Tropical Oasis tip of the day

[sschind]

OK now don't get excited,  this is not a new paid feature of the site, it's not a paid feature is it Jon?  I didn't think so.  Anyway, I'm not going to be posting one of these every day but this just came up on another site I was on so I thought I impart some of my wisdom to the good folks here and Jon and Bob.  On second thought, as I am sure Bob will be quick to point out, me not posting a new one of these every day may actually be a very good reason to get excited.  Here we go.

If you are going away on vacation and you are having a friend or a neighbor (although I would hope your neighbor is also you friend if you are giving them the keys to your house) feed your fish make sure you are very specific about the amounts and what you want fed.  Avoid terms like a pinch of this or a shake of that.  I've found that their pinches and shakes are generally much larger than ours.  If you are feeding frozen foods and they come in the little cubes be specific.  1 cube or 2 cubes or whatever it is not a couple of cubes or some cubes but 1 or 2 or 10 or 32 or whatever but be specific.  If you are feeding frozen from a flat pack break off a feedings worth and put it in and individual bag in the freezer and mark it with the day to feed it.  If you are feeding flakes or pellets or other dry foods buy yourself one of those weekly pill dispenser things and put in the correct amount for each day and then hide the rest of the food.  Buy two if you are going to be gone for 2 weeks.  If you feed live occasionally but it is not essential I'd suggest leaving off the menu while you are gone.  If it is essential... well then I guess they are on their own because I don't feed live so I don't have any tips on that.  I suppose "stick your finger into this gob of gooey worms and crap and then stick it into the tank might have to do".

The idea is two fold.  First and foremost you don't want someone dumping in a weeks or a months,  worth of food on the first day.  Second, this is your friend right?  They didn't want to do this but you guilted them into it and they are doing you a favor.  You owe it to them to make it as easy for them as possible.  You don't want to make them decide how much is a pinch of flake or a tiny chunk of frozen blood worms and you certainly don't want to to make them dip into that disgusting glop of red ooze that you call live blackworms.  They are probably worried that they are going to screw up and kill your fish anyway so the more guesswork you can take out for them the easier it will be on them and more importantly your fish.  Trust me they will appreciate it.

I would recommend this even if the person doing the feeding is an experience aquarist and it is essential if they are not.  If they are not, they will appreciate your attention to detail and your desire to make the experience as pain free as possible for them.  If they are experienced aquarists they may be insulted that you don't think they know what they are doing but hey, if they are truly your friend they won't care and if they are not they will probably kill your fish anyway.
 
That's my tip for today (probably for the next year as well unless Jon and I can work out a little somethin somethin... what Jon, no somethin oh well I guess that's the way the fish floats)   It may be common sense for some of you and some of you may have already learned the hard way but if you have never had to have someone feed your fish while you are away don't be one of those that has to learn the hard way.

Happy Fishing ... or whatever it is you call what we do.

Steve Schindler

[Rjb3]

Who takes a vacation?

[Mugwump]

Thanks Steve....good tips....I'm sure most everyone will be put in that position someday. My advice, if you'll be gone less than a week.....do your water changes before you go..then turn off the tank lights and have a good time. All will be fine when you return...just feed sparingly the forst day or so back....fry, oh well, unless really ,really small...those will do fine too...

[Mugwump]

Who takes a vacation?

LOL...isn't all your galavanting fun, vacation??

[Jo]

Who takes a vacation?

I do I do! but don't let anyone near my fish!