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i am going on vacation and my sister is watching all of my fish, i have 1 20g comunity, 1 80 gallon oscar tank, 1 120 gallon large fish tank. I know it would help alot to educate her on my fishes and give her a nothe book filled with my different fishes and what to feed them any other ways to make sure she doesnt mess up
P.S. I will put vacation feeders in each tank just in case

Most people dont really like the vacation feeder blocks. The automated ones that drop specific ammount of food sometimes work but you should make sure it's functioning a week or so before you leave.

If you have someone watching the fish you can often leave the ammount required for each feeding in a small pill bottle or the like. Make sure they only feed the ammount you leave and not try to add more just cause the fish "look hungry" That leads to overfeeding.

How long will you be away?

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How long will you be away?

I can never trust anyone to look after my fish so whenever I go on vacation I just turn off the lights in my tanks and just feed them (regular amount) just before I leave. Then I feed them as soon as I arrive back from vacation.

Fish can last a few days without food. I've left my fish for 5 days without food and when I came back they were all fine.

or if you're on vacation for a long amount of time just be sure to show the helper exactly how much to feed, and how to feed them.
As babel said put the desired amount of food in film cannisters or something. That way all they need to do is open the cannister and pour it in. easy as that.

Last edited by PJ at 09-Oct-2005 04:51

How long are you going away for? If you decide to give her instructions make it simple as possible. With your feed write the day & stick it on the feed container. Mark the food containers in colours each colour for a tank.

As your sister is not used to feeding fish there is a good chance she will over feed therefore tell her to feed every second day.

When I go away I write it all out for my wife and all the containers are labled.

I also leave 100Lt of prepared water and I get her to take out 2Lt every day and top up if and when necessary. I had only onr tank then the 5ft comunity

She also has the phone number of the local LFS if required.

I have never come back to a problem.

Also Never use those "Feeding Blocks" they can be more problems that what they are worth.

Finally get her to contact you if there is a problem dont contact her to check up this will look like you do not trust her to do a good job.

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Why feeding blocks can be an issue- the blocks themselves may dissolve at irregular times, no matter the quality of the manufacturer, they can promote overfeeding, and dissolve without warning , potentially meaning a huge amount of decomposition can happen while you are away, sometimes enough to overload the filter. Some automatic feeder, even posh ones like my eheim though reliable and designed as far as possible to keep food dry and delivered in equal portions at any amount of times you might wish can be subject to the extremes of humidity,or the consistancy of the food that is not manufactured specifically for use with these feeders, meaning that your fish might get too much food or none at all. Ok, they are better than nothing if you cant get someone to look after your fish, but id rather have a human do it under instruction anyday.

A nice tip is to actually leave information sheets as previously stated , but actually recommend the amount of food that is offered is roughly half the amount that you would normally feed your fish. Most aquarium fish are overfed anyway and a small diet while you are away will do them no harm, decrease maintenance in the tank, and reduce the potential for disaster. Obviously its not the best choice of action when people are keeping fish that are capable of cannibalisation, or some of the more specialised marine feeders, but then they probably already knew that.
If youre away for just a week or two underfeeding is probably the way to go, but much longer than that and obviously the fish will need to be put on full rations again. It really all depends on the size and metabolism of your fish. People with tiny fish will need to ensure they are getting regular feeding, and people that have some very dominant fish may not wish to risk it, but on the whole most fish could be left a week without feeding at a pinch, and giving them just enough food to "tick over" is probably the safest way as it reduces the chances of filtration and water quality issues in a time when you are unable to correct them. More fish probably die from equipment failure than ever starve while people are on holiday. I was in animal rescue, and I know this to be true, seen it often enough.

Take the viewpoint of risk minimisation rather than maintaining normality and you will have greater success. Remember the experienced aquarist in house isnt gonna be there!

I do tend to partially clean the filter media and tubing before i go on hols though, as I said blockage of filtration is actually your greatest risk.Well that and powercuts



Last edited by longhairedgit at 10-Oct-2005 09:36

if it is only for a few days then, they wont need to eat, and if it is long term, tell her to feed what, with how much u feed /2. that way no room for error

Don't use the feeder blocks, they're useless. If you're only going for 7-10 days, just leave them without food. If your sister is going to feed the for you, just put the food in small labeled boxes & write the date on them aswell. It's better to leave them without food, than overfeed.


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if its only for a short time, i really wouldn't worry about it. Even when we are at home, our fish only ever get fed every 2-3 days.

When we're on vacation we just feed them as normal before we leave, and then feed when we come back. We've gone two weeks without feedings before without any incidents.

But I ditto about the vacation feeders - I find them to be pretty much worthless and a waste of money.

Feeder blocks are dependent on your water. Sometimes they dissolve fast and mess up the water quality and sometimes they don't dissolve at all and unless you have something like snails in the tank the block will be whole when you get home. Some fish also won't eat from a feeder block or will destroy one immediately. They do make good applesnail food in my tanks with a ph around 7.8-8.0.

If you are having someone feed them I suggest telling them to feed every other day and setting up a calender or similar to mark off the days they have been fed so the person doesn't forget. That way even if they overfeed a little they can't mess up the water quality and fish will survive fine being fed every other day.

Feeder blocks are no good. Don't trust anyone to care for your fish. They will feed them nonstop and tell you that they always looked hungry! Your fish dont need to eat and the water will be really clean, even after two weeks away. Trust me, I take a two week vaction every summer!

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I had a major disaster happen one time when I left a friend to feed my africans. I showed him how much to feed and as stated in the previous responses, he over did it. When I got home it looked like he had just dumped an entire container of food in - NASTY!! Now when I go away I use the weekly vitamin/pill boxes to ration out the food for the caretaker. They are fairly inexpensive and already have the days of the week printed on them. It's worked great for me.

Another tip - dont ask stupid people or people who are incapable of taking instructions to look after your fish!

Last edited by longhairedgit at 12-Oct-2005 09:52

I think you're over exagerating about non aquaristic people Skills to maintain a thank
My GrandFather is 75 Years old and never had an aquaria.
I offered him one and gave him simple guidelines. he's doing fine. so i think in the hollidays just tell the person the quantity and when should they give them.

At least thats my oppinion

Last edited by seventh_son_of_ed at 12-Oct-2005 10:05

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