Jack Dempsey alone for a week?

[rhetor]

I have spring break coming up next week, and i'm wondering how my Jack Dempsey is going to do.

I have these 3-day feeder things that he shows no interest in whatsoever. I'm pretty sure they do nothing.

Should i buy a bunch of minnows for him to eat while i'm gone? I know he doesn't really plan ahead to well, just eats as many of them as he can fit in his face, and then some.

he's about 6" long and angry all the time. How long can he go safely without eating?

 

[QTOFFER]

A healthy cichlid that size should be able to go without food for a few days. I don't know about a whole week, though.

I definitely wouldn't dump in alot of food (live or flake) right before you leave - it would just increase the fish' waste output and foul the water while you're gone.

If you can't get a buddy to drop by and feed the fish once or twice, I would suggest a battery-operated feeder. You put flake food into a plastic drum, which slowly rotates and drops pre-measured amounts into the tank once a day. Those three day feeder blocks are totally useless - they just mess up the water.

 

[rhetor]

well i would have a friend stop by, but everyone is leaving the campus for spring break.

I'll look and see if i can find one of those feeder things. If i can't before friday, i think i'm going to buy a lot of feeder fish for him.

I know feeding with only feeder fish isn't good nutritionaly, but i think its better than not eating for a week.

My pacu went almost 5 weeks without eating, but he's a good 900bajillion times the size of the Jack Dempsey.

 

[Gunnie]

I left for Huntsville and stayed a week at my brother's house. I did a thorough gravel vac. and water change the day before leaving. I think I fed all my fish the morning I left. I returned a week later to beautifully clean tanks and happy to see me fish. I was told by trusted friends that up to a week was okay to leave them without food. It worked fine for me, and my 100 gal. tank houses 2 jack dempseys.

 

[rhetor]

good to hear. i think he'll be ok, he's pretty hardy.

Maybe a live plant would be a good idea. I know he'll tear one apart, judging by the way he treats the fake plants. I'm not sure if he wants to eat them or if he's just into landscaping though.

 

[SpaceButler]

Off-topic... that is one honkin huge pacu. I guess in the world of pacus it's not that big... but he just looks like an elephant... turned into a fish.

 

[rhetor]

my pacu would ROMP an elephant!

 

[RogerMcAllen]

Just don't feed the fish for a week and it should be perfectly fine. My jewel was. Live food would create more waste and problems, same witht the plants.

 

[TankGirl]

The biggest thing about fasting cichlids is aggression will increase while they are hungry. If he does not have tankmates, or if his tankmates can handle him, then he will be just fine - they can go a week no problem. If you are having aggression problems they will worsen when cichlids are hungry, so a tank divider would be your best defense against that.

 

[SpaceButler]

Are you sure someone didn't sell you a manatee?

 

[rhetor]

not entirely positive.

We walked into the fish store and asked for the "biggest, ugliest fish you have" and walked out with this guy in a styrofoam cooler. Could be the store owner's mother-in-law for all i know.

Thanks for the help guys. Although you saved me a lot of worrying, i'm sure my Jack Dempsey is pretty upset about all this. He really is one angry fish.

 

[rhetor]

Well after a week Jack Daniels is still alive and flipping.

The RA came in, and although they are supposed to leave fish tanks plugged in, they unplugged everything in the tank. The filter was off, the heater, the light, and the air pump. JD survived in smelly, stagnant water with no circulation or surface movement for an entire week. He was pretty angry, but still glad to see me. He won't be staying here on vacations any more.

Thanks for your help guys.