going on holiday

[jeff_hopkinson]

im going on holiday for a week,do those 7 day feeders actually work or what do u guys use

 

[OohFeeshy]

Just don't feed. The fish will be fine. I think you decrease the amount you feed before you go away then slowly increase it when you come back.

 

[@ombomb]

I've used them before and some brands seem to work (as in they're not there when you get back) and some don't (still there when you get back). The one's I've used in the past are the freeze dried brine shrimp one's.

I'd feel a little uneasy leaving my fish for that length at a time without giving them SOMETHING.

Myy old problem always used to be getting the light to come on as I had an integrated tank (tropiquarium) that didn't have a timer.

 

[Bloo]

Here are a couple of previous threads for you to read.
Personally I'd steer well clear of those chalk type feeding blocks - they tend to do far more harm than good.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=32295&hl
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=9668&hl

 

[3fsh]

Do you have any plants or algae growing in your tank? If they are herbivorous fish, then they can graze off of that quite happily for a week. My mollies sometimes aren't very hungry because they've been eating little bits of plants or the algae off of the sides of the tank. I hate those feeders that you leave in the tank... they cloud the water and my fish hate them anyway. Would it be possible to have someone come over and feed them midweek?

 

[dwarfgourami]

As I keep guppies (short digestive tracts, frequent eaters) I felt I had better do something when I went away for a week at halfterm. Bought a Hagen 2x automatic feeder. When I tested it beforehand I found the flakes got damp and clogged up after 2 days on the tank, so the machine stopped serving.
Instead I put in tetrasticks for the livebearers. Seemed to work well, they looked well fed, no mess in the tank, though definite increase in brown algae, water stats ok when I got back (trace ammonia).
Used the automatic feeder to feed catfish pellets to the corys in the other tank. This worked well as far as the machinery went- but they turned out not to like pellets, so there was a bit of a mess in the tank, water stats still fine though.
Changed water twice in the following week.
Would use tetrasticks again as they do not contain plaster (unlike feeding blocks). This particular (cheepo) automatic feeder seems not to work well with flakes, but there are more expensive ones, with airpumps, that you can order online.
But next time I will defintiely try hard to get a fishsitter. They were fine- but I stopped halfway up the Mount Snowdon agonising about my precious pets.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

From what I just said to someone else:

Feeding blocks are the devil's work!!

Really, don't use them. They are filled with ash and plaster to bulk them out and are really only any use for bottom feeders and not for long. IME they do cloud the water and block the filter.

If you don't have anyone to feed them that's fine, they'll be ok. Then your tank will be nice and clean to come back to as well. If you d have someone put the amount of food in cups/envelopes so they are not overfed.

Oh, if you do get your sister to feed the fish, make sure she does it only once every 2-3 days because this will mean less waste is being produced in the tank. This is important if you're not doing a water change and will make it more safe.

HTH