How To Keep Discus Healthy & Alive When Owner is On Vacation?

[32Bit_Fish]

Hi All,

I have 5 discus in my 40G breeder. We can planning a trip and will be away for 7 days. I will not be able to find someone who can come in do water change or feed the fish while I am away.

I do not want to find a tank of dead discus when I am back from vacation.
What do I need to do to prevent that happen?

Thanks

[jwcarlson]

Just leave them be, they'll be fine. Do a big water change before you leave and call it good. They won't have an issue with it unless they're very young.

[Second Hand Pat]

I going to add an extra step to Jacob's post. I quit feeding 48 hours prior to leaving and a big water change the day before you leave. The fish will empty their gut about 24 hours after feeding and you will vacuum out all the fish poop with the water change so you should return home to a fairly clean tank and hungry fish
Pat

[Iminit]

Yes I do the same. Gone for 10 days last time. Water change before I left and when I got back. But being I use wet/drys I had someone come in and refill the sumps because of evaporation. Another thing I do is I use cheap WiFi cameras onthe tanks. Use these to alert water guy .

[32Bit_Fish]

Thank you all for the tips! It is very helpful! Now I can have a peace of mind while I am enjoying my vacation.
I recalled I had a 75G tank with oscars and other fish. I left a fish food auto feeder on before I left home for a vacation. The auto feeder started dumping more and more food into the tank as days go by. All the fish were dead and floating in the tank except for the largest Oscar in the tank. The tank water was cloudy with dead fish and lots uneaten food. It was horrible. IMO, it is dangerous to use the fish food auto feeder. I had the Eheim one. More flakes and pellets fell through the feeder opening as the amount of food gets less in the feeder everyday.

[Jandiscus]

IMO, it is dangerous to use the fish food auto feeder. I had the Eheim one. More flakes and pellets fell through the feeder opening as the amount of food gets less in the feeder everyday.

The route suggested by Tom and Pat are your safest bet. I do want to mention though that autofeeders do work when used correctly. I am using this one with great results. I only use granuels of the same size which makes the amount that is being dispensed fairly consistent. I also have a wifi cam trained on the tank so I can actually observe the amount being dropped into the tank and turn the thing off, if I see any issues. Works great!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...0?ie=UTF8&th=1

[jwcarlson]

Yes I do the same. Gone for 10 days last time. Water change before I left and when I got back. But being I use wet/drys I had someone come in and refill the sumps because of evaporation. Another thing I do is I use cheap WiFi cameras onthe tanks. Use these to alert water guy .

That's something I hadn't thought about now that I have a sump.