Juvies - Leaving for a week

[Eti]

Hello,

I got 7x 3.5 inches discus on September 17th and they have been growing very well.
I do 50% wc everyday, 66 G, 85 deg F, bare bottom + sump.

You can see a video of them here: https://youtu.be/H5PbkwhM0mg
Sorry, the video quality is not great but you will get a good idea of the size.

Just learnt that I have to leave home for a week for work tomorrow. It worries me bc I know they are still young and can stunt easily.
My girlfriend could feed them but definitely not change the water. It involves too many steps and I am not sure she cares enough to get her hands dirty in fish water lol

Do you think the discus can be ok (and above all not stunt) if:
1) I do a 100% wc 1 hour before leaving
2) Ask my gf to feed them one cube of FDBW/day
3)lower the temp to 82 degF to lower appetite
4)leave the lights off

Thank you for your help.

[dragon1974]

Do a WC the night before and stop feeding 24 hrs before
No feeding while gone
Leave light off
WC when you get back
Your temp should be set between 82 - 84, most members leave it at 83

Did the above and went for 2 weeks, came back to hungry discus no deaths

Enjoy your vacation

[Eti]

Do a WC the night before and stop feeding 24 hrs before
No feeding while gone
Leave light off
WC when you get back
Your temp should be set between 82 - 84, most members leave it at 83

Did the above and went for 2 weeks, came back to hungry discus no deaths

Enjoy your vacation


Thank you Dragon. Very good advices. My biggest concern is to get them stunted. Did so much work to get them to grow to their full potential. Right now they are about 3.75 to 4 inches.

[dragon1974]

Not a problem and I had the same concern with my group. I didn't see anything wrong when I got back and all I did was hammer the WC when I got back. I did double daily WCing when I got back and until I felt that they were back to where I had them before the vacation

[DonMD]

Do a WC the night before and stop feeding 24 hrs before
No feeding while gone
Leave light off
WC when you get back
Your temp should be set between 82 - 84, most members leave it at 83

Did the above and went for 2 weeks, came back to hungry discus no deaths

Enjoy your vacation

I agree, this is spot-on good advice. The big danger is asking someone to feed them while you're gone - they invariably over feed, and you get big problems. I don't think your fish will suffer stunting over one week without food. The most important issue is water quality, so stop feeding a day early, big w/c as you leave, then big w/c when you come back. Fish will be hungry, and alive. They will keep growing just fine.

[rickztahone]

Do a WC the night before and stop feeding 24 hrs before
No feeding while gone
Leave light off
WC when you get back
Your temp should be set between 82 - 84, most members leave it at 83

Did the above and went for 2 weeks, came back to hungry discus no deaths

Enjoy your vacation


I agree, this is spot-on good advice. The big danger is asking someone to feed them while you're gone - they invariably over feed, and you get big problems. I don't think your fish will suffer stunting over one week without food. The most important issue is water quality, so stop feeding a day early, big w/c as you leave, then big w/c when you come back. Fish will be hungry, and alive. They will keep growing just fine.

agreed. Great advice given. They are a bit young, but they will be fine for a week. When you get back, do a big WC and feed them well :)

[Eti]

Thank you guys!