What do you do during long vacations?

msjinkzd said:
I hire a petsitter who maintains tanks. About a month before I go away, she comes over and shows me how she does the wc's. I also prebag the food to remove room for error. I make sure all the supplies are clearly set out for her. i only have her water change my discus tank and my snail growout, as they are the most sensitive. The others get fed every other day and topped off if needed. I have been using the same pet sitter for 3 years now and am extremely confident in her. Also, if they are an accredited petsitter they are insured. Mine also brings in my mail, takes care of my cats, and checks my pool and vegetable garden. All for $8 a visit. I found her through:http://www.petsitter2.com/
I checked references before hiring her and have been very pleased.
Click to expand...
Rachael this is an awesome idea!! your lucky to have her. very cool!!
 
when I went for 8 days I pre bagged food ( not very much) for my mom, had her feed every other day and it worked out well. pre bagging insures no one will over feed your fish.
 
you know what, Im going to post an ad taking care of fish tanks for folks while there away. I think I could do a good job, and I would love to make some extra cash!! Good idea Jinkz !!
 
yhbae said:
Does any of your tanks use hang on back power filters? When I was away for 2 weeks, the levels were a bit low. I could see them fail if I left them much longer.
Click to expand...

Yeah, actually all my tanks have HOB's. I should have mentioned, in addition to leaving bags of pre-measured food servings, I also filled up 5 or 6 gallon jugs full of dechlorinated water and left them next to the tank. I told my friend to pour in a jug of water if the level fell more than an inch below the black trim.
Basically, I got everything set up so that my friend never had to touch the tank or anything that would go in the tank. She poured in food from little bags, and poured in water to top-up from jugs I'd prepared.
 
grannylvsfish said:
you know what, Im going to post an ad taking care of fish tanks for folks while there away. I think I could do a good job, and I would love to make some extra cash!! Good idea Jinkz !!
Click to expand...

The problem for me is, I am a bit nervous about giving out the key to the house to strangers... Its ok if I know them well but kinda uncomfortable otherwise...
 
I would say a well established tank would survive for 2-3 weeks fine with an autofeeder... maybe even without ading water-- I would put an extension on my HOBs so they are almost in the gravel.. and overfill the tank a bit when I left

I am sure its not ideal--but I think most of the inhabitants would survive
 
Last time I had aquariums, I had a young couple that worked with the guy I was living with who would come to the house to check on the fish and the cats at least once per day. I got some of those daily pill minder things that folks use to remember what meds they need to take each day at specific times. These had seven days, with four little chambers for each day. They were already marked Sun thru Mon, and AM and PM, I just numbered them 1 thru 7 on the top two rows, and 8 thru 14 on the bottom two rows. That left them 14 days worth of the correct types and amounts of food for whichever aquarium it went with.

Now I have an auto feeder on my SEA, and I want to get one for the Amazon. I use it all the time, not just for vacations. Housemate thinks I'm being lazy, 'cuz he doesn't understand that this way I don't have to worry about over or under feeding and either taxing the bioload, causing an algae outbreak, or starving the fish! I have a PennPlax on the SEA, and the only thing I don't like about it is that the thing that hooks it to the tank doesn't go down over the edge to make it secure and one of my cats REALLY likes fish food..... So I'm looking at a different brand, but otherwise just like the one I have for the Amazon.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom