Holiday

[Clown loach lover]

How long can you leave a tank for without feeding?? I have a cichlid and community tank. I usuallu put blocks in that dissolve.

 

[rdd1952]

Fish can easily go a week without food. Many on this forum have done it. I would definitely stay away from the block feeders. They are mostly plaster or whatever they are made from and very little food. All they really do is mess up the water. Automatic feeders can be risky as they could malfunction and dump too much food in causing an ammonia spike.

If you feel you need to feed them, find someone that can do it for you and simply put a normal feeding in a cup, one for each day they are going to feed them. All they have to do is come over and pour the contents of a cup into the tank. The next time, they pour in the second cup. Just hide the food so they can't decide to feed more because they don't think what is in the cup is enough.

Another side benefit to not feeding is that no food means they will produce very little waste. So if the filter should happen to go out or you have an extended power outage, the ammonia build up will be minimal.

 

[Clown loach lover]

Thats great thanks, i have left a previous tank for 2 weeks and it was fine. the blocks are rubbish and don't seem to have any nutritional value. Cheers.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

It depends on the fish, young small community fish or fry can usually go up to a week without food, most adult and large fish can go up to 2 weeks without food. Fish which originate from areas which suffer from droubt/dry seasons like common plecos can often go a lot longer without food.
I would make sure all the fish get a good and very nutritional diet of frozen or live foods and fresh foods for the weeks coming up to the holiday so they are all in top condition before you go away, any sick fish or new unquarentined fish should be removed and put into a separate tank so they don't spread anything to the other fish while you are away.
Ideally, if you can get someone trustworthy to feed and keep an eye on your fish while you are away then that is even better , i would totally stay away from holiday feeders though as they either don't work at all or put too much food into the tank and foul the water quality.
Make sure you give the tank a good clean before you go away, check filter/s and heater/s are all working properly/smoothely and are clean, its also a good idea to put an extra filter into the tank as well before you go just in case one stops working or gets too full of muck etc.

 

[vinylman]

Actually, I've just been reading that Tetra are making a feeding block that doesn't use plaster; apparently it contains a kind of 'jelly' that slowly dissolves in the water and the jelly contains flakes and granules. I assume the jelly is like the stuff they already make in small plastic strips which you feed to your fish as a treat.

 

[Brette]

I would definitely stay away from the block feeders. They are mostly plaster or whatever they are made from and very little food.

Plaster??? Glad I read this, I had no idea.

 

[wally6346]

Some people leave food for just under a week anyway before a big feed of something yummy!!