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Old 18-07-2003, 11:15 AM
SlimFlem
 
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Default plants after a week of being gone... and next is 2 weeks, need advice

Thanks for the info guys. Here's what I have decided to do:

For water top offs, I am going to have some gallon jugs (about 10 or 15 to
be safe) with water ready to go for topping off. I'll put a piece of black
tape on the front of the tank so when the evap level reaches the tape, my
neighbor will know to use the top off water. This will prevent my surface
skimmer from sucking air into my canister. For feeding, I'm going to use
some ziplock bags and put one cube of frozen brine and some with frozen
bloodworms and label them 1, 2,3, etc for feeding every few days. As far as
PMDD, I'll just not worry about that; dosing a little extra before I leave
like last time. My CO2 is DIY and I wouldn't feel comfortable asking my
neighbor to mix it and hook it back up, so I'll probably just stop that for
the 2 weeks. I just put in a number of Florish tabs about 2 weeks ago, so
that will help counter the lack of PMDD going in the tank.

Your suggestion about reducing the light levels for the vacation period is a
good one and I will do that to slow the plant growth. I'll also post
instructions on the wall next to the tank.

I have very large APC power units supplying power which will last about 8 -
10 hours, so I shouldn't have to worry about power failures. I have put new
floss and filter sleeves in the Magnum so that should be fine for 2 weeks.
I'll do another large water change before I leave.

I'm hoping the 3 Otto's, 1 Whiptail, and 1 Farowella will keep algea in
check while I'm gone. Wish me luck and thanks for the tips.

"LeighMo" wrote in message
...
I'm with Cichlidiot. Unless your neighbor is an experience fishkeeper,

you're
better off leaving the tank unfed. I leave my tanks unfed for two weeks a
couple of times a year, and never have a problem. No losses -- the fish

don't
even look any thinner when I get back. (Though the algae and snail

populations
take a hit.) And I've kept angelfish in the past, and currently have

clown
loaches and rainbows. It's entirely natural for fish to go a couple of

weeks
without food. They will not starve. IME, they won't even lose any

weight.

I wouldn't worry about PMDD, either. The plants may be a little pale when

you
get back, but they'll recover very quickly. Some people turn off half the
lights over their tanks and turn off the CO2 while they're away, to slow

down
the plant growth, but I don't bother. I leave lights and CO2 running. I

just
got back from a two-week vacation this week, and the tanks were fine.

Some of
the new Marsilea leaves had come in yellow instead of green (iron

deficiency,
probably), but it was hardly noticeable.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/