Your opinions on loach care and house-sitters?

[LK]

Hi, I recently posted a questions about my new loach that had one white spot on its tail. (Update: 3 days into Rid-Ich+ treatment, spot is gone, no new spots, so far so good!--fingers crossed!--thanks again to everyone for the advice.) I'm posting a new question, which arises due to the fact that I'll be away from Hawaii longer than expected this winter and will have house-sitters living in my apartment for a month to water plants and take care of the fish. A little background: I have 2 dwarf honey red gourami in a 20 gal. tall. Upon bad advice from a pet store guy, I bought 3 clown loaches a few days ago. Even though I'm a newbie fish owner, I should have known to research a fish myself before buying one . Only after I got them home did I learn how big they get. For now, everyone in the tank is young and small, including the gourami, but I'm upgrading to a 50 or 55 gallon at the end of January (I love these loaches--the upgrade is worth it). From researching online, I know that the most important thing to do between now and the upgrade is to keep the 20 gal. very very clean, for the sake of the loaches' health. Right now I'm doing daily 25% water changes because of the Rid-Ich+ treatment, but my usual routine is 25% per week. However, I was thinking of switching to a 10% water change every 3 days. This is not so much for the sake of the fish, but because I think it might be easier on the house-sitters. They'd be doing more frequent changes, but they'd only have to deal with removing and replacing 2 gallons of water at a time. Less trips back and forth to the sink, plus less chance that the fish would be stressed by sudden water fluctuations. Sorry for the lengthy background info, I guess my main question is: Would the 10% change every 3 days be adequate for the loaches? Or would you suggest an alternate water change schedule for my house-sitters? Lastly, if I were to change only 10% (2 gallons) at a time, would I thus use only 1 ml of chlorine/chloramine remover (since the usual dose is 5 ml per 10 gallons, thus 1/2 ml per gallon)? Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

[starsplitter7]

Hi,

I can't help you with the water change question. I am an obsessive water changer, and I know that's not the norm.

But I did want to share with you something I have done on my last two short vacations. My rommate loves to feed things. I have to watch him very carefully. Right now my 13 pound cat weighs 23, and I found out he's been feeding him at night. Sneaky. The rest of my animals are sensible eaters so I don't worry about them. But I do worry about the fish water quality while I am gone.

I have 7 tanks and I feed a wide variety of food to the residents of these tanks. Before I go on vacation, I make little packets that are labeled by tank and day and leave them at the correct tank, and fill them with the correct amount of food for each of the tanks. Then I leave written instructions for frozen or live food. Since the fish are only fed once a day, I consder it like a fast for them. They have been in good health and spirits when I return home. Then I do big water changes. You could make two packets a day for your tanks for your sitters to insure they won't overfeed your tanks which would help to reduce the bioload while you are gone.

Just an idea. Tanja.

[Diana]

I do the same as Tanja about feeding the aquariums when I am gone for any length of time: Measured packets of food. (I use those little cups that coffee creamer comes in.) I have seen zip-lock baggies that might work, too. Once a day is enough for adult fish, but twice a day would be better for the little guys. Feed a bit less, though, just in case the water changes do not get done.

If you have good lighting, then add a lot of plants. Anacharis, Wisteria, Hornwort or other fast growing plant will help keep the water clean by utilizing the ammonia as fertilizer.

Water change concepts:

IF the normal water change is 25% per week, but you want to make it twice a week, but get the same results you would have to do something closer to 15% twice a week.
IF the goal is 2 gallon maximum change at a time, then you would have to go to 3x/wk.

If the house sitters are also working anything like a full time job they may do better with a once-a-week, larger water change.

Look into a Python, or Lee's version of the same thing. Hooks up to the faucet and you can drain, gravel vac, then fill the tank without having to tote buckets. Works best if the tank and sink are about the same level, at least not upstairs and downstairs from each other. Add dechlor right into he water flow coming from the Python when you are filling the tank.

Another option is to get a professional aquarium service for the duration. They will test the water, do a water change, clean the tank for a set fee. Might be expensive, though, and if your friends the house sitters can do it, that would be good.

[helen nightingale]

i have done the same with the bags of food. i found it eased the minds of the fish-sitters, as people are often more used to looking after cats than fish, and can get quite worried about getting it wrong on the fish.

[kb46]

I even go so far as to hide the remaining food so my fishsitters don't "feel sorry" for the poor starving fishies. We went away for 3 weeks earlier this year and left food to be fed only once every 2-3 days with no water changes. The nitrates were still at acceptable levels when we returned.

[Mark in Vancouver]

You can get those small plastic pill containers - one for each day of the week sort of thing. That might be useful.