Discus and Holidays

nickmcmechan

nickmcmechan

Proudly Scottish
Feb 25, 2007
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Edinburgh, Scotland
I don't have my Discus tank yet, but after my Vacation i plan to purchase a 300l to keep 6 Discus in then.

I've started to do research into keeping them.

However, a thought just struck me. I'm going on Vacation next January for my Wife's Birthday.

I will be away for 7-10 days and although I'm happy with my other tank that hold hardier fish I'm worried about leaving a Discus tank for that length of time with no water change:

Here are my choices as I see it:

1. introduce an extra filter about a month or two beforehand with Nitrazorb in it
2. do the stuff i would normally do, extra feeding and water changes week before, use automatic feeders etc
3. dont do Discus if I cant get anyone to maintain it while I'm away...not the option i want but please share if you've had to get round this one yourself?
 
Just as long as they are not over fed you can go without changing the water for a week. I have lots of discus and I do weekly water changes. But sometimes it does carry over a week....I have babies but I do daily water changes in that tank..here are a couple pics of some of mine

IMG_0780.JPG IMG_0795.JPG IMG_0658.JPG IMG_0782.JPG IMG_0793.JPG IMG_0805.JPG
 
:topic: But nice specimens...........:)
 
You could get away with the water change, provided they were past the juvie stage. I lose the auto feeder idead and get one person to come in and feed them a premeasured amount in the middle of the vacation.
 
i know the pics were a little off topic but i loved them so thanks!

so, is the consensus to go for it?

i would probably buy juvies about 6 mths old, so by the time january comes round they would be nearly a year by the time i cycled

now thinking further down the line (i'm the planner type, you might have guessed!), what about a fortnight away, what do people do then?
 
I also keep discus and I would suggest to have someone who you feel comfortable with, come over and feed them also. Its not that automatic feeders would not work, but an automatic feeder does not have logic. They don't know what is enough or what isn't or if every fish had a chance to get food, etc.

Also, get yourself some purigen, made by seachem. It can help maintain the cleanliness of the water while your gone. One bag last about a week. Search for it on the boards, it is very good at helping to maintain pristine water conditions.
 
I agree with getting someone else to do it, you might even be able to teach them to do water changes for you, if not, I think you should get some purigen.
 
Was just showing pics of my discus showing that the fish still grow well and healthy, with the water changes being 7-10 days out. Sorry if they were off topic.
 
Do a large water change and feed sparingly..I think it's been mentioned:lipssealedsmilie:

juvies are usually only 2-3 months old..the big thing with them especially cause they grow fast..is to feed often(4 times per day) that much feeding = lots of waste=water changes.

at 1 yr` you should be fine..I do 2 changes weekly for all my fish including the discus..so missing a water change is not really a big deal.
 
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