Topic: I am going on vacation

[mchichi]

I am going on vacation for 10 days and I want to know if my betta can make it for that long without a water change? I have someone to feed him, but I don't trust her to change the water. He is in a 2gallon uncycled tank and I usually change the water every 5 days at least.

[BettAtrick]

I personally wouldn't worry for the fasting...when I first got my bettas, it took them 3 weeks to finally eat pellets.  If you decide not to feed them, then I would suggest not feeding him the usual amount when you return from your vacation...you should ease the feeding gradually to his full amount.  (sort of like when people fast, they don't eat heavy meals right away...)

You could try giving your caretaker a limited supply of food...maybe 3 pellets a day or something so they don't screw it up...sometimes people keep feeding them more because the bettas "still look hungry."  you should explainto them that their stomach isn't very big and they can only ______ a day.

As for the water change, i woulnd't stress about that, maybe change your water the day you leave and put amquel in...

does anyone know if amquel works if there's no ammonia?...ie does amquel stick around to be useful when fish produce waste?

[dorn27]

Since that's double the length of time the only way I can see it working is if you don't feed the fish at all or very very limited.  Less waste that way.

If you're going to have her feed the fish... you could try something like this.  Find a two gallon rubbermaid tub.  Fill it, prep the water.  Cover it, with maybe one vent hole in the cover.  Half way through your trip you instuct the caregiver to catch the fish, and place in the new water (in bucket)  then she could pour the old water out, rinse the gravel, put a tiny dab of water conditioner in the tank (for any water in the gravel with chlorine just in case).  Then she could simply pour the fish and clean water back in.  She'd only have to catch him once and the prepared water would ellminate any risk of a chlorine disaster.

SO your opition are A) Have her change water and feed fish  OR  B) Let the fish fast

[mchichi]

I have been looking around the web for info on how long I could go without a water change. It is confusing. Bettatalk says that up tp 10 days is ok for a 2 gallon and Mushi's site says 10-14 days is how often to change regularly.  I change mine every 3-5 days...

Maybe I change the water too often?

[dorn27]

There is no such thing as to often in a small tank.  Have you ever tested to see when the ammonia appears?  You can go without changing it up until the day before ammonia appears.  Basically, test everyday.  If ammonia appears on day 5, then you change on day 4.  You could try testing your water and see how long before ammonia appears.  Maybe you can go ten days if it takes 11 days to appear!

[mchichi]

thanks everyone! How about getting 5 gallon? How often does everyone change their 5 gallons water? Or, do you cycle it?

[BettAtrick]

i would guess most people cycle their 5 gallons and do partial weekly water changes

[BettAtrick]

i ave 2 2.5 gallons, and i'm thinking about just doing 100% water changes on them instead of cycling...my room will be quieter w/out the HOB filters running, even though those nano filters are very quiet.

[Adanac]

If you get a 5g tank, it's definitely worth the time to cycle it. Doing a full water change is a lot more hassle on a tank like that.

BettAtrick: You might want to try out something like this for the 2.5g tank... my fiancee has one in her 5g tank and it's very quiet.
http://www.petco.com/familylisting.asp?family_id=13799&cm_ven=ndt&cm_cat=82&cm_pla=fm1556110140&cm_ite=4504853&CMReferringUrl=http://www1.shopping.com/xPC-Elite_Stingray_Underwater_Filters_by_Hagen

[BettAtrick]

woah, that looks cool....i'll look for something like that at the store...do you have pictures of it in her tanks?