Going Away - How Long Without Feeding?

[Tigermoth]

With a 4' community tank. If I was to go away on a Friday and return the following Tuesday, meaning 3 full days without food, is that a definite no-no? What's the longest I could reasonably go for, or what's the longest you've been without feeding fish? Does it depend on size of fish?

I've got some of those algae tablet jobbies that stick on the side of the tank, they take quite a while to disappear, not 3 days though.

It's not set in stone yet, as I might not go, so no need to pile on the grief if 3 days is cruel.

Cheers

 

[maximinimus]

I can't really say how long you can leave fish for, I've never been away without having someone to feed them. But I have seen automatic dry food dispensers for holiday feeding. From what I've seen they have a hopper and dispense a set amount of dry food at an interval.

Do a search on ebay for "automatic fish feeder" they range from a few pounds upwards

 

[rocknurworld2006]

3 days is perfectly fine .
if you have any fry they may not survive.

but you can be gone for up to week without problems.

automatic food dispensers are really a waste of money and not very realible in my opinion

 

[maximinimus]

I've never tried them so I don't know how good they are I'd have thought they are better than nothing for a few days though

 

[Bloo]

For general average adult community fish, you'll be perfectly fine for quite a few days. Most certainly 3

 

[Tigermoth]

Thanks all. Now I won't be feeling guilty if I do go away.

 

[ALW]

If you feed them before you go then they will be fine for 3 days, fish can go for about a week without food!

 

[SJ2K]

A week without too much trouble, 2 would be pushing it and thats when you'd need somone to come feed them 3 days is nothing, i skip feeding from time to time even when im home, makes it a little more natural.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

generally anything up to 2 weeks is fine, more than that you need someone in, for 2 weeks if you can get someone in justv 2/3 times over that period it'll tide them over.

i've used automatic feeders before, worked fine but we did plenty of tinkering around to get it set up right before going, only did it when I had my Oscar as he would really not have been happy with 2 weeks with no food.

 

[schooly20]

Yeah I once we gone for 3 weeks and had measured out the amount I wanted fed and had someone stop by and feed my fish once a week and they were completely fine. The big thing I was afraid of was water, I did a water change right before and right after my trip.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Ask your pet store for a vacation feeding block or in your case a week-end block...... it dissolves slowly in your water and releases sufficient foods for average daily feedings. I've just returned from a 2.5 week holiday and added these with great success (40 tanks)...no losses and the water was clear as i've never seen.... made me realise that i'm maybe feeding too much manually.

 

[Tolak]

Healthy adult fish can easily go for two weeks without eating, I've had adult angels go over 3 weeks without being fed. Three days is no problem at all.

 

[backtotropical]

Healthy adult fish can easily go for two weeks without eating

+1