Vacation food

[Divinityinlove]

I can see this brand "Upa" holiday food. Composition is Calcium sulphate and gammarus. Reviews on amazon are mostly good but a few complained of deaths and a few of insufficient amount when given as suggested.

Please can you suggest a good holiday food?

I've asked my neighbour to feed them but just in case... I'd like a backup, perhaps also for future ref, can't use an autofeeder as I've got two cats and they jump on the aquarium lid which I cannot leave open for the feeder.

 

[Essjay]

I would not use any of those blocks.

How long will you be away? If it's a week feed the fish well for a few days before you go, and do a big water change the day before you leave and just leave the fish.

If the neighbour is happy to feed them, it doesn't need to be every day. Once or twice a week is OK. But I would advise that you measure out the food into packs (a tub or ziplock bag) and hide the food tubs. Tell them to use one pack per visit. Or if they'll come in every day, those pill boxes with a section for every day of the week are useful and they can empty the section for that day into the tank.
The reason for hiding the food tubs is that many people think we don't feed them enough and will add more if they can see the tubs.

 

[Colin_T]

If you go away for a week or two, just leave the fish without food. They will be fine.

The holiday/ weekend feeders are not worth using. They require the pH of the water to be on 7.0 otherwise they don't dissolve at the correct rate. If the pH is acid (below 7.0), they can dissolve overnight and release all the food in a short period of time.

If the pH is above 7.0, they might not dissolve at all.

--------------------
The best thing to do if going away for a week or two is feed the fish more often before you go, do more tank cleaning, and add some live plants.

Feed the fish 3-5 times a day for a couple of weeks before you go away. This will let the fish gain some weight and they can live off the fat reserves while you're away. The fish won't starve because unlike mammals and birds that use most of the food they eat to stay warm, most fish take their body temperature from the surrounding water. So any food they eat is used for growth and movement. This allows fish to go for weeks or even months without food and not die from starvation.

Do big (75%) water changes and gravel clean the substrate every day or every couple of days while feeding more often. This keeps the water and tank clean and helps to limit or stop diseases from occurring due to a dirty tank.

Do the same water change the day before you go and give the fish a feed before you walk out the door, then leave them alone.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Add some live plants a few weeks before. The plants will have micro-organisms on them and the fish can feed on them while you are away.

Have the light on a timer.

Increase the lighting times to 15-16 hours a day while you are away. This will encourage algae and plant growth and the fish can eat that while you're on holiday. When you get back, simply reduce the lighting time to 10-12 hours or whatever it normally is.

Clean the filter a couple of days before you go so it is clean and won't block up or overflow while you're away. Wash the filter media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the lawn.

--------------------
If you are going for more than 2 weeks (eg: a month), then do the above and get someone to feed the fish once or twice a week. Measure out a single portion of food and put it into small plastic containers or ziplock bags. Put a date on each bag for when it should be used and get the person to add the contents of one bag on each of those dates. No other food should be offered and don't add extra food to the bags. Just put in a single feeding per bag.

 

[AbbeysDad]

I'd agree that fish can go a week to 10 days just fine without being fed. Any longer and short of a 'fish sitter' to feed every other day or so, I've had great success with auto feeders. Eheim makes a couple of really good ones and once you dial in the frequency and the amount, you can be sure your fish are well fed while you enjoy your vacation.
Also, make sure to do a good partial water change and filter maintenance just before you leave.

 

[Divinityinlove]

I would not use any of those blocks.

How long will you be away? If it's a week feed the fish well for a few days before you go, and do a big water change the day before you leave and just leave the fish.

If the neighbour is happy to feed them, it doesn't need to be every day. Once or twice a week is OK. But I would advise that you measure out the food into packs (a tub or ziplock bag) and hide the food tubs. Tell them to use one pack per visit. Or if they'll come in every day, those pill boxes with a section for every day of the week are useful and they can empty the section for that day into the tank.
The reason for hiding the food tubs is that many people think we don't feed them enough and will add more if they can see the tubs.

I've explained well to my neighbour but you're making a good point there, possibly if I don't tell him about them eating very little, they'll assume that. To be honest I'd have never thought anyone would go off my instructions but before I inherited this tank from my partner, when we first met she asked me to feed her fish (which are now mine) while she went away, and when she came back she freaked out! Apparently I'd basically drizzled food all over the tank thinking... "I'll just make sure they have enough for the next few days" not knowing anything about aquariums.... I didn't even remenber doing it as it was so meaningless to me / jeez how far I've come now. THANKS for the reminder on that. I'd have not thought to explain the portions to him !


I'm going away for 5 days but I've read the fry need to eat every two hours? That's my main concern. He's gonna feed them half a cube of brine shrimp daily. I'm hoping they do fine on that. But I'd like to leave some slow release just in case.

I'm going to hatch them live baby brine shrimp for the bext few days and feed them a good amount for a few days before I go. But 5 days is a lot for tiny fry.