.

Best wishes!

[calihawker]

Welcome back Chad!:) Just ain't the same around here withoutya.

[rich815]

Chad, how are you fertilizing the planted tank while gone?

[Chad Hughes]

Welcome back Chad!:) Just ain't the same around here withoutya.

Thanks Steve!

I missed you guys as well. I love me some SD! ;)


Chad, how are you fertilizing the planted tank while gone?

Rich,

I only fertilize the tank once a week at water changes. Speaking of plants, the tank exploded for some reason while I was away. I'll post some "before" pictures tonight when I change water. The tank is so full of plants the discus literally have a hard time swimming about. It's like a maze in there. Typically I prune at water changes, but the last time I changed water (right before I left) I didn't have time to do anything but get the water replaced.

Best wishes!

[Eddie]

Glad your back Chad and good to hear the fish are doing great + the plants.

Take care bro,

Eddie

[Chad Hughes]

Thanks Eddie!

It's great to be home. I'm sure you know how that feels. LOL! ;)

Best wishes!

[Mr Wild]

Wonderful to have you back! Good to hear you and Jesse jad a great time...were you able to bite your tongue at the wedding??? LOL

[Chad Hughes]

Wonderful to have you back! Good to hear you and Jesse jad a great time...were you able to bite your tongue at the wedding??? LOL

Kath,

Thanks for the welcome back! The wedding actually went off without a hitch. All was well and I guess the DB grew on me a bit. LOL! It helps when there's plenty of liquor around. LOL! Anyway, we had a great time. We'll see how long it (the marriage) lasts. I give it a couple of years tops. Sad but true.

Best wishes!

[Scribbles]

Welcome home Chad. Good thing that fish can't make phone calls or the ASPCA would be on your case about BH withdrawl. LOL. I hope that you got to relax and unwind. Looking forward to pics of your tank. How were your water params after the extra couple of days?

Chris

[Chad Hughes]

Welcome home Chad. Good thing that fish can't make phone calls or the ASPCA would be on your case about BH withdrawl. LOL. I hope that you got to relax and unwind. Looking forward to pics of your tank. How were your water params after the extra couple of days?

Chris

Thanks Chris! Yes, I did get a chance to unwind and enjoy the break. I took some pictures last night with all the crazy plant growth in the tank. I pruned quite a bit and the discus were extremely thankful. Now they are flitting all over the tank, enjoying their free space again. I ran the typical water tests right before the water change. Everything was in order as follows:

TDS: 146 ppm
Ph: 7.1
KH: 2
GH: 5
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10~20
Phosphate: 20

Since the TDS was still under 150 ppm I could have probably gone longer without a water change, but this IS a contest and I'm trying to do at least one water change a week. Obviously this stretched things a bit. The last water change was on the 24th. That was 12 days without a water change, but that was also 12 days without any big feedings either. I use a mix of pellets in an auto feeder. No FBH or anything that typically fouls water quickly.

Anyway, I'm back to the weekly water change and feeding schedule! I'll post up some pictures tonight in another post.

Best wishes!