Holiday Feeding

[naefearjustbeer]

I will be going away for a week in April leaving the the fish needing fed. What do people do when they go away? Arrange someone to come round or do those feeding blocks that slowly dissolve work ok?

 

[The-Wolf]

there is no need to feed when you're away
this is what I do

one week before departure
decrease feed by half and days by half (I.E feed every other day half the ammount)
day before departure
50% water change, no feeding
day of departure, very small feed

day of return, or day after if tired etc
50% water change, no feeding
day after that
small feed
following week slowly build back up to normal feeding regime.

I would not use those feeding blocks as they are mostly ash and will play havoc with your water parameters.

 

[Undawada]

In the wild fish will naturally go a week or more without food. It's completely healthy, in fact, many fishkeepers intentionally fast their fish once and a while to help regulate their digestive system.

The trick is not to feed for a couple days BEFORE you leave and then do a partial water change, if the fish don't eat, they produce less waste. That way, you don't get any toxic buildup when you are gone.

Make sure you change your water when you get back, and resume regular feeding.

Ive left my fish for 17 days before without incident.

Fish are cold blooded, so their metabolism will drop without food. They will be less active, so don't worry if they look lethargic when you get back. Give them some food and within a couple hours, they will be back to normal activity levels.

Don't use the feeder blocks. I've heard so many stories about people coming back to tanks of dead fish, or even that they can contain tuberculosis (I think it was angry platy who had this problem, if I recall).

 

[naefearjustbeer]

thanks