Nervous about traveling/starving 3.5" discus

[Jandiscus]

I have to travel later this week and will be gone for 5 days, coming home late on day 6. My plan is to follow the advice given by most here on the forum and stop feeding 12 hours before the last water change of 90%. I will then remove any remaining debries 12 hours after that, right before I am leaving. This trip wasn't planned and now I am a bit worried. Especially since my filters are not fully cycled yet. NH3 is very low, ranging from 0-0.25ppm. Other than that the water quality is excellent and the fish are healthy. I would consider the bioload to be normal to low. I am feeding them 4 times a day and have done so for the past 2 weeks. I am hopefull that this will give them enough reserves to pull from while I am gone. The tanks are super clean as are the filters. There should be no lingering, hidden source of contamination anywhere. Yet, I am worried that the starvation might harm the 3.5" fish. Please let me know, if there is anything else I can do, or if I am just overly paranoid :-)

Cheers,

JC

[Ryan925]

I would be more concerned with the tank not being cycled than not feeding.

[Clawhammer]

Yes, ammonia buildup will be your biggest risk. I would fast for 48 hours before you leave.

Is there anyone that can add a daily dose of Safe/Prime to detox the NH3? What is your pH?

[Skip]

how long has the tank been running. ?

[Jandiscus]

Thanks for the replies. I am concerned about it as well. UNfortunately, I don't have anyone who can look after the fish, as my fam will be out of town as well. I think there is some cycle going on since even after feeding them 3-4 times a day, NH3 was still at or below 0.25 after 48 hours (the one time I couldn't do a daily water change). I think I will add (Fluval) NH3 remover filter media to the filters. That should help keep things under control while I'm out. Any experience with that? My ph is 7.4. Thanks so much for your help.

JC

[Jandiscus]

I set up the tanks about a month ago. I added $50 worth of bacteria (Tetra SafeStart) over time and have had a few angelfish helping to cycle in the tank. Obviously the bio load was very small and the nitrification cycle showed all zeros. The discus came in 18 days ago and NH3 came up to 0.25ppm after a few days and stayed there ever since. I was unable to change water for 48 hours but keept my feeding regiment at 3-4 feedings a day. I expected to see NH3 to climb above .25 but to my surprise it stayed right there. All other values remain at zero.

[Clawhammer]

If no nitrate is being created then you aren't cycled. Perhaps adding a lot of carbon to your filter would be helpful. Others may have more advice. Definitely fast for at least 48 hours though, 12 hours will result in feces and lots of ammonia.

[Jandiscus]

Definitely fast for at least 48 hours though, 12 hours will result in feces and lots of ammonia.

Thanks Eric! Will do

Best,

JC

[RogueDiscus]

You're getting good advice about fasting and cycling. I wonder if there is experience out there regarding your question whether the period without food will have a negative effect on your 3.5" fish. That's not really that small, so maybe they won't mind. I've had a similar question about 2" fish.

[Jandiscus]

Again, thanks everyone for your help and recommendations. Out of a hunch I went back to measure NH3 for my various types of water. Tap, r/o, aged tap treated with Aqueon Water conditioner, 24 hour old fishtank water. Survey says:

Tap water = 0
R/O water = 0
Aged tap & water conditioner = 0.25
Aquarium water = 0.25

I am using the API tester (drops) and I can barely see a color difference between the 4 sources. At this point I am thinking that my tanks are actually cycled and that I am picking up a false read from the chloramide debonding caused by the water conditioner. I am mixing 50:50 treated tap with r/o.

The tanks have been running now for more than a month and had 8 oz bottles of Tetra safestart added on day 1. I did a fish in cycle with Angelfish but given the low bioload I never really picked up anything but 0.25ppm NH3. When the discus arrived about two weeks later I saw it go up to 0.5ppm with a feeding regiment of 4 feedings a day (bh, artemia, red worms, Tetra bits). I increased the wc from 50% to 90% which brought it back down to 0.25ppm. These are 3.5" and 5.5-6" discus in addition to the angels. I never saw any Nitrite or Nitrate but have to admit that I didn't measure these on a regular basis. I read some of the primers on DrTim's One & Only bacteria and it says that it is not uncommon for Nitrite to never show up, as the nitrifying bacteria provided by the supplement is already working. In the end, I have no way of knowing for sure. I am belaboring this a bit to create a record for myself as well as possibly for others on here who might go through similar episodes (travel while cycling). I also decided against the Fluval ammonia remover as I don't want to starve any existing bacteria. I stopped feeding my fish yesterday and will be leaving tomorrow morning. I will perform a last 95% water change tonight and add another full dose of Dr.Tim's One & Only to the tanks. This is probably unnecessary but will give me some additional peace of mind. I believe the reason for not seeing any Nitrates has to do with my daily 90-95% wc's paired with the plants in the tanks that are growing like weeds. The proof is in the pudding as they say. I would think that I should be seeing elevated values for NH3, NO2/NO3 when I come back next Wednesday night, if the cycle wasn't complete. I will close the loop on this once I am back.

I always welcome your thoughts and comments.

Best,

Jan

[Clawhammer]

If you aren't seeing nitrates you aren't cycled. I think you should add carbon to your filter before you leave.

Good luck!

[Jandiscus]

ok Thanks!

[Jandiscus]

Just thought I would post a pic of the tests. You can see a slight difference in color for NH3 for the aged tap and aquarium water but as I said, it is very minor.

[Jandiscus]

Two more pics from my water change just a few moments ago.

[tonytheboss1]

As far as them "starving" for the 5/6 days that you'll be gone, they'll be fine. Water quality is the main issue. Personally I prefer Seachem test kits. Double chk your results. Go w/ the '48hr' last meal & 75/80% W/C before you leave. I have gone as much as 11 days (mine are a bit larger & tank as well) with no problems. They'll be hungry but they should be fine. Those few missed meals really shouldn't stunt their growth so long as you pick up where you left off & this is not a regular deal, at least till they fully mature. "T"