Going on Holiday and fish care

Good morning,

I'm glad that you have someone to come and feed your fish during the middle of the week. Although fish may survive without food for a time, I can't see how it could possible be good for them to go without food for "two weeks". This is something I would never recommend.

Since you're only going for 1 week, 1 feeding during the middle of the week should be good. I've never gone more than 48 hours without feeding my fish. The thought makes me cringe. lol

Agreed, do a large water change before you leave.

Tip:

Place the amount of food that you want fed to your fish in a container and hide the rest! I've seen where members have someone to come over and feed their fish and they think that the amount is not sufficient and they add more. When the members got home, the tank was a mess.

I sort my foods into dated pill boxes if I have to be away and the rest is hidden.

Ken

 

The reason you might want to fast them while you were away would be that if the filter quit working or some other disaster, they would not foul the water nearly as quickly with no food going through them.

Hey, Ken, the article on the fishlore site says so XDD That's where I got my info.

I tried letting someone feed my fish. Even with the pillboxes he managed to massively overfeed. Don't ask me how. -_-;;

 

Thanks Eienna,

Yes, I saw that information and I still do not like it. lol I would feel so bad knowing my fish were hungry for such a long period of time. A week I might be able to handle, reluctantly. If I had no other choice.

Ken

 

Thank you everyone. My sister is going to come and she is pretty sensible so she will only feed what I tell her to. I will only leave the right amount out though so she isn't tempted to feed anymore than that.

 

Thanks Eienna,

Yes, I saw that information and I still do not like it. lol I would feel so bad knowing my fish were hungry for such a long period of time. A week I might be able to handle, reluctantly. If I had no other choice.

Ken

With angels and BPs I can see where you're coming from, LOL.

 

Well like said above the fish will be okay for a long amount of time without food as long as they have a lot of nutrition before you go on holiday. It also is better if you don`t feed your fish sometimes on the same day at the same time or whatever as it helps there digestive system apparently.

Anyway say if you were worrying then you could also do what I do when I go on my long holidays and just get an automatic fish feeder that runs on batteries. Basically all you have to do is put the food in the slots and it will move the food round each day as it is on a timer and will feed them

Another option could be a food block which you can get from most leading pet stores and fish shops where basically all you have to do is drop the block in and it gradually grinds down to release the food into the water or something like that. However do always read all the packaging on these as I one made the mistake of not reading it and bought the wrong one when I was going on holiday and all my fish died bar 2. Also beware as sometimes they do not work for me so just be weary of them.

 

HI all,

I have a 57l tank that houses a male betta (Loki) and a 180l tank that has shrimps, 8 neons, 8 blue neons, 8 corys and a female betta (Minty). I'll be going on a 2.5 week holiday and would like to know if adding the male betta into the 180l tank is a good idea?

There is plenty of space for the female betta to hide in. Has anyone done this before? Would it be advisable to try it a couple of days and see how it goes? I do have someone for LokI but if I had a choice I don't really want to bother my neighbour who does not know much about fish.

Thoughts? Thank you!

 

I don't think putting LokI with Minty is a good idea, even if there's hiding places. I'd hate for you to come home and find one dead. It's a huge risk for a day or two, let alone a couple of weeks!

If they were my fish, I would either consider buying an automatic feeder for Loki, or getting a pill box with the correct amount of food for each day in. If you give him a large water change before-hand, and your levels are correct, ammonia etc shouldn't be an issue. I would much prefer this to risking the lives of my betta.

Just my view, some others may disagree

 

Your fish can go two and half weeks without eating. I'd do that rather than an automatic feeder. I've left my fish for 3 weeks without issue. It's much better for them to not eat at all than overeat or have too much food in the water, polluting it. If someone can't do water changes while you're gone, I wouldn't feed them.

 

I don't think putting LokI with Minty is a good idea, even if there's hiding places. I'd hate for you to come home and find one dead. It's a huge risk for a day or two, let alone a couple of weeks!

If they were my fish, I would either consider buying an automatic feeder for Loki, or getting a pill box with the correct amount of food for each day in. If you give him a large water change before-hand, and your levels are correct, ammonia etc shouldn't be an issue. I would much prefer this to risking the lives of my betta.

Just my view, some others may disagree

Mhm ... then my best bet would be LokI going to my neighbour. Thank you!

 

Your fish can go two and half weeks without eating. I'd do that rather than an automatic feeder. I've left my fish for 3 weeks without issue. It's much better for them to not eat at all than overeat or have too much food in the water, polluting it. If someone can't do water changes while you're gone, I wouldn't feed them.

A betta can go that long without food? I have an automatic feeder but it dispenses too much food for one fish. I guess LokI will just have to go to my neighbour. Thank you!

 

Yep! Mine has, and he made it through just fine. Happy, healthy, and fat now!

 

Yep! Mine has, and he made it through just fine. Happy, healthy, and fat now!

wow! ok ... well, I'm not too keen about starving him. I've just brought him down to my neighbour with a whole 'to do' list if anything were to happen. Thanks for your suggestion.

 

Just be careful. People usually overfeed and that can cause a lot more issues for the fish than fasting them.

 

Just be careful. People usually overfeed and that can cause a lot more issues for the fish than fasting them.

I've told him to feed every other day and have given instructions to have water change done every week LokI is in a small portable tank, so I'm pretty confident about coming home to a live fish!

Thanks again!

 

I've told him to feed every other day and have given instructions to have water change done every week LokI is in a small portable tank, so I'm pretty confident about coming home to a live fish!

Thanks again!

I would still use a pill box or similar to measure out the correct amount of food each day

 

I would still use a pill box or similar to measure out the correct amount of food each day

 

HI folks
I would appreciate thought on holday feeds blocks . Looking on reviews on amazon type sites I find conflicting responses. Even the makes I recognize. What do you use please.
I have a Fluval flex 57 litre tank .I also have fry that will be about 8-9 weeks old when I go away for 5 nights or so. These have squeezed past the grill slots in the back (I am experimenting ways to allow waterflow while denying access to the back area) they wander through the rear chambers but have not traversed back to the main area, so it is like a nursery for them . I feed them 4 times a day. But feeding them when away is another matter too. I have platties (the parents of the fry) danios and guppies and one golden minnow. Do you think they will be big enough not to provide a tasy little snack for these bigger fish
Any ideas would be welcome
Thanks
The flounderer

 

When I go away, I add handfuls of floating plants. Fry eat the micro-organisms on them and do just fine if you are away for less then 8-9 days.
Holiday blocks invariably pollute the water here, and cause many more problems than they solve.

 

if they are live bearers then as long as you have plants preferably floating they will have enough food in the tank anyway. They will always nibble on any algae that grows so before you go don't try and clean it off haha, fish can generally go for a week or two without feeding and like said they will usually cause more problems than they solve.

 

Thanks for that
NavigatorBlack and GoldenWonderRyan
Thanks for taking the effort
What about the fry ? Leave them in the rear section or risk bringing them into the main tank
Cheers

 

It is a rather small tank. Your lifebearers will continue to have babies. What are you going to do with all the fry that is going to show up?
Just asking because I was overrun with fry as well and it stressed me out. I ended up catching most of them and bringing them to my LFS.
No idea what your tank looks like. If it is heavily planted, fry will survive. If it is bare with maybe an ornament and an artificial plant, probably not.