Is it healthy to skip a day of feeding...

[nino]

If I am away for morre than 2 days should I be worried? I frequently take trips, usually on weekends, but I haven't been away for more than 3 days recently. Is 4 days pushing it? Or will they be ok? Check my sog for the fish.

they'll be fine. if you're worried, feed them once before you leave and when you get back. be careful not to overfeed them just because they're not going to be fed for a few days. it's unnecessary

 

[Angry_Platy]

My fish get a days fast once a week

 

[freddyk]

There's certainly no harm in it, but their is no real benefits either. I think the most important point mentioned here was the difference between young and adult fish.

 

[lucky62]

When fast your fish you cause them to look for food , big fish may not find much , but smaller fish will , especially in a well established tank .

A day or 2 definitely wouldn't hurt , sometimes I purge my fish a week or more , or I offer very little in the way of food , they root around the plants and substrate , it cleans things up a little too.

This works as long as your fish aren't capable of eating each other .

 

[Discomafia]

When fast your fish you cause them to look for food , big fish may not find much , but smaller fish will , especially in a well established tank .

A day or 2 definitely wouldn't hurt , sometimes I purge my fish a week or more , or I offer very little in the way of food , they root around the plants and substrate , it cleans things up a little too.

This works as long as your fish aren't capable of eating each other .

Yes, I find this to be especially true with my 10 gallon which just has a betta and a trio of otos. Oh yea, how could I forget the mystery snail?

 

[-cAtFiSh-]

i usually feed my fish every second day. i sometimes go three days without feeding my bristlenose in the hope of encouraging her to eat some algae but shes so lazy i dont think she does. she probably just sits on a leaf or some wood and sulks...if fish can sulk

 

[jonnyc88]

Sorry to resurrect old thread but I have relevant question. I’m in the middle of cycling my tank again and I’m struggling with nitrite and nitrate levels.

I’m thinking if feeding my fish every other day during cycling. I have 145l or about 38 US gallon tank with neon tetras, cardinals, Odessa barbs, peppered and panda corydoras so all small fish.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Are the nitrites falling and the nitrates rising? If so, this is normal during the cycling process and indicates that you are getting close to being cycled.

 

[jonnyc88]

Are the nitrites falling and the nitrates rising? If so, this is normal during the cycling process and indicates that you are getting close to being cycled.

Nitrites is falling, it’s staying at about 0.25ppm.
Nitrates is somewhere between 20-40ppm.

Although when I tested my tap water the nitrate is about 10ppm.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Sounds like you’re almost there. Continue lightly feeding your fish but protect them by doing a 50% water change if nitrates get to 40 or above. Once you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and showing nitrates then you are cycled. Then just do a water change to keep your nitrates no higher than 20ppm, preferably 5-10ppm. Congratulations!

 

[jonnyc88]

Sounds like you’re almost there. Continue lightly feeding your fish but protect them by doing a 50% water change if nitrates get to 40 or above. Once you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and showing nitrates then you are cycled. Then just do a water change to keep your nitrates no higher than 20ppm, preferably 5-10ppm. Congratulations!

Thanks for the support @Deanasue

I am fairly new to fish keeping as you can see from my other thread I made mistake with over feeding and stocking too quickly hence why I’m starting my cycle again.

I’m making sure I’m doing everything right now as welfare of fish is very important for me

Currently I’m doing daily water changes of about 20-30% unless nitrate is above 40ppm I’ll do 50%.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Sounds good. We don’t want the nitrite to harm the fish but we do want the nitrate to grow and take over the nitrite.