Who Cares for Your Fish During a Vacation?

2 goldfish in a 5 gallon tank is a recipe for disaster. Depending on the type of goldfish, 1 goldfish may need 20 gallons.

Goldfish are BIG waste producers.... a filter does little to remove the ammonia... only a properly cycled tank can do that (bacteria convert the ammonia to nitrites, another bacteria convert the nitrites to nitrates, and people have to remove the nitrates through frequent water changes).

When they tell you the "basic rule" of 1" of fish per gallon of water, they are meaning the ADULT size of the fish... not the tiny goldfish you see in the stores... and some goldfish can get to be 12" or more in length in a good environment.

I'm glad you have the routine of cleaning the tank every other day, but essentially 2 goldfish in a tank that small is like they are living in a toilet, since the water gets quickly polluted with ammonia, as you've seen.

Dear god, woman! Get a bigger tank!!!

((Sorry, I had goldfish & comets & koi... and they are DIRTY fish. I've done the every other day vacuum... and it isn't worth it. Even once a week is still a PITA... but a 10 or 20 -or larger- gal tank will make your life MUCH easier)).

Unless she knows how to clean it... it probably won't happen correctly, and your amonia/ph is going to be killer in a week. You'll need to walk her through an entire gravel sucking and water replacement.

We've had fish for 10 years of all sizes and types (from goldfish in a fish bowl to the monster 56 gallon aquarium that we have now) and never, ever have we had to clean anything every other day. That seems excessive, hard on the fish and correctable. I would ask your pet store if there is some way you can treat the water if the levels are getting that high every other day - that would be a royal PITA. If you're not using a filter, a $15 filter will keep the water clean and you will rarely have to change the water. If you are using a filter, there is something wrong with the one you have.

When we went away and had just goldfish, we were gone a week and got some sticks at the pet store that are designed to break down a little bit release enough food for a week. With the bigger tank, we have the kid who comes to care for the dogs feed them. I don't think it's unreasonable to ask someone to clean the tank, but you will have to pay her extra for that. That said, you should really correct whatever problem is causing you to clean the water that often - it's not normal and is hard on the fish.

So glad to see the other responses about the number of cleanings, I would've been reported to the pet equivalent to CPS for our frequency of cleanings based on your habits! We had a filtered aquarium and cleaned it about once a month, same sweet goldfish lived there for about 6 years. When we would be gone more than a couple of nights, we would put her in a bowl and let our neice keep her. I think she enjoyed the change in scenery, they always reported she was an active and healthy swimmer while they kept her :)

We have a tank so we drop vacation feeders into it. They last 7-10 days. We get a neighbor to come in with another feeder if we will be gone for 2+ weeks.

The easiest thing for a tank is to have the pet sitter do it. While you might do a deep clean, if you get them to do a light clean, it will see the fish through your vacation, and it isn't too difficult. Just have a supply of dechlorinated water handy. Have them put the bowl in the sink, slowly pour out 1/2 the dirty water, and top off the bowl with new water. This is much easier than netting fish, putting them elsewhere, and giving the bowl a good sluicing.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B..

I would have the pet sitter feed the fish but I would not ask her to clean
the tank.
Wouldn't it be okay for the 5 days until you get home?
Then you could clean it first thing?
Have a great, safe vacation!

I usually bring my water bowl over to a friends home. Unfortunately, the fish usually die while at someone else's house. Once their maid cleaned the fish bowl and did not rinse out the soap well enough. Once their toddler took the fish out to the front yard to play with.

Not that my experienced panned out, but in theory, it was supposed to.

Do you not have filter? If not, I'd suggest you get one. But even without a filter you should be able to go longer than a couple of days. I have a 5 or perhaps it's a 10 gallon tank, with a filter and with 6 gold fish in it. I was gone a week and I used compressed food made specifically for feeding for one week.

If you have a pet sitter you need to be sure that they know how much to feed them. If changing the water is just a matter of changing out 1/3 of the water, it should be easy for the sitter to do it, depending on their maturity. I would skip the vacuuming of the gravel if you have that. The water must be processed with a dechlorinater and some don't realize how important that is.

Yes it's reasonable, but you will need to pay more for him/her. For a 5 gallon tank, I wouldn't pay much more, but I would pay an extra $20 or something. It also depends on how involved the cleaning is. We have to fishbowls that I clean once a week and it takes me about 10 minutes.

You should not be cleaning the tank that often. You need a filter. Then just put an automatic feeder on the side of your tank or use one of those slow release foods for fish in the tank. We have several tanks and have done this on several occasions.

we usually have my bil come feed the turtle and the fish every other day. you can get a time release feeder for 7 days. the fish should be fine for a week with out a cleaning. my daughter had gold fish and i would clean the tank once a month and it never got green.

If you clean the tank before you leave there is no reason it should be cleaned while you are gone. I would never ask a pet sitter to clean a tank, done wrong your fist die.

I have Ciclids and our smallest tank is a 55 gallon. We don't have to feed them for short periods like that. When we were gone for two weeks last year we just had my brother pop by, make sure the cat hadn't gone insane and throw some food in the tank.

We like low maintenance pets. :)

We have a 58 gallon tank and a 125 gallon tank. They are fine for 5-7 days with a neighbor feeding them every 48-72 hours.