Office Fish Tank - Thanksgiving Break Survival

Most fish will do just fine without food for 4 days. Your fish should be just fine.

Indigo said:

Most fish will do just fine without food for 4 days. Your fish should be just fine.

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I agree
especially if there are some plant in there...

Do nothing...

And if there are plants in there, leave the lights on a timer. Otherwise leave the lights off.

How much is 'some guppies and platies'? In a 2.5 gallon it sounds like there may be a stocking issue. As long as the filter is running, not feeding them will reduce the amount of waste produced and keep the water cleaner in the short term.

you can buy auto-flake feeders at meijer for around 15 bucks (battery operated, reusable of course) but you have to make sure the flake is pretty finely broken up so it doesn't get jammed. there is a way to adjust the food flow, I would leave it on the lowest flow for that small of a tank. i know everyone always says the fish will be fine for 4 days, but i always feel bad leaving my poor guys hungry. i wouldn't actually die either after 4 days of not eating but it would still suck.
when using these type of feeders, ALWAYS test it out first to see exactly how much food comes out at the setting it's on, and never try to put pellets or anything other than flakes in it. i saw someone sicken and/or kill 4 of their cichlids that way once. it works fine when used as directed though, never had any problems with overfeeding with mine.

i would get rid of the platys and you can replace them with 2 more guppies. get all males for color and you wont have to deal with babies. and they will be fine for a few days without food.

My offices tanks were never tended on holidays, but lights were on timers. I never lost a fish.

WorkFish said:

Is that too much for the tank? They have been living there for about 4 months. I do a 50 % water change every week.

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2.5 gallons is pretty small for 2 platies, let alone 2 platies and 2 guppies.

I don't know more about the tank than is listed here of course, but platies, while easy to care for and reasonably hardy, usually require some space.

No flames intended. I expect that the 2 guppies need the full 2.5 and that 2 platies would really appreciate at least another 5 gallons.

I'm not saying it won't work or anything, just that it isn't ideal, and other fishkeepers might really get out the flamethrower when they hear about 4 livebearers kept in less than 3 gallons.

I recently went away for 5 days.........came back and they were fine.....i just made sure to feed them very well for a few days before i left, and also RIGHT before i left