Vacation time!

[kcartwright856]

Headed to the beach with my parents and leaving my husband behind and in control of my tank. (I know that plenty of people leave for a week and don't mind their tanks going unfed!)

I gave him a list of instructions and tried my hardest to keep it all on one page so as to not overwhelm him! I have baggies numbered 1-10 in the fridge and freezer, depending on gel, frozen, or live foods being fed that day. Also showed him how to rinse the blackworms and how much to put in the cone.

Lights are on a timer and I showed him how to inspect the filter, heater, drop checker, and thermometer each day. Taped secondary instructions to my plant fertilizers for dosages.

He built the DIY water changer, so he knows how to use it. I told him to not bother with it unless a test comes back bad (Showed him how to use the testing equipment!). And, of course, he knows to call if anything is abnormal.

He asked how to count otocinclus and I just laughed. I told him there's five in there, but not to worry about counting them as I haven't been able to since the plants filled in. He'll be able to count all seven kuhlis, though, and of course the two puffers.

Whew! Doing a nice water change before I leave and then I'll get to spend the next week and a half missing my cats and worrying about my tank. This is going to be my first time away from the tank!

Hope I didn't forget anything.

[tress29]

Hope I didn't forget anything.

Just enjoy yourself! You've spelled everything out for him, and you know he'll call if there's the slightest problem!

[Pufferpunk]

Great planning! Let's hope he doesn't fall for those cute, begging eyes... My hubby crashed a tank because he said he thought they were always hungry.

[kcartwright856]

Lest he wish for castration, he is under strict direction to add absolutely no food to the tank that isn't in a baggie! He's one of those people that doesn't "get" fish, but he does like to watch them.

Except the blackworms, I guess... but I made him do a practice run last night and asked him to show me how to rinse the worms and feed them. He put less worms in the cone that I usually do, so I told him that was a perfect amount. I'd much rather have him feed less!

I think I fool-proofed everything. I'll try to enjoy myself, but I'm such a worrier!

[J-P]

don't forget to check in once in a while

[kcartwright856]

don't forget to check in once in a while

I usually call at the top of every hour.

[J-P]

don't forget to check in once in a while

I usually call at the top of every hour.

I meant with us

[kcartwright856]

don't forget to check in once in a while

I usually call at the top of every hour.

I meant with us

Oh...

Screw you guys... I have driftwood to hunt!

[bertie 83]

Just got back from my hols, 6 hrs plus in the car, large waterchanges and feeding of hungry fish. I have never seen my fahaka use every inch of the tank, he splashed and spat and swam til I fed him lol. All his friends are accounted for which is a shock lol. His food didnt touch the sides. Bless, he's now sitting back in his corner

[Pufferpunk]

LOL @ bertie & kc!

[goldielocke76]

Have a great time!!! Any tips for myself as I have to write out very detailed instructions for my friend who's going to come by and feed my tanks? We will be gone for three weeks, so someone has to feed them. Makes me a little nervous leaving my water babies for three weeks, but this trip has been planned for almost two years.

Are your lights on timers? I think premaking the food and keeping it in the freezer's a great idea! I need to make this as easy as possible on her, so any and all suggestions, would be awesome! =) I can't wait to hear back from you once you get back. Interested to know how your hubby does.

[bertie 83]

I run light timers, I'm too unpredictable to turn them on and off at a set time each day lol

[kcartwright856]

Arny, I can copy/paste the instructions that I left for him when I get back home. I typed them up on his computer.

I called and he seems to be doing well. My lights are on timers. Since my tank is planted nicely, it's important to me for the lights to be on for consistent periods. My husband is anything but consistent!

As for the food portions, my otocinclus get gel, kuhlis get mostly gel and some frozen, and the puffs get live. I rationed all of the gel and the frozen into baggies that I numbered for each day I'm gone. I wasn't too worried about the live, since they're just snails and then the blackworms which seem to be happy to fall and burrow into the sand if they aren't eaten first. Plus, putting the worms into baggies probably would have made it much more difficult to rinse.

I'm having a nice time here at the beach. The house we rented this year doesn't have a view since the sand dunes are too high and yesterday it was rainy, but I don't mind rain at all! It's sunny today, so the wild horses are coming out of the thicket now and roaming about.

My mom and I took a drive down the beach and I picked up some driftwood. It's actually quite clean. The driftwood I got several years ago that's now in my 29 gallon needed lots of scrubbing, but this new stuff is looking pretty good after just a rinse with the hose. Hopefully it will dry out a bit. It's thicker than my other stuff, so I have no idea how long it would take to dry out completely. Maybe I should just boil it straight away when I get home instead of waiting for it to dry and bake in the sun.

I actually might end up switching out the driftwood in the 29 with some of this new stuff! It's a bit nicer and looks like it would be easier to vacuum around. We'll see.

[kcartwright856]

Back from vacation, but not so pleased!

First off, I had a good time, but not great. I really wish that my husband and brother could have come. But, oh well.

Second, the tank was absolutely filthy! I was thinking that I'd rest when I got home last evening, but my suitcases hit the floor and I went straight for a WC. He says he didn't feed any more than what I gave (and I believe him), but I'm definitely going to be cutting back on my current amounts of food after seeing what it can do in 10 days.

Plus, I found a dead oto. He says that the body wasn't there when he checked the tank in the morning (and I believe him), but the slime coat was very heavily shedded. I'm not familiar with how long that takes, but it didn't look like a fresh corpse. I'm thinking one of the kuhlis could have moved it.

Tested the water while my husband set up the water changer for me since he saw how much of a panic I was in. Ammonia and nitrites were zero, nitrates at 30, pH within its usual 6.4-7.2. The only thing I can think of is that the nitrates were 10 ppm higher than usual, which seems enough to kill such a sensitive species, because of the two 50% water changes that the tank is used to and didn't get while I was gone. I told him not to worry about it, because I thought it would be fine, but apparently that was a mistake.

Ended up doing a 50% water change with a good vacuum. I'll do another one tomorrow and then resume my Wednesday and Saturday routine.

Found some really great driftwood. Gonna start scrubbing that up and then do a soak in boiling water in a cooler since the pieces are too big for even the turkey fryer! Plus, I got a good screaming at for using that last time!