Holiday food solutions

[Neonlights]

I’m going to go on holiday for 10 days and am leaving my tank with 5 tetras, a gourami and 3 catfish.

Can anyone recommend a holiday food tablet make that’s reputable? There are lots on Amazon but with mixed reviews, I’m not sure which one to go for.

 

[gwand]

I leave my fish without food for up to 12 days several times a year. No deaths. In the week leading up to leaving I feed twice per day daily. (I usually feed every other day.) I perform a water change right before I leave.

 

[GaryE]

For many years now, I have trusted not feeding over tabs and systems that kill more fish than they help. In the wild, fish go periods with no food, and since they aren't warm blooded, they don't need the energy we do.
I do a partial water change as close to leaving as I can (ideally within a day) and if I can, reduce heat. When I return, the fish are fine. I can attest to having dome this for over 50 years without problems.
2 weeks are okay. Beyond that, you are pushing your (and their) luck. In one unplanned travel delay, the fish fish went 17 days with no losses, and no health issues. They rebounded quickly.

 

[MattW]

A lot of members have different ways to prepare fish for when going away.

My way includes heavy feedings of live foods the day before and of leaving then adding Gel based holiday foods along with an alage wafer for shrimp & snails. My go to are Duplo holiday gel food. The only issue is very few stores stock it in the UK.

 

[Innesfan]

I'm with those who say do not use vacation feeders/food of any kind for a ten day trip.

 

[Neonlights]

I’m really surprised to read the comments about not leaving anything. I’ve been told that up to 10 days is ok to leave them unfed and I was planning a water change on the day I leave but felt I needed something in there food wise while I’m away.

Is it because of what’s added to the food blocks? The design of my tank has a flat lid close to the surface of the water but I could reduce the water level and try a small timed feeder (though they also have mixed reviews).

Should I also avoid vacuuming the sand with the water change?

 

[Neonlights]

I found a tetra gel block, still a no-no?

Holiday Food

www.tetra.net

 

[GaryE]

I haven't tried the gel blocks, but the problem with the older, cheap ones was how they dissolved. They went quickly in soft water, slowly in hard. I've got very soft water here.
Plus, the food itself seemed unpalatable to many fish, who just left it to rot.

I would get home and have to clean the tank, as opposed to ending a long trip and just having to feed healthy fish.

When I said I haven't used them for 50 years - in that time I have tried them for tanks of juvenile fish I've bred. I stopped some time ago because even juveniles do okay in well planted, established tanks for periods like that. They've found enough food to even grow, every time.

 

[Colin_T]

Don't waste your money on holiday feeders. Just feed the fish 3-5 times a day for a week or two before you go. They will build up fat reserves and can live off that while you're away.

Do more frequent water changes and gravel cleans when feeding more often.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the aquarium.

Clean the filter a day or two before you go so it doesn't block up when you're away. Wash the filter media/ materials in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the lawn/ garden outside.

You can add more live aquatic plants a few weeks before you go but don't add new plants if you are going in a day or two because they might introduce diseases.

Don't add any fish, shrimp or snails to a tank just before you go on holiday, again due to the possibility of introducing a disease.

Have the lights on a timer. Feed the fish before you walk out the door and enjoy your holiday.

Unlike mammals and birds that use most of their food to keep warm, most fish take their body temperature from the surrounding water. This means they don't need any food to stay warm. The food they eat is used to grow and move. This allows adult fish to go for months without food and not suffer any adverse effects. Leaving well fed fish for 10 days while you have a holiday is not normally an issue.

 

[Neonlights]

Thanks for all the quick advice above, I’ve decided to feed 3 times a day over the next 4 days and do a water change on the day I go away. Hopefully all should be well.

 

[seangee]

I regularly leave mine for a week, and usually a couple of times a year for 2-3 weeks.
Never feed them and never had a problem.

 

[fishorama]

I think fish will be fine for 10-14 days; my husband does not. We've hired a neighbor/friend "manny" to feed while we're gone before. He has fish & knows how to clean a filter or add dechlorinated water if needed. But the boys have grown into teenagers & the manny doesn't work there anymore. So, if he's available for a few feeding visits we prefer he do it. But maybe the neighbor boys would like a few $$ if he's not.

Do you have a friend, family member or neighbor that can come over 2-4 times while you'll be gone? You have to be very explicit as to how much of what foods, ie 4 pellets, a small pinch of flakes (show what that means!). When in doubt, do not feed!! It helps to have 1 day's food in a bag or container for each tank's amount so there's no mistakes.

I was given 2 different autofeeders, but I've never tried them. If you go that route, test for a couple weeks to see how they do. Some dump in too much food or too often, some skip or clog. Plan to come home to needing a major water change ASAP.

 

[Colin_T]

Thanks for all the quick advice above, I’ve decided to feed 3 times a day over the next 4 days and do a water change on the day I go away. Hopefully all should be well.

Do the water change on the day before you go or do it several houors before you leave so you can monitor the fish for heavy breathing. This is just in case the water company does something like add extra chlorine/ chloramine to the water. If they do, you will have a few hours to a day to see any signs and re-dose the tank with dechlorinator.