Safe Length Of Time Between Vacation Feedings

[crazycharlie]

Greetings all.New to forum. Have had a 20ish gallon tank at my parents home for 10 years.Simple fish from walmart and petco.Scissor tails ,Black Mollys/Platys (dont remember which it is} and a Japanese algae eater that was so small when I bought it that i assumed I was wasting my money.Now he is colossal in size.The fish have been well cared for and fed once a day with a few algae wafers 2x a week.Due to recent unfortunate circumstances there is no one to feed them daily.I have been visiting the house every 2-3 days to make sure they are fed.I will be away for 10 days and need to know if the long term feeding wafers/pucks will be good for that length of time.Need a simple answer.Plan to move the tank to my home later this month.Dont have time to do it before I go away.Good advice is welcomed.Thanks in advance.Charlie

 

[Ch4rlie]

Provided the fish are healthy and fed for at least 3 consecutive days before leaving for 10 days, they will be fine not being fed for 10 days.
 
Do a nice big water change before you leave as well, this will help.
 
I have done this personally when going on holidays for for 10 - 14 days as well and have had no issues.

 

[crazycharlie]

Thanks.I assumed that not cleaning the tank before hand would give them something to try to eat if they got desperate especially the algae eater??..  I have done a good job keeping the fish alive for years without knowing much about the upkeep.

 

[fluttermoth]

Thanks.I assumed that not cleaning the tank before hand would give them something to try to eat if they got desperate especially the algae eater??..  I have done a good job keeping the fish alive for years without knowing much about the upkeep.

 
Don't scrub the tank clean; just do a large water change, to make sure the water is nice and clean before you go, make sure you get all the poo and any dead plants out and check your filter so it doesn't get blocked. 
 
In general, fish are much better off being left unfed, as those holiday blocks and automatic feeders can foul the water really badly when you're not there to do anything about it.