[ChillinCrazy]

I will be out of town due to work for four months anyone have any suggestions on what I can do with the tank? My parents are willing to feed the fish but they have very limited knowledge on how to take care of the tank.

 

[Leeatl]

Look for aquarium maintenance companies around you and see if they would do a 4 month thing . Worse they can say is no....lol and if it costs a bit...better than losing all the investment in your tank .

 

[Bushkill]

Look for aquarium maintenance companies around you and see if they would do a 4 month thing . Worse they can say is no....lol and if it costs a bit...better than losing all the investment in your tank .

Only other thing I can suggest is if you have a friend that knows what he's doing and would be willing to help out. If you go to your LFS they would be a good starting point to find a maintenance guy that would do it for that time frame.

 

[PlantedRich]

I do this reasonably frequently but I do have folks who do the basics. I would not want to hire a pro as there is so much that is personal choice on keeping plants. Leave it for months and it is likely pretty close to dead so I would go in between if possible. Try to keep it going but expect it to suffer as just part of the price?
It might work to let the folks do some of the plant work, depending on how involved you are in the normal type stuff. Look at what you feel is really, really required. Do you mix water, etc that make it difficult or only change some? I would look at parents or try talking to local shops. There are employees who often like a bit of extra work of this type who might/might not get it done right.
This might let it work or die. The other option would seem to be let it die for sure or tear it all down which is pretty close to death.

 

[DaveK]

How big a tank do you have and what plants and fish do you have in it?

Sometimes your best option is to sell or give away all the plants and fish and so on, and tear down the tank. Yes, you'll kind of hate doing that, but that way you don't need to worry about it, and it will be there for you to set up when you get back.

 

[Nordic]

Give your parents a planted tank account, then they can come here when in doubt.

 

[mistergreen]

You can take out all of the plants and sell and give away. Turn off CO2, reduce the lights. Keep it fish only. The parent will able to feed the fish and do simple water change.
When you get back you can start it back up and rescape!

 

[nel]

Actually planted tank is more stable than fish only. Maybe turning off CO2, getting some root tabs, leaving light for like 5-6 hours daily. Little feeding and it can go more or less right.

 

[AWolf]

I would let your Parents feed the fish and top off the water. No fertilizers. Leave the plants to help keep the water clean for the fish and get a UV light to kill algae and bacteria while you are away. Worst case; plants stop growing and die and you instruct your Parents to remove them. For the techie, you can video and watch your tank while away, or give your P's a cell phone that will show you the progress while you are gone. That way you can ask them to pull out a plant if you see it going bad. At any rate, the UV light will help keep your tank. I would leave the UV light on 24/7 while you are away. I would also add a bubbler and turn off any CO2.

I am afraid of root tabs, because they have ruined tanks for me in the past causing major algae and sick fish. I'd rather lose the plants. I would lessen light just a little, maybe by two hours at the most.