Going on holiday

[georgia]

Im off on a 3 week holiday, whats the best way to feed my fish:

Use feeding blocks?
Buy a automatic feeder?
get a friend to feed every few days?

Thanks

 

[lilfishie]

probably get a friend if they no how much to feed them and how often

 

[cometcattle]

Don't bother with feeding blocks. They are garbage. They're made mostly of plaster.

If you buy an auto-feeder, run it for a few days before you leave. I've never used one, but if it over-feeds, you'll come home to a tank full of dead fish.

I'd go with the friend, but, you want to set each feeding out in individual, labled containers. Tell the friend if they miss a feeding, PLEASE don't put 2 containers in. Explicit instructions are a must.

Be sure to do a good water change a couple days before you leave.

Enjoy your Holiday!

 

[NikkiY]

Definitely get an automatic feeder All automatic feeder allows you to adjust the portion so there is no worry for overfeeding. Before you mount it on the tank, simply turn it a couple of times to ensure the right size of portion. Actually, it stops me from overfeeding my fish which in turn keep my tank cleaner too The cheapest one I found is it WalMart selling less than $15 (by Penn-Plax).

Nikki

 

[debiasir]

get a friend / family member to do it.

I got my dad to feed mine. what i did was put the food in ice cube trays, a days food in one cube covered the tray in clingfilm so every day all my dad needed to do was peel back the film get out a days portion and feed. this way there is no chance the person doing you the favour can over feed.

i had to get my dad to feed my goldies with me a few days before i left as oddly enough they would not eat unless i put the food in the tank,so over the few days they got used to my dad doing it. maybe my fish are just wierd

 

[CTS]

i would say to go with a friend.

 

[daza]

you can also get non-plaster holiday sticks. I bought some 'Tetra holiday and weekend food sticks', it says it is "controlled release nutrition".

However, when i used one, my Danios either ate it all before I went out the door, or played football with it so I couldn't see it anymore (one or the other)!

 

[nuttyfishgirl]

so danios are quite playful then

 

[Cheart99]

My sister bought a automatic feeder and she loves it. But advance warnign run it for a few days just to make sure that it dosent stop working. My sister found that after she came back from vacation her feeder broke 3 days latter. Lucky for her she was home by then or her fish would have starved. But she has bought another feeder and loves it. Keeps from over feeding and never has to worry about forgeting to feed them.

 

[JamesTasker]

I'd go with the friend, but, you want to set each feeding out in individual, labled containers. Tell the friend if they miss a feeding, PLEASE don't put 2 containers in. Explicit instructions are a must.

This is what I do - my gran does it, she's never kept fish, and none have ever died whilst i've been on holiday.

 

[NinjaSmurf]

The only problem with using a friend is that they aren't used to the wiles and pitiful antics of fish begging for food, so they might feel guilty and feed them more than they should... Heck, sometimes I have this problem myself *naughty fish...*

 

[debiasir]

The only problem with using a friend is that they aren't used to the wiles and pitiful antics of fish begging for food, so they might feel guilty and feed them more than they should... Heck, sometimes I have this problem myself *naughty fish...*

thats where the ice cube tray method is handy as you only leave the right amount of food per day in the different cubes.

 

[NinjaSmurf]

Yes, but you can't count on the person sticking to it all the time, they see the fish swimming frantically at the top of the tank and then they're like 'well, maybe just a little more...'

 

[clutterydrawer]

leave the right amounts of food measured out in trays then HIDE the rest of the food tub so they cant give them any extra. tell them in advance that the fish will beg for more but they shouldnt give them any.

 

[Foxy1983]

I'd go with the friend...leave clear instructions and if you need to sort the food into daily amounts so nothing like over-feeding occurs!

I wouldn't trust an automatic feeder or anything else...