Bettas on a month long vacation?

[aqua_holic]

Sorry man but saying a fish can go 3 months with out eating kind of raised my BS flag to. I mean stranger things have happening but that is not the norm. 3 weeks would be my limit as well.

I think what actually happened is it ate some of the scraps when you weren't looking.

I had a bully fish that used to chase everyone away from the food during feeding time but at the end of the day everyone was full and happy. I just never saw them eat.

Is that why they were emaciated and died of starvation? You should do some research on wasting disease too. The issue is that they CAN'T eat. Again, these fish were in quarantine. It's very easy to tell if a fish is eating or not in that situation. That's one of the many benefits of quarantining new fish - ensuring that they are eating properly. That's not something most think about because most people keep easy fish. Try keeping some more challenging species that have to be converted to staple food and you'll see what I mean. There are no scraps in quarantine - there are only full meals to be eaten. And full meals to be later removed. That's a VERY different scenario than your bullied fish. Ive been keeping fish for 15 years - it's not hard to tell when a fish isn't eating. Too, you're speaking as if these were healthy fish and they were not. You are also speaking as if this was one fish, when it was 4. I'm not trying to be a prick here but I wish people would read more carefully.

You can choose an arbitrary timeframe like 3 weeks if you like, but you don't/can't really know until you see a fish waste away to skin and bones. Now while some may have culled them beforehand, there's nothing to be learned from that. I tried to cure them. Also, I'm quite sure that they went for longer than the 3 months without eating, since it likely started before I bought them.

 

[Rivers2k]

Is that why they were emaciated and died of starvation? You should do some research on wasting disease too. The issue is that they CAN'T eat. Again, these fish were in quarantine. It's very easy to tell if a fish is eating or not in that situation. That's one of the many benefits of quarantining new fish - ensuring that they are eating properly. That's not something most think about because most people keep easy fish. Try keeping some more challenging species that have to be converted to staple food and you'll see what I mean. There are no scraps in quarantine - there are only full meals to be eaten. And full meals to be later removed. That's a VERY different scenario than your bullied fish. Ive been keeping fish for 15 years - it's not hard to tell when a fish isn't eating. Too, you're speaking as if these were healthy fish and they were not. You are also speaking as if this was one fish, when it was 4. I'm not trying to be a prick here but I wish people would read more carefully.

You can choose an arbitrary timeframe like 3 weeks if you like, but you don't/can't really know until you see a fish waste away to skin and bones. Now while some may have culled them beforehand, there's nothing to be learned from that. I tried to cure them. Also, I'm quite sure that they went for longer than the 3 months without eating, since it likely started before I bought them.

Don't get so defensive all I am saying is I have never seen a fish go 3 months without eating. It doesn't seem realistic that a fish will go 3 months. And if we are throwing out numbers I have been keeping fish for nearly 30 years. 28 to be exact you have no idea the fish I have kept or the tanks I have had. I have been around the block and have kept my fair of rare and hard to keep fish.

Reread your post. The way you stated it in your original post you made it seem like making fish go for 3 months without food is no big deal. You make no mention of wasting disease you make is sound like you keep your fish in quarantine for months on end with out feeding them. That is just how your post reads.

I currently have a kissing gourami that's been in quarantine for 3 months now. Has never eaten. It's never going in my show tank. I've had fish last much longer than that, refusing to eat.

Too, fasting the fish while you are gone is the best way to maintain water quality.

 

[aqua_holic]

Hey, I can't address your doubts without being defensive? I'm glad you've never had a fish starve - I hope you never do. It's supremely frustrating to watch fish you've spent months tracking down waste to nothing, and even more so for someone (who admittedly hasn't seen this before) to then come along and tell me what is actually happening in a tank that I've been watching like a hawk for the past 3 months. I hope you can appreciate that.

Like I said in the post to which you refer, and again in 2 other posts - I said the fish didn't eat. Not eating and not being fed are two completely different things. I'm sorry if anyone misunderstood that difference. To anyone other than blue_cat, who likely did not see it, my following post should have made all that crystal clear. The implication I was making was not that three months is not a big deal, but that 1 month is not a big deal when compared to how long fish can survive, since the concern and statements made in this thread are that fish will die in that time.