Vacation feeding

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Fishobsessed7

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I am going to be gone for 2 and a half weeks and I was wondering of my fish can go this long without food
 
That's pretty long. I would try to see if you can at least get someone to come once to feed them and check on them.
Is your tank planted? What kind of fish do you have? Some fish will snack on algae that grows on plants.


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I have a blue gourami harlequin rasboras guppy cories mollie zebra danios betta and it not planted
 
Vacation Tank Care

I am going to be gone for 2 and a half weeks and I was wondering of my fish can go this long without food

Hello Fish...

Adult fish can easily go a couple of weeks without food. Fry are a different matter. They really can't. When I go on vacation for a couple of weeks, I start feeding my fish a little more and a little more a few weeks before I leave. A couple of days before I leave, I stop feeding and do a larger than normal water change. The fish will live off their small fat reserve and I come home to a very clean tank.

B
 
What about an automatic fish feeder?


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The bad thing about automatic feeders is the least frequent you can set them to is once a day. Without anyone to do water changes, this is really not ideal. Also, it is difficult to control the exact amount that enters the tank so you run the risk of over feeding and getting ammonia spikes. This is much more likely to kill fish than starvation.


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I've got one auto-feeder that does every 12 or 24hrs but you need to experiment a lot to get the dosage right. I've found pellets easier - wondering if people with auto-feeders find flakes or pellets easier? There was only 2 models I found in 6 lfs's so my options were pretty limited to look at.
 
Using Auto Feeders

Reliable automatic feeders are expensive. A good one is likely to cost you $50.00. I'd have a hard time justifying a spend that high for something I'd use a couple of times a year.

If you don't want the fish to go two weeks without food, then a last resort would be to divide the food into packets and have someone feed the fish while you're gone. Neither would be the best choice.

Just one reporter's opinion.

B
 
This one was and still crappy! Although if I assume US is cheaper by a third it would work out to $20 or so US.
 
I recently went on vacation for 2 weeks. I only have guppies and endlers and a couple bottom feeders. I bought those white block feeders. Not exactly sure on the name. But I tested it out before I left fish would not touch it. I have no other option so I put two 14 day feeders in my tanks because of the amount of fish. And when I came back there was only a tiny amount of one left and only lost 3 fish out of about 50. I guess some refused to eat but they did work for me.


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I'm not sure. I didn't have any fry at the time. The block are really hard and dissolve very slowly. They might be fine because the fry are small and will be able to get the tiny pieces that come off of it. But plus unless it is a brand new tank there is all kinds of little critters that live in the water with them that they eat. Me personally when I have fry I do nothing special for them. No smaller foods or removing them from the tank I let them be. I do lose some to the adults eating them. Fish are natural foragers if there is food they will find it.


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You could try putting some dried leaves in your tank. I've read they're very beneficial by releasing tannins as well as growing microscopic organisms as they decay that fry can feed on.


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I always use block feeders and I've never had a problem. If the fish get hungry enough they'll eat off the block.
 
Update: no fish have died that I know of all the fry survived some fish are pale and have ripped fins while others are brighter than ever
 
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