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Away for three days
- Thread starter SwimmieSue
- Start date
Yes. I routinely leave my fish for 7-9 days. They are always healthy upon my return. BTW I feed my fish once every other day.
They will be fine. Just do a couple of things a few days before you go.
Clean the filter a few days before you go so it's clean and won't block up while you're away.
Do a water change a few days before you go. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.
Have the light on a timer.
Feed the fish before you walk out the door and they will be there when you return.
Clean the filter a few days before you go so it's clean and won't block up while you're away.
Do a water change a few days before you go. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.
Have the light on a timer.
Feed the fish before you walk out the door and they will be there when you return.
They'll be more than fine for three days, and better to leave them unfed for three days (or even a week or two when going away) than to try using one of those autofeeders, "holiday blocks", or even having someone else feed the tank who doesn't know how much to give, and is likely to overfeed and not know how to fix it if they accidentally cause an ammonia spike by dumping too much food in.
Remember that fish are cold blooded, not mammals like we are. What this means relative to this, is that they don't generate their own internal body heat the way mammals need to, which requires a lot of fuel, and is energy demanding. Fish take their body temperature from the water they are in. So despite constantly acting hungry, they can actually be fasted for quite a while with no ill effects, and really don't need the daily or twice daily feedings most of us give them.
They are opportunistic feeders though, grabbing insects or whatever food when it becomes available, since they don't know when it may become available again, hence them constantly acting as if they're starving anytime you go near the tank. But they will be absolutely fine for 3-4 days while you're away! Our tendency to over feed our fish means a lot of us have days where we fast the fish, only feeding 4- 6 times per week instead of twice daily. Of course that varies depending on the fish you keep, the keeper's wishes, whether there are fry, which need more frequent and careful feeding, etc etc.
But for your average community tank with adult fish, a week or two is fine while you're away. They'll snack on whatever algae and microcritters they find in the tank while you're gone (worth leaving the glass uncleaned and allowing some algae and biofilm to grow for them to feed on, I only ever clean the front pane and maybe a side pane if it's also a viewing side, but the back and other side I leave algae to grow on for my algae eaters and shrimp). But just means you come home to a cleaner tank.
Hope you don't mind my asking, but looks as if you have the one neon, and two guppies?
Remember that fish are cold blooded, not mammals like we are. What this means relative to this, is that they don't generate their own internal body heat the way mammals need to, which requires a lot of fuel, and is energy demanding. Fish take their body temperature from the water they are in. So despite constantly acting hungry, they can actually be fasted for quite a while with no ill effects, and really don't need the daily or twice daily feedings most of us give them.
They are opportunistic feeders though, grabbing insects or whatever food when it becomes available, since they don't know when it may become available again, hence them constantly acting as if they're starving anytime you go near the tank. But they will be absolutely fine for 3-4 days while you're away! Our tendency to over feed our fish means a lot of us have days where we fast the fish, only feeding 4- 6 times per week instead of twice daily. Of course that varies depending on the fish you keep, the keeper's wishes, whether there are fry, which need more frequent and careful feeding, etc etc.
But for your average community tank with adult fish, a week or two is fine while you're away. They'll snack on whatever algae and microcritters they find in the tank while you're gone (worth leaving the glass uncleaned and allowing some algae and biofilm to grow for them to feed on, I only ever clean the front pane and maybe a side pane if it's also a viewing side, but the back and other side I leave algae to grow on for my algae eaters and shrimp). But just means you come home to a cleaner tank.
Hope you don't mind my asking, but looks as if you have the one neon, and two guppies?
Oh, while we're here and talking about it, bloodworms aren't very nutritious, and are very fatty. Think of them as being similar to cake, for us. A treat we might gobble up now and then, but not something to feed daily! More like something to give once every couple of weeks perhaps as a treat instead of one of the usual meals.
As a staple daily dried food, you can't do much better than Bug Bites, which are an inexpensive dried food made from insects.
You could also try frozen foods, and look for ones that have insects/food small enough for guppy and tetra mouths - daphnia, moina, cyclops - and a whole cube would be too much for that size tank and the small amount of fish, so you could take a cube and shave off a small amount to feed the fish, then put the cube back, so the food would last you a long time. Would be much healthier for the fish.
If you prefer dried foods, you can get freeze dried daphnia too, which would be better for the fish than the bloodworms. Ideally, pre-soak freeze dried foods in a little bit of tank water for 15-20 mins before feeding to the fish.
As a staple daily dried food, you can't do much better than Bug Bites, which are an inexpensive dried food made from insects.
You could also try frozen foods, and look for ones that have insects/food small enough for guppy and tetra mouths - daphnia, moina, cyclops - and a whole cube would be too much for that size tank and the small amount of fish, so you could take a cube and shave off a small amount to feed the fish, then put the cube back, so the food would last you a long time. Would be much healthier for the fish.
If you prefer dried foods, you can get freeze dried daphnia too, which would be better for the fish than the bloodworms. Ideally, pre-soak freeze dried foods in a little bit of tank water for 15-20 mins before feeding to the fish.
No worries, they'll do fine during your absence...
OP
OP
SwimmieSue
New Member
Adora'They'll be more than fine for three days, and better to leave them unfed for three days (or even a week or two when going away) than to try using one of those autofeeders, "holiday blocks", or even having someone else feed the tank who doesn't know how much to give, and is likely to overfeed and not know how to fix it if they accidentally cause an ammonia spike by dumping too much food in.
Remember that fish are cold blooded, not mammals like we are. What this means relative to this, is that they don't generate their own internal body heat the way mammals need to, which requires a lot of fuel, and is energy demanding. Fish take their body temperature from the water they are in. So despite constantly acting hungry, they can actually be fasted for quite a while with no ill effects, and really don't need the daily or twice daily feedings most of us give them.
They are opportunistic feeders though, grabbing insects or whatever food when it becomes available, since they don't know when it may become available again, hence them constantly acting as if they're starving anytime you go near the tank. But they will be absolutely fine for 3-4 days while you're away! Our tendency to over feed our fish means a lot of us have days where we fast the fish, only feeding 4- 6 times per week instead of twice daily. Of course that varies depending on the fish you keep, the keeper's wishes, whether there are fry, which need more frequent and careful feeding, etc etc.
But for your average community tank with adult fish, a week or two is fine while you're away. They'll snack on whatever algae and microcritters they find in the tank while you're gone (worth leaving the glass uncleaned and allowing some algae and biofilm to grow for them to feed on, I only ever clean the front pane and maybe a side pane if it's also a viewing side, but the back and other side I leave algae to grow on for my algae eaters and shrimp). But just means you come home to a cleaner tank.
Hope you don't mind my asking, but looks as if you have the one neon, and two guppies?
Yes, one Neon Tetra for 2 years, and one Blue Guppy, and one sword tail guppy for 2 years.
Thank you for your expertise.
I did not know this! I feed my big tank blood worms once or twice a week LOL. I guess they're going on a diet now... I do overfeed, so when I go away it's like them going to fat camp.
OP
OP
SwimmieSue
New Member
I didn't know Blood-worms were like Snickers Bars either!
No wonder they practically jump out of the water to eat!
No wonder they practically jump out of the water to eat!
TwoTankAmin
Fish Connoisseur
Hikari Frozen Blood Worms: These are a favorite of breeders. I used to use a combination of them and canned green beans (no salt added) to get my Bristlenose plecos to spawn. I used them for Hypancistrus and angels as well. But I must have well over a dozen different foods I feed. I normally buy my frozen foods in 1 to 2.5 lb blocks. The one exception are blood worms because I am highly allergic. So I use the cubes and I wear latex exam gloves when I feed them.
* Because of our commitment to providing the highest quality nutrition available, some differences in ingredients may occur due to regular formula updates.
A Unique Food Offering
- Naturally contain fatty acids and color enhancing nutrients
- A size almost any fish can readily consume and digest
- A combination of vitamins and live blood worms you cannot duplicate with live
- Easy to use "no touch™" mini cubes make measured feeding a snap
Proprietary Processes Help Us Offer Unsurpassed Quality
- 3 Step Sterilized for safety
- Free of harmful parasites and bacteria or foul odor
- Multi-step cleansing process offers the world's cleanest frozen foods available today
- Gut-loaded with Bio-Encapsulated Multi-Vitamins to offer better than live food nutrition
- Our proprietary Mega-Power Freezer helps us lock in all the nutrition your fish need while maintaining the natural color, taste and texture
- Hi-tech and highly automated packing machines allow us to maintain the integrity of the animal and avoid pieces and parts common with competitive products
* Because of our commitment to providing the highest quality nutrition available, some differences in ingredients may occur due to regular formula updates.
| Crude Protein | Crude Fat | Crude Fiber | Moisture |
|---|---|---|---|
| min. 3.5% | min. 0.3% | max. 0.7% | max. 94.5% |
| Phosphorus | Vitamin C | Vitamin B2 | Vitamin B12 |
| min. 0.01% | min. 10 mg/kg | min. 2 mg/kg | min. 200 µg/kg |
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