Holiday Food For Fish

[kmeuleman]

Hi,

I'm pretty new to having tropical fish but was doing pretty well until I went away of Christmas. I was only away for 5 days and did the usual 15% water change the day before I went. In the tank I had 5 neon tetra, 4 guppies, 3 platy and 1 Pakistani loach. I followed the advice from the shop and left them with a 3 day pyramid fish feeder.

When I came back I found lots of algae in the tank, one guppy was close to death and his tail was totally stuck together (he died the next day). The pyramid was half dissolved at the bottom of the tank.

I am going away for a week at Easter and for 2 weeks in the summer and am already having nightmares about the fish (they're my 11 year old daughter's but I do the main care).

Does anyone know of any other holiday food products which might be better or anything else I can do?

Thanks,
Kelly

 

[MewMew42]

is there anyone who can come in and drop some food in every other day? thats your best bet really

those food blocks really foul the water, if your going away for 5 days like you did I wouldnt worry about feeding them at all, they will be fine

but for 2 weeks its probably best to get a neighbour to come in, just put food in a little bag for them to use [otherwise you could risk over feeding]

if thats a problem try looking at tetra gel based holiday food, its not made with plaster of paris, looks more like cat food

 

[england]

I personally wouldnt use those types of block foods, best idea is give a good clean before you go,measure out what u concider normally feeding ammounts into some tubs,get someone to drop in and feed them and check everythings still working,when i go for my five week breaks i get my sis to drop in tues/thurs/sun to check and feed....

 

[three-fingers]

Clean tank, feed just before you go, set out the pre-measured amounts and if somone can come even just once or twice a week it should be fine.

Could also put in some nice soft-leaved aquatic plants just before you go, fish will nibble if they are that hungry.

Otherwise, skip feeding blocks and buy a mechanical timed feeder, make sure you test it for a week before you go.

 

[Amberleaf]

I left two feeding blocks in a divided, cycled for like 2 years, 5.5-gallon tank. I came home and one of the fish was dead, and the other one was not looking too happy; there was 4 ppm of ammonia in there!!

And the thing is my Mom believes it's cruel to not feed them for 2 days or something (we went away for 3), so she made absolutely SURE I put them into each tank right before we went.

 

[Assaye]

IMO, for up to two weeks, you don't need to add anything. At most you'd want to measure out 4 feeds into little cups and get someone to come in 4 times over the two weeks to feed the fish. Don't leave the pots out - most people will over feed and as you know, this can be very dangerous.

Those pyramid feeders are awful! They just pollute the tank.

For 5 days, don't worry about feeding them