Well, wish me luck....

[NODAK1979]

Going on vacation starting Saturday for 8 days. I've seen a few people online saying it's acceptable to leave fish without food for that amount of time.

So, to those who have asked in the past about what to do during vacation time, I'll keep you updated about the condition (or lack thereof) of my fish when I return. The fish I have are in my signature. And yes, discus are in there...people who keep discus swear that 8 days is an acceptable time for them not to be fed.

I hope everybody is right, because these fish are worth quite a few hundreds of dollars. And, if they're right, this means I don't have to buy a fish feeder.

 

[Viper]

Following along as I will be going on vacation mid-summer and will run into the same situation. Good luck!

 

[Bettababe1011]

I had my brother feed my fish when my mom and I went to Arizona for five days. They all survived under his watch thankfully. I'm following, this seems very interesting. I'm hoping for the best with your fishies.

Courtesy of Dakota's iPod.

 

[NODAK1979]

I think it's just hard to believe instinctively because you wouldn't leave a human without food for that long, and you wouldn't leave your cat or dog without food for that long either. But from what people say, the metabolism in fish is much lower and can sustain themselves over that amount of time.

So I'll trust them. I understand the logic of course...without me being there to do water changes, feeding could definitely be more of a disaster than anything. Over 8 days, if I'm feeding normally, I will typically do 2-3 water changes.

 

[mfdrookie516]

8 days is quite a long time. I wouldn't worry about them for 5 days, as I always tell people... 6 would be pushing it for me. I have to say though, if your outcome is good after 8 days, that'll set my mind at ease for my vacations this summer.

The logic is there. Fish are opportunistic. In the wild, they don't have somebody feeding them every day. They can easily hold over a few days without eating. I'm sure in tough circumstances, it's not unheard of for fish to not get to eat for 8 or 9 days, but one has to wonder if they've changed any since being bred in captivity for so long. I guess we shall see. Discus, of all fish, would be what I would worry about the most.

 

[NODAK1979]

8 days is quite a long time. I wouldn't worry about them for 5 days, as I always tell people... 6 would be pushing it for me. I have to say though, if your outcome is good after 8 days, that'll set my mind at ease for my vacations this summer.

The logic is there. Fish are opportunistic. In the wild, they don't have somebody feeding them every day. They can easily hold over a few days without eating. I'm sure in tough circumstances, it's not unheard of for fish to not get to eat for 8 or 9 days, but one has to wonder if they've changed any since being bred in captivity for so long. I guess we shall see. Discus, of all fish, would be what I would worry about the most.

I've heard it isn't unheard of them to not eat for weeks in the wild. So, I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about this. We go on a couple vacations a year, so this will really be my litmus test for future vacations.

 

[Viper]

Have you tried looking for an automatic fish feeder?

 

[Rosenweiss]

Can you get someone to feed them just once, at the halfway mark?

 

[NODAK1979]

Have you tried looking for an automatic fish feeder?

Well I know I can get one easily but what I've read is that it's worse to feed them and have them pollute the water than it is just to not feed.

 

[NODAK1979]

Can you get someone to feed them just once, at the halfway mark?

We really don't. We don't have many, if any, friends in this area. That doesn't say much for us considering we've lived here for nearly 5 years. I don't know of anybody we'd really trust to do that. Basically, it's all (automatic feeder) or nothing.

 

[Viper]

Well I know I can get one easily but what I've read is that it's worse to feed them and have them pollute the water than it is just to not feed.

True. Can you program the amount to only feed a tiny bit at a time?

 

[NODAK1979]

True. Can you program the amount to only feed a tiny bit at a time?

You can, but what is likely to happen then is that the most voracious feeders are going to get what little falls down from the feeder and the rest will get none. When I feed, I definitely spread it out and ensure that everybody eats. If I just dropped a little in, I guarantee that most of the fish would get about nothing.

 

[Viper]

You can, but what is likely to happen then is that the most voracious feeders are going to get what little falls down from the feeder and the rest will get none. When I feed, I definitely spread it out and ensure that everybody eats. If I just dropped a little in, I guarantee that most of the fish would get about nothing.

 

[siva]

What about a service that handles servicing aquariums, hire them to come just once in the middle?

 

[James_in_MN]

You can, but what is likely to happen then is that the most voracious feeders are going to get what little falls down from the feeder and the rest will get none. When I feed, I definitely spread it out and ensure that everybody eats. If I just dropped a little in, I guarantee that most of the fish would get about nothing.

Hopefully, that doesn't happen to me. I just bought a feeder on Amazon to try while I'm away.

Amazon.com: ANIM F14 FISH MATE FEEDER: Home & Garden

I liked this because it would allow me to feed them different types of food. It will also allow me to drop a shrimp pellet or algae wafer in once or twice while I'm gone without relying on the randomness of a single compartment food dispenser.