Any hobbyist travel allot or have extended time away from fish? How do you manage?

[FischAutoTechGarten]

Question as is.

My wife and I have spent 13+ years on/off in Mexico, the majority of it in Mexico. However, family and work needs, have had us traveling back to the US for months at a time on occasion.

That's meant extremely limited fishkeeping (as in catching wild native fish, keeping for a bit and then releasing back to the wild …. or buying fish, keeping for a few months, then giving them back to a fish store).

This year we've begun to spend more time in our home in Arizona, and less in Mexico (did a similar thing in 2014/2015). However, I have had to travel extensively for work (barely using the office space I leased this year). Although in the midst of planning/building my new fish setup, I realize I'm in for another 9 months of here and gone again.

Are there any of you who keep fish that travel extensively, spending weeks at a time away from your aquariums? How do you manage it?

(quick video of space I'm contemplating for my 4 X 20L fish rack... first video I've ever put on youtube…)
https://youtu.be/jhcDDzmTjLg

(quick picture of what I want to squeeze into the space)
4 x 20L.jpg

Maybe all of this has to wait until next year. Just really interested in seeing how some of you that are often away manage it.

[slicksta]

I'm set up with a tap drip... When I go away I set up an auto feeder and Webcam to periodically check in. I've done a handful of 5 week trips without issue.

[FischAutoTechGarten]

An auto feeder that last upto 5 weeks... I had no idea. Could you share the make and model that you use?

[slicksta]

I have 3 of these... They're quite old and not sure if it's still in production.
Small pellets work best.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s_4OLKPgsmA

[FischAutoTechGarten]

I definitely have my answer regarding trusting folks to feed the fish while away.
Although putting together the rack as described above, I keep a small little 5 gal aquarium to stay somewhat engaged in the hobby (it's in the video).

So this weekend a trip was planned Thursday afternoon through Sunday. The fish were nursing a clutch of eggs, so a small bit of food was provided to discourage the male from devouring the eggs. (he was dutifully fanning the eggs, but was observed snacking on a few...that looked healthy).

We left instructions on feeding with very carefully portioned out food for 2X daily feedings. (Saturday morning portion fell to the floor)

fotofood.jpg

Returned Sunday at 7pm to find the tank absolutely loaded with food. This foto is after the first of 3 50% water changes.

fototank.jpg

Look at this water in the bucket during the 2nd 50% water change.

fotobucket.jpg

This is normally a pristine little tank w/ 3 inhabitants.. 2 fish, 1 shrimp. The fish were nursing a clutch of eggs, but obviously they are gone. Anyway, 22 hours later and it is looking good. Can't find the shrimp.

fotofish.jpg

So yeah, have my doubts about leaving a setup long term.
How is even possible? Definitely had a good laugh!

The same happened to a couple of poor Gold Rams housed in a 10gallon last autumn. (gifted them and their tankmates to https://www.ArizonaNatureAquatics.com/ before heading to Mexico rather than leave them with anyone.)

[FishFanMan]

How can you maintain a discus tank for 5+ weeks with feeding and no WC? What's your nitrate level after 5 weeks? I go away for two weeks but I stop feeding them. When I come back, the water is clear and nitrate is low. I think if you have adults, they can go a long time without eating.

[JamesW]

I've gone for 3 weeks and had a person come in to feed mature discus a couple times during the trip.

If the stock is happy and healthy they can get by with this sort of care for a good while. Not ideal but an option.

[Second Hand Pat]

Sounds like the person did not come for several days and just dumped all the food in at one time Peter. Hopefully the shrimp made it.
Pat

[FischAutoTechGarten]

Pat,
I left out an important detail.. They didn't use ANY of the pre-measured food, except to drop one of them on the floor. They were ignored. Instead a little bit of everything was thrown in over 3 days (algae wafers, bug bites, micro pellets, and flakes). It was a neighbor in her sixties. She fed our two dogs, one cat and the fish.

I guess she wasn't paying close enough attention when the fish feeding instructions were given. It may be that her vision isn't sharp and just wasn't aware of just how much food was being added and how cloudy the water was becoming. Oh well. No harm... other than the Amano shrimp who obviously couldn't handle the conditions and perished.

Good thing I'm not keeping Discus.