What to do over Christmas holidays?

[jodie_jo]

I am not going to be in the house for 1 week over xmas and my normal "fish-sitter" is also away. I have been looking at various tablets and contraptions to feed the fish whilst im gone, but would like to ask what people think is the best thing to use?

I have neon tetras, 2 congo tetras, 1 gourami, 1 plec and 1 silver shark in a 65ltr tank.

Thank you.

 

[hc8719]

some people will tell you that you dont need to feed them, but i think an auto feeder is the way to go. i have one, works great

 

[theotheragentm]

I second the auto feeder.

 

[rich311k]

A feeder would be the way to go. I don't put much stock in those vacation feeder things. Just lumps of calcium.

If you have to, a week with out food will not kill any of your fish. They will be very happy to see you when you gat home. If you can get a person to come in once or twice during the week just put some food in a dixie cup or some such container and tell the person to just dump it in.

If you don't already have one get a timer for your lights.

 

[tropicfishman]

I agree about the auto feeder, if ya can set it up right then you should be A ok

 

[DepotFish]

The fish will be fine. Get an auto feeder if you want, but don't worry at all if you don't get one. I just left my fish for a week. All was well when I came back.
As for christmas though I'll be gone for a month. So 13 goldfish, 8 bettas, 4 loaches, and 2 platies and my filters are coming home with me to spend the holidays in temporary setups. It will be a hectic holiday, but nothing new to me or the fish. I'll probably have several more goldies on the trip back with me

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Ditto Depot. You can get an auto feeder, but they will be fine. If you do decide to get an auto feeder test it for at least a week before leaving.

 

[jodie_jo]

A week? Really? Well i never....
Not sure how comfortable i would feel leaving them for a week without food... how long can they actually go? (out of curiosity)

I may have to purchase a feeder soon then

 

[DepotFish]

Most fish can last over a month if the tank is properly stocked and cycled, longer if the tank is colder. But you run the risk of one fish dying and making the water go bad so that rest of them die too. Or if the water is unstable you run risks by leaving it unchecked that long.

 

[JRagg]

Yeah, they can go a lot longer than you would think. I've witnessed it personally.

I picked up the Eheim auto feeder a couple of months ago. It's not cheap, but it works well. It can be set up for 1, 2, or 3 times a day, and it holds a good bit of food. Only works with pellets and flake though.

It's up to you whether you go auto-feeder or leave them alone for a week. If you have aggressive fish or really small and growing fish I would probably go the auto-feeder route.

 

[kostasonia]

All this means that nobody really likes the tablets that last 2 or 3 days, correct? If you drop in one of them just before leaving...or they are a real mess????

You see, I also go for a week in Christmas..

 

[Burks]

I went on a vacation for 8 days and my fish had no food except what they could find in the tank. Came home and everything was perfectly fine.

I'll be at my parent's for 9 days over Christmas and will not be using any type of auto feeder or having someone come in. Those stupid auto feeders at Wal-Mart suck. Had the dump thing lock up on me and strip the gears. I just don't trust them to begin with except for the more expensive models.

 

[hc8719]

Most fish can last over a month if the tank is properly stocked and cycled

i should note, a healthy human can also go for a month without food, but dont try it. even when i had an auto feeder, and was gone for 9 days, i still lost 2 neons and a platy.

im not so concerned about a dead fish ruining the params, but other fish noticing ones very weak, and attacking it (ive see it)

burks what brand of auto feeder did you get? and how much did it cost? i have a penn-plax auto feeder for like $15 at meijers

 

[Burks]

burks what brand of auto feeder did you get? and how much did it cost? i have a penn-plax auto feeder for like $15 at meijers

I don't know the brand name but it was like $8-$10. Had a brown clear cap for holding food and an orange adjustable tube for the food to come out of.

 

[DepotFish]

Over 9 days I'd think something other than starvation killed the two neons and platy. Kostasonia-that's right, nobody likes the tablets because they can potentially mess up the water parameters

 

[Lepomis]

They fish will be fine a week isn't a problem at all. Only concerns would be if the fish aren't healthy to begin with.

 

[hc8719]

i wouldnt say the tablets mess up params, but fish dont eat them, plecos may, but others dont.

the only time ive seen fish eat tablets, are those poor feeder goldies that live 2000 in a 50 gallon tank