Most fish keepers will have a routine worked out for their tank maintenance that is adhered to but just prior to leaving for your holidays it may be best to bring the larger maintenance tasks forward so that they are carried out a week before you go. Cleaning of the filters is a classic example, how many times has the filter been cleaned out and then plays up for a couple of days. This is the last thing you want to happen while you are away so sort out the filters 7 days before you go, this gives them the chance to settle down again and it also gives you the chance to test your water for a few days to make sure they are running efficiently. Just cleaning the impellor and not seating it back properly will cause major problems, you cannot sort this while you are away. Do not add any fish to your tank for at least a month before leaving, you know that the livestock in your tank is fine, adding fresh fish could upset the water parameters and worse still, they could bring a disease into your tank.
Many keepers worry about their fish not getting enough food while they are away, if you are only going for a few days, i.e. a long weekend, the fish will be fine until you return.If you are going for longer there are a couple of choices you can make. Ask a friend or family relative to pop round and feed the fish, show them for a couple of days before you go how much food to add to the tank. If you want to be doubley sure that the fish get the right ammount, pre-measure their daily food intake and label up clearly so that your tank sitter knows which food to add on which day. Another alternative is to invest in an automatic feeder, preset ammounts of food are added and the feeder does the work for you, yet again try this out for a couple of days before you go to make sure it is working properly. Food blocks can be added to the tank but I am not a fan of these, what happens if the fish decide to gorge themselves or worst still what happens if the fish don't eat the block and it breaks down and pollutes the water.
Lighting should be set on timers, these are cheap to purchase and easy to set, use them for a few days before leaving so that you know the lighting pattern is the same as the regular lighting pattern that you normally use.
Perform a large water change a couple of days before you leave and then perform another large water change when you return. This should keep your tank stable and not affect your water parameters.
One thing that must be done in my view is to always leave a contact number with your tank sitter if you have one and also give them details of your local LFS incase you need some advice should something happen that is not expected.
But the most important thing is
....... I don't bother with feeding if it's less than a week though. - My main worry was with the Heaters packing up (Discus; 86F) but luckily they have all behaved for holiday periods.
