Fish cannot be fed by a neighbour popping in the way a cat can, because everything a tank needs is specific to that tank. The plan that covers a week of illness is therefore written down in advance, tank by tank, in language a willing stand-in can follow without fishkeeping experience. Build it from a fixed set of parts: one page per tank; feeding written in plain measures; light and filter times; a simplified water change routine; the place where food and spare supplies are kept; and a named stand-in, with how that person gets into the home. Those parts are the whole plan. Every task the stand-in later carries out comes from that list, so nothing in an emergency depends on a detail you meant to mention and did not.
One Page Per Tank, Written in Plain Measures
Give each tank its own page, headed with where the tank is and which fish live in it, so the stand-in never feeds the wrong tank the wrong food. Write feeding in plain measures the stand-in can copy exactly: a level teaspoon, one cube, a pinch the size described in words a non-keeper understands, at stated times of day. Avoid measures only you can judge, because a worried helper guesses generously. State the light and filter times plainly: when lights go on and off, or which timer runs them, and what a healthy filter sounds and looks like. Then set out the simplified water change routine for the week: one modest change, on a named day, with the steps in order, the bucket and siphon location included within the place where food and spare supplies are kept, and the amount described as a marked line or a number of buckets rather than a proportion to calculate. Mark clearly what the stand-in should skip for one week, such as filter cleaning, plant feeding and any rearrangement, because a simplified routine survives precisely by leaving stable systems alone.
The Named Stand-In and Getting In
A plan without a person is a document, not cover. Name the stand-in on the pages themselves: a fishkeeping friend, a fellow club member, a trusted neighbour you have shown the tanks to, or a local aquatic shop that offers home visits, with a phone number beside the name. Describe how that person gets into the home in the plan's covering note, whether that is a key held by them, a key with a second named person, or access arranged through family, and test the arrangement once while you are well. Walk the stand-in through the tanks before any emergency, page in hand, and let them do one feed and point to every item while you watch, because questions surface during a calm walk-through. Keep food and spare supplies for a fortnight in the place the pages name. Leave your vet or aquatic specialist contact on the covering note as well, with permission for the stand-in to seek advice and act on it if a fish is clearly in trouble and you cannot be reached.
During the Week, and When You Return
Ask the stand-in for one short message after each visit: fed as written, filter running, anything unusual seen. That habit means a slow problem is reported while you recover rather than discovered on your return. Tell the stand-in plainly that a simplified routine is the goal, not a perfect one: fish in a stable tank tolerate a quiet week of plain feeding and one simple water change far better than they tolerate ambitious care from a stranger, and the plan succeeds if the tanks are steady when you come home. On your return, check each tank against its page, test the water before making changes, and update the pages with anything the week taught you. Care Pass in KinsLe gives that named stand-in the written routine for every tank for the period you set, so the pages reach the person who needs them even if you cannot hand over paper copies.