Over the past couple of years I have seen the question come up many times as to what a fish keeper should do when going on vacation. On this page I hope to answer those questions.

If you are planning a weekend getaway you should only need to feed your fish before you leave. Many people like to do their water changes on the weekend. The thing I like to do when this time comes is to skip the water change until you get home. This will help you in the event something should happen due to the fresh water being added. I have seen problems come up after water changes. If you do it when you get back you will enjoy the weekend much more by not worrying if there is a water problem in your fish tank.

Should you plan a longer vacation there are a few extra steps you should consider. When leaving for a week you may want to clean the filters and vacuum the gravel. This should be done a couple of days before leaving in case of a mechanical failure or worse, a biological meltdown. Just like the weekend getaway, your fish will be fine for a week without food. Just feed them like you would any other day. DO NOT OVERFEED! If you feel uncomfortable with this you could ask a friend to feed them once in the middle of the week for you. When doing this you will want to measure out just what you normally feed and put it in a container. Next (and this is very important) hide the can of fish food. Those helpful friends, thinking your fish look hungry, can cause bigger problems, by overfeeding, than if you just left them go hungry for the whole week. When you get home you can resume feeding just as though you never left. AGAIN, DO NOT OVERFEED!!!

If you are planning to be gone for more than one week, I would suggest that you get a friend to feed your fish while you are gone. Just do the same thing as if you were going to be gone for a week. Make little packets of food for each feeding. Leave strict instructions to only feed one packet per feeding. It might be a good idea to only have them fed every other day to avoid overfeeding. Again, HIDE THE CAN OF FOOD!!! (for reasons stated above). Before leaving do your water changes and equipment cleaning a couple of days before you leave.

One thing that should not be done is using those weekend and vacation feeders. These items are a waste of money and could very well cause problems before you make it home. They are just a gimmick to empty your pockets.