SCOTCAT.COM
your internet guide to all things catfish
Holidays and your fishtank |
by Steven Chester of Premier Aquatics |
![]() Holliday time!
The typical scenario
is that the family go on holiday and entrust the running
of their tank to a family member or neighbour. They
come in, go crazy with the food and over feed the tank,
they usually lack the experience or observation skills
to notice this and continue to feed in the same vein
daily until the tank owner gets a call that the fish
are dying, and 'I dont know whats wrong!'. Nine times
out of ten the issue is related to poor water quality
due to excess food. I have seen and heard of some really
bad cases this summer. 2.
If you insist on having someone feed your fish whilst
away then please consider the following option. Prepare
your fish food into snack sized portions and aim for
one feed every second day, and place the amount of
food that you select into a small plastic zip lock
bag and write the date of feeding on it. The important
tip here is to hide the fish food canister well away
from the aquarium so that there is no temptation to
just 'give them a little more' because they look hungry.
Overfeeding is never due to anything sinister, it
is best to remove temptation completely so that your
helper can give a predetermined amount of feed that
YOU selected in advance. 3.
If you are away and do not have a friend, neighbour
or family to come in and look after your aquarium
the other option is a holiday block. These modern
blocks are a little better than the old 'Plaster of
Paris' food blocks of my youth, and they contained
little nourishment and were not a moreish treat for
your fish. The modern blocks are often a gel diet
(strong gelatin solution) holding a wide array of
tasty treats, they are marketed as being safe for
water quality and rarely pollute your tank whilst
offering your fish a tasty selection of foods over
a long period of time. They are a great option for
those without help going away for periods of time
longer than seven days. There you go, three quick tips that allow you to prepare your tank in advance of your holiday and not lose sleep over the health of your pets whilst away. I hope that helps someone. Enjoy your holiday.
|
Photo Credit |
Author |
If you would like to contribute an article, please e-mail me. You will of course be credited for your work.
If you would like to donate any denomination of money to the site just click the above link button. All proceeds will go to running the site and hopefully to keep it going for a few years yet.
Print or e-mail this factsheet below