Fish Feeding - Away For 2 Nights - Advise?

[parmsuk]

Hi,
 
We are planning to be away this weekend from Friday evening till Monday Afternoon. This is the first time I'm leaving the fish (I'm relative new to the hobby)
 
Normally I feed the fish once a day in the evening.
 
I'm planning to feed them Friday night and then again Monday when I get back (probably in the evening) so they would have missed two nights of feeding.
 
Fish I have are 5xNeon Tetras, 6xCPD and 3xGuppies 
 
Do I need to worry???, is it okay not to feed them for 2 days?
 
Looking for advice.
 
Thanks in advance
 
AJ

 

[bricko]

Hi,

Fish will be absolutely fine without food for this length of time, in actual fact it does them good to have a few days without food now and again. I deliberately give my tank a fasting day every week.

Hope this helps

 

[parmsuk]

Thanks for the reassurance.
 
Based on the responses I have been given (this forum and others) I will actually introduce a fasting day once a week!
 
Thanks.
 
AJ

 

[Ch4rlie]

Yes, perfectly ok not to feed them for a few days.
 
In actual fact, i've been on holiday for over a week and not fed the fish during the entire time, they are fine with no feeding for quite some length of time actually, think is 10 to 14 days will be ok.
 
Before i leave the house/tanks for any length of time i make sure i change the water and feed the fish. Check the timer and heater are on etc. That way i know everything has been done and prepared. 
 
Also, for normal routine during the week, i actually deliberately miss out feeding the fish 2 or 3 times a week, this encourages the fish, shrimps, snails to forage in the tank for those leftover bits of food and algae in tank.

 

[GuppyGirl20]

It's fine to not feed your fish for a few days but if you are wprried about it at LFS there are weekend feeders you can buy. It's whayever you're comfortable doing

 

[attibones]

It's fine to not feed your fish for a few days but if you are wprried about it at LFS there are weekend feeders you can buy. It's whayever you're comfortable doing

I hope you aren't referring to those food blocks. They begin to dissolve immediately in water, have very low nutritional value, and foul up the water worse than the fish can manage in that time. Best not to use these.

If you are going on an extended leave, it is always a good idea to get a trustworthy friend to come over and check on things for you. I've gone so far as to divide up the proper amount of food per day per tank in little baggies or cups so all my sitter needs to do is pour in the appropriate amount.

 

[dorecs]

I can agree with everyone here, I also went away a few weeks and the fish didn't eat for 2-3 days. I gave them a good feed the day I left and they were absolutely fine.
The weekend feeders are probably too much hassle for as short a period of time at 2 days.

 

[TallTree01]

I don't feed my fish when I leave for almost 2 weeks. I come home they all look healthy, but quite hungry xD

 

[jimboshrimp]

I agree as well I went on holiday for 11 nights did big water change and feed ,then left my food measured in egg cups and asked my son to feed them every 3 days then  when I came home all water parameters and fish were absolutely fine after all the problems I had been having I was surprised they were all ok have a lovely worry free weekend
Angie

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Since nobody has mentioned it, there is one obvious exception to the fasting issue. It doesn't work with most fry. The more recently a fry has gone free swimming, the more urgently it needs food, not only daily, but many need feeding more than once a day.