Going on vacation...

[squirrelrabbits]

I am leaving town for a little less than a month, and I have a houseitter coming in who does not know much about fish. I am worried about her overfeeding the fish and I am worried about the lack of water changes (I usually do water changes every other week). I plan to ration out how much food the housesitter feeds the fish, but I am wondering if it might not be a good idea to go down to one feeding a day, to try to keep the water cleaner. Can anyone tell me if this is a good idea or if it will just stress the fish out as much as a buildup of nitrates over time? Thanks.

 

[Bloo]

This thread and all the links to other threads contained within should help you out.
And to make a long story short, here's a link posted by rdd1945 about vacation planning.

 

[mlee0332]

actually, more than one feeding can be over feeding them . You should bring their feedings down to once a day, and to keep them "lean" you can skip 1 day every other week, or every week, as this is healthy for the fish...

 

[boxman]

Hmm, I'd feed every other day if it were me - if you've not had them you may get nitrate problems at some stage.

Remember - fish can't look hungry, it's your imagination!

 

[squirrelrabbits]

Thanks bloozoo2 for the links... I did a search and read all the threads I could find on vacations before posting this one. My question is very specific though (and my vacation is very long!). Boxman: do you really think going down to one feeding every other day for an entire month would be ok?

 

[CFC]

3 feedings a week for life would be fine, with the exception of fry which require a lot of food in the first few months fish do not need to eat every day and can go weeks without eating anything at all. If you are feeding more than once a day you are probably over feeding.

 

[rdd1952]

You shouldn't have any problem at all going to feeding every other day. A lot of people only feed that often on a normal basis. As for rationing out the amount, I have seen posts where some people use the little medicine things (couldn't find a thread) that a lot of seniors use to keep up with when they have taken their meds. You just put the amount of food you want them to have into each day and all they have to do is open a day up and dump it in.

 

[Bloo]

Thanks bloozoo2 for the links... I did a search and read all the threads I could find on vacations before posting this one. My question is very specific though (and my vacation is very long!). Boxman: do you really think going down to one feeding every other day for an entire month would be ok?

Well done - most people do not bother looking for other threads on the same page covering the same topic - or bother to use the search function - which in fact is a great tool.

Well, I go away each year for a month at a time and usually have a neighbour (knowing absolutely nothing about fish) coming to feed twice a week to feed only a small amount.
The only problem I ever had was when I had a friend house sitting and though I asked *not* to feed, out of "kindness" she thought she would. Which lead to over feeding and a stinking tank with a number of dead fish by the time I got back

If leaving feeding instructions, be very precise and even write it on a note and leave it next to the tank.

 

[sunflower]

I only feed my fish once a day anyway!!!! I used to feed twice a day when I was a complete noob but for the last 12 months they've only been fed once a day.