Tank problems

[Greendragon1128]

I'm finally going on vacation this summer, so my fish decided to get sick.
I'm pretty sure that this is some protozoan disease I can't even attempt to spell and/or ich (one fish has a single white spot). I am treating with Ich*Attack, which requires daily dosing. Unfortunately, it seems to be making my water cloudy, and last time I used a medicine like this (Melafix) my plants died. Also the medicine requires a water change in a week, when I won't be here.
I hired my neighbor to feed the fish, but her experience is limited to a betta in a tiny bowl. Should I give her last-minute instructions on fish care sometime tomorrow? What should I tell her to do about cloudy water and dying plants?
Unfortunately, I do not have a backup tank, or time for one to cycle, and would worry about getting the betta sick if I put plants in his tank. I have a rubbermaid container I use for waterchanges, and a cracked 1g.
Thanks for any ideas!

 

[sombunya]

I'm guessing you have a 50 gallon tank.

If your neighbor is nice enough to take care of your tank I see no problems. Fish keeping is quite easy.

Two 5 gallon buckets is a 20% water change. (3 would be better)

If your water utility uses free chlorine to disinfect then just let the buckets of water sit for two days in your home and it's ready to add. If they use Chloramines then treat with PRIME. Temperature will be good too. Exactly the same as the tank. You may even offer your neighbor $25 to do it. Easy money, I think.

If the plants are dieing then get them out. If you're not doing at least 25% water changes per week then you should be. Water changes and filter maintenance is the easiest way to keep water quality high and disease at bay.

 

[kezdoc09]

when i had to treat my fish the label said not plant friendly, like u i had no where else to put them so just put them in a bucket of dechlorinated water for a week and they were fine!!

 

[MadridKid]

Well, if I were in this situation, all I would do is change the water and clean the tank and plants as best as possible and be prepared to do the same when I get home. Depending on whether or not you trust your neighbor to change the water in the tank or not is up to you. Also, if you want to prevent plant and fish casualties i would use copper safe in the treatment of the ich issue... goodluck

 

[Greendragon1128]

Well, I'm back just in time for the water change.
The water is a little darker, but didn't get cloudy enough to kill the plants. I only lost one fish, but the other sick one has made a miraculous recovery. I still have no idea what was wrong, but it seems to be gone. I will use a QT tank from now on.
Thanks for all the ideas, luckily the vacation went well for most of the fish.

 

[sombunya]

Water changes, treating with PRIME. If your water is colored or dark, do a 60-70% change.

I've been doing weekly 25-30% water changes from the start, never a problem for over a year and half now. I think that if more people did that there would be less problems with Ich, algae etc.

 

[bmoraski]

glad all went well
i just came back from week vacation and all was well
i ended up having my brother feed fish while i was gone, i have a few fry in each tank so i said what the hell, hes already feeding the cat. lol
i also have fry in my fry tank now ! lol
i fed the crap out of them ( i thought they were going week without feedings)
for 3 or 4 days then day before leaving did 70 % WC and vaccum on 10 and 20gal tank. anyway im losing track of were i was going lol !
all was well and i did a WC 2nd day i was home from vacation. thats how nice the tanks were.
Water changes really help aint it ! lol
i think thats were i was going ! lol
later
PS
i do weekly 50 % WC
because i have such a large population in both tanks