Vacation food

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longhorn

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Dec 2, 2002
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I will be taking a vacation for about 10 days. Need to buy some vacatoin foods so my fishes will not starve. Any suggestions on the best way to take care of your fish while you are away. I bought some Wardley vacatoin shells. It says it will feed 15 average sized fish for 14 days. But what is average size? I have three 5" angles, two 4" silver dollars, and couple of other 4" fishes. Don't know if there is anything out there that can feed them.

Thanks for the help!

F.Z.
 
how long will you be gone?

i think i would shy away from "vacation feeders" i have heard some strange comments on them like they might contain plaster or something.........

post back how long and maybe someone can come up with something better.


edit: oops, 10 days..... i would wonder if that's too long to not feed them...... i think i would try feeding them heavy going into it and then maybe do without or have someone stop over once or twice and feed them something i put in a baggie........
 
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Unless you have fry or very young fish, they will get along fine for 10 days without food. You will return to happy fish and sparkling clean water...

On the other hand, the stories of people using feeder blocks and returning to fouled water and/or dead fish are legion. Don't resort to them!

If you really, absolutely must have your fish fed while you're away, either get a friend to do it (premeasure food into envelopes and hide the rest to prevent overfeeding) or get an automatic feeder (the mechanical kind). I've used both the Eheim feeder and Hagen's Nutramatic. Both work well and reliably. If you do get one of these contraptions, be sure to test it out several day before you leave to be sure it's not overfeeding.

Personally, I let the fish go without food for up to 2 weeks. No problems doing that...

Jim
 
I am in the same situation, going away for the holidays. I have heard bad things about the vacation feeder blocks as well, they even say right on the package that you should do a large water change immediately when you get back from vacation. If they come right out and tell you that then they can't be all that healthy. I'm thinking of going the automatic feeder route, I don't think I would want my fish going with food for 12-14 days.

How have others fish done while being without food for up to 2 weeks?
 
I was away for 3 weeks during the summer. I used Hagen's Nutramatic for feedings. I had it setup 2 weeks before I left just to make sure it was working fine. What I did was set it to just put a small pinch of food into the tank. Being away for 3 weeks meant I wouldn't be able to do any water changes for awhile, so setting the dispenser to dispense very little food was needed. Before taking off, I did two 60% water changes. After I came back, I did a few 30% water changes over a period of a few days. Then went back to my old routine.

HTH
-Richer
 
I used a vacation feeder last summer when I was gone for 10 days. I returned to find a dead pl*co.

I let the team go without any food over Thanksgiving, when I was gone for a week. I returned to find a new platy in the tank.

Now, I realize that correlation does not prove cause and effect but... ya never know.
 
I went on vacation for about 6 days in the summer(Saturday-Friday at 1 a.m.) and used one of those vacation feeders. It was perfectly fine. Not one problem. When I came home, the thing was gone and all the fish were fine and happy. I guess it depends which one you get.
 
I say to just leave them. I would not use one of those blocks. They are made out of plaster and they release food by dissolving in the water. My understanding is that they raise both ph and hardness. I have 50 tanks and I often go away for 10 to 14 days and leave them alone. So long as they are healthy when you leave they will be fine. If you are really worried about it have someone come over two or three times while you are gone. Leave a few premeasured packets of food out for them to feed to your fish. Being away for 10 days at this time of year you want someone to come over and make sure the furnace is going at the very least. My opinion for what it is worth.
 
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