Holiday feeding

[Country joe]

I see there is a few devices on feeding fish when on holiday, not the expensive ones, I see API do need which is plastic and releases feed, there are a few others, I usually go on holiday only for one week at a time, so do I have to feed?

 

[Ichthys]

Just leave them, they'll be fine. It's a lot safer than relying on an automated device which can go wrong.

 

[GaryE]

If the tank is established and stable, it can be left for up to 2 weeks with no issues. It takes time to learn how to properly feed fish, and we all start by overfeeding. To expect a friend or neighbour to do things correctly is a tall order. I have gone away for a week, and come back to fry that have grown at the same rate as if I were feeding them. A healthy tank with plants is full of life (food) we can't see.

 

[Colin_T]

Feed the fish more often for a few weeks before you go on holiday. This allows them to build up some fat reserves and they can live off that when you are away.

Do more frequent water changes and gravel cleans when feeding more often. This cleans the gunk out of the tank and provides a cleaner habitat for the fish while you're away.
Do a water change a couple of days before you go.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank,

Clean the filter a few days before you go so it doesn't block up while you're away. Don't change filter media, just wash the old media in a bucket of tank water and re-use that media.

Add a heap of live aquatic plants 3 or 4 weeks before you go and increase lighting times a few extra hours per day. The light will encourage plant and algae growth and the fish can pick at the algae while you're away.

Don't add anything new to the tank in the 2 weeks before you go because you can introduce diseases.

Save your money and don't buy automatic feeders or holiday feeders.

Feed the fish before you walk out the door and have a nice vacation.

 

[Mikeyboy123]

I think a week without food is fine for pretty much any aquarium creature.

More than a week and I think I would not be very confident leaving something tiny like my chilli rasboras. I use this when I'm away for more than a week. Works well and allows you to determine precisely how much food is going into the tank each day because it is up to the user to put as much or as little as they want into each daily slot.

Amazon.co.uk

I use it in conjunction with a feeding ring and I have my internal filter on a timer so that it turns off for 15 mins to coincide with when the feeder drops the food in.

 

[Essjay]

Is there anyone who could fish the fish if you are away for more than a couple of weeks?

When asking a friend/neighbour to feed fish you need to bear in mind that most people over feed fish. The safest way is to measure out a days worth of food into each compartment of one of those pill boxes with a section for each day of the week. Then hide the food tubs so they can't add extra.

 

[Country joe]

Funny that I have one of those boxes and was thinking the same thing just put a little feed in each compartment.

 

[GaryE]

I did the pill box thing when I was going to be away for a touch over two weeks, and had fry from Nanochromis minor, a fish I'd never be able to replace. A responsible kid from a team I coached came by. I had a great big sign on the Cichlid fry tank saying if she could only feed one tank, it should be that one. It had orange arrows pointing at it.
She fed all the other tanks, but forgot that one. I have never seen that species again...

Oh well. Human error. Do you trust it not to happen?

 

[Essjay]

The only person who has ever fed my fish when we've been away is my son. He knows better that to do something Mum doesn't like

 

[TwoTankAmin]

If I am away and tanks need food (usually the ones with fry), I batch up food into a little packets I make using some aluminum foil. I fold up the packet or packets (depending hop long I am to be gone) and then leave them on top of the tank. All my bro does is open the pack and drop the food it into the tank. Had to screw that up especially since I also leave written instructions as well.

Since I was breeding a number of plecos I usually had a lot of fry in tanks and I did not want to risk stunting or losing them as they we not cheap to get. So I prefer to feed them daily.

Many years ago I bought a bunch of used tanks and equipment from a gent who was a cichlid breeder of some repute. Back surgery meant he had to quit fish. He was selling it all. He could not keep up with it. He stopped feeding tanks for the most part. I visited him 3 times over a month to buy things and then to pick up a couple of 6 foot tanks. The fish were always alive in the tanks.

I now understand how he felt having to leave the hobby as I am in the process of doing the same. Age gets us all sooner or later, if we are lucky. Plus, in the last 24 years water seems to have gained a lot of weight.........

 

[Country joe]

I kept ferrets for 50 years had gave it up, couldn't dig anymore back problems I like to have a hobby so a month ago decided on tropical fish and I'm a young 75

 

[gwand]

If I am away and tanks need food (usually the ones with fry), I batch up food into a little packets I make using some aluminum foil. I fold up the packet or packets (depending hop long I am to be gone) and then leave them on top of the tank. All my bro does is open the pack and drop the food it into the tank. Had to screw that up especially since I also leave written instructions as well.

Since I was breeding a number of plecos I usually had a lot of fry in tanks and I did not want to risk stunting or losing them as they we not cheap to get. So I prefer to feed them daily.

Many years ago I bought a bunch of used tanks and equipment from a gent who was a cichlid breeder of some repute. Back surgery meant he had to quit fish. He was selling it all. He could not keep up with it. He stopped feeding tanks for the most part. I visited him 3 times over a month to buy things and then to pick up a couple of 6 foot tanks. The fish were always alive in the tanks.

I now understand how he felt having to leave the hobby as I am in the process of doing the same. Age gets us all sooner or later, if we are lucky. Plus, in the last 24 years water seems to have gained a lot of weight.........

I left measured out aliquots of food for my friend to feed my fish during an absence. The idiot left the tank lights on continuously and I came back to an algae nightmare. Now I have my tank lights on a timer as well as a new friend.

 

[Uberhoust]

If I am away and tanks need food (usually the ones with fry), I batch up food into a little packets I make using some aluminum foil. I fold up the packet or packets (depending hop long I am to be gone) and then leave them on top of the tank. All my bro does is open the pack and drop the food it into the tank. Had to screw that up especially since I also leave written instructions as well.

This is one of the best ideas I have seen for feeding.

I do use feeders as I sometimes go away for longer than two weeks. I use the EHEIM feeder and they seem to work good with pelleted food. I don't fully trust them though so I set them to give 1/2 to 3/4 what I normally feed the fish. I haven't tried the feeders with the individual containers but those might work well.

I have left my fish for at least a week and a half without feeding, and without any issues. Additionally if you don't feed your fish during an absence they will not generate as much waste so your tank is in better shape NO3 wise when you get back.

One exception would be if you have vegetarian fish in a planted tank. If you don't feed you might find your plants end up suffering.