how long can they survive without food?

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AlyG

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jan 13, 2009
Messages
45
Location
PA
Hello All,
I am going on a 3 day trip this weekend. Could my fish survive without food? what can I do?

2 Damsels
2 Clown
1 Royal Gramma
1 Coral Beauty Angel
1 Longnose Butterfly

All of the fish eat flake food except for the Longnose, which only eats frozen mysis/brine. I tried only putting the flake food in, but the longnose will not eat it.

What should I do? if I buy an automatic feeder my longnose would not get fed. could they all survive without food for 3 days????
 
They will be OK for three days. I`ve read that they can last up to 2 weeks but I would not like to test that statement. I would feed minutes before you leave and feed immediately after getting back.
 
They will be fine for 3 days. A more pressing issue is top off water. Do you have an auto top off, and/or is your tank big enough that the salinity won't change significantly in 3 days with no fresh water added?
 
I have a 55 gal tank. When I feed the fish now they all come to the top like they are starving! So u think they would last 3 full days? Also... should I leave the lights out?

What else do I need to do before I go?
 
Put your lights on a timer.I only feed my fish every other day for 11 yrs now so I know they will be OK.
 
They will be OK for three days. I`ve read that they can last up to 2 weeks but I would not like to test that statement. I would feed minutes before you leave and feed immediately after getting back.


Greetings,

If you have a fox face it won't last for two weeks without food. It needs food all the time and can get skinny really quick. Don't ask me how I know. DP
 
I`m not saying anyone should go two weeks without feeding. I was for sure saying that they will be OK for three days.
 
I have also read that they should be fine for a few days without food, would not worry.
 
They will be OK for three days. I`ve read that they can last up to 2 weeks but I would not like to test that statement. I would feed minutes before you leave and feed immediately after getting back.

This is what I would do too, Im sure they will be fine. Unless you have anthias it could be riskier.
 
In defense of Melosu, his statement was generalized and not to be taken as a definite. There are indeed many fish varieties that can easily withstand 2wks without food, so I do agree that three days without a feeding would be fine.
 
I am gonna weigh in on this ... from experience . I have also read that you can go up to 2 weeks or longer .. When I had surgery ,and went on vacation , both about aweek , I did NOT feed , I did have top offs done , I only feed on sunday ,and on wednesday ... that is it , no more than they can eat in 10-15 seconds(this is the normal schedule ) , it prevents them from "missing" any .. less waste means less to decay ....When I went on vacation I fed the night before we left ... I have done this for 5 years or so no issues at all .. they will be fine . As to the lights , I have gone lights out for up to a week as well also with NO issues .. Have fun relax and just show some one how to top off.. you will be fine ;)
 
yeah they should be fine for three days. if you were really worried, you could get an automatic feeder, and then you would have one for when you might go on a longer trip. you could also get a neighbor to feed them, just put some pre-measured food into a bag and tell them to put the food in the bag into the tank. but be sure to put a lot of water into the tank before you leave so that topping-off wont be much of a problem.
 
The amount of time a fish can go without feeding depends on health condition of the fish, amount of natural food available on rocks, the type of fish, the "canallbalism" nature of the tank mates (a hungry trigger will make a quick meal of declining chromis in no time). Three days will not be a problem but anything more than a week I will be concerned with. DP
 
I just got back from a 3 day trip. The best advice I received was don't do anything different. Don't feed heavily before you leave. Don't leave food in the tank for when you leave. Don't feed heavily when you get home. A well established tank can go unfed for two weeks in most cases. I have 4 pretty generously sized tangs that eat nonstop, I came home and they were ok--except that my tank started leaking, but that's another story. Bottom line: they'll be ok.
 
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