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 Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 2:00 pm
Ok, I'm back from a small week away, 5 days away to be exact. Appart from my fish being a bit slimmer then when I left them everything went fine.
But during the beginning of september I will be goning back to my own country for 10 days. I don't really have anyone to look after the fish then. None of my friends here have any fish, and most live about 30 minutes to 2 hours away from me. The only way of transport I usually have is by train, unless I can get one of my friends to borrow their parents car.
Also due to previous experiences, I don't really trust any one to care for my fish.
This is why I think it might be best to leave the fish unfed for the time that I'm gone. I've never done this before, and websites give mixed information on this. Some say that fish can be left without food for a week at most, but others say that 2 to even 3 weeks is no problem. I have considered a disolving block, but I'm afraid it will polute the tank. I've also thought of an automatic feeder, but it's above budget for me.
I'm hoping that for two gouramis in a 2.5 gallon there will be enough food in the tank to last for 10 days. I have some aquatic plants that I know they nibble on from time to time, and their normal feeding shedual is every other day or every two days a bit. I also have some amano shrimp and an otto in there, and if they end up getting eaten I won't be too dissapointed. I'm also hoping that if one does die, the shrimps will eat it so that the water doesn't spoil.
What I'm wondering is how should I prepare the fish for the great fast? I usually feed them flakes, algea tablets and bloodworms. Should I start feeding them more, less, or the same amount? Should I feed more meaty foods so they can get a bit fatter? How many days or weeks before leaving should I change their diet?
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Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2009 8:47 pm
i have read a good thing to do for fish sitters is to partition the food for each day and hide the rest. that way they only feed that amount for THAT day and no more.
if that still doesnt work for you then i would feed them more food than usual so they can fatten up OR get those blocks that dissolve and add food to the tank as the fish pick at it.
or if you are willing to spend a little more you can buy an auto feeder
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Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 5:47 am
Wel, friends are out of the question, since most all just live too far during summer. I'm the only one that actually lives in the dorms, all the rest go home during summer.
I often hear that the feeder blocks mess up the tank's chemistry and I've worked too hard on getting it just right to risk it going crazy when I'm gone.
I saw an automatic feeder in the store, but it costs more then my tank cost me, and it's too large to mount on a nano tank. I'm working on a tight budget, so it's not really an option.
How long do you think I should work on fattening them? A week? Weeks? A month? I don't want to mess up their digestive system.
What diet should I use, more flakes (starchy), meat or green?
Or if 10 days is too long, maybe I should try to see if the store can take care of them?
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Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2009 9:33 am
the thing with those blocks is you have to buy the correct size. obviously if you buy one thats too big its going to pollute your water. if anything you can buy the betta food blocks
made especially for little tanks. if one of those blocks can feed a single fish for a week it should feed a few others for a little less meaning less pollution.
i would say feed them a mix of EVERYTHING. this is the gourami tank right with ottos? all the fish are omnivores. you will need to clean the tank more often but feed them twice a day what you may normally feed them.
so say you feed a pinch every other day. feed a pinch twice a day. but clean up after if it looks a bit messy.
and if you can...the day you leave give a bigger water change. that way the water can stay stable.
i would never trust pet shop people with my fish. 90% of the time they dont know what they are doing.
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Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 9:11 am
Well, I couldn't find betta blocks, but I did get these. It's made for goldfish, but it's the only 'bowl' food I could find. I'm hoping 10 days of this won't be too bad on the tummies of my fishies. The instructions are: <6 days, for a < 30 liter tank, with 1 or 2, 3 to 6 cm fish; half a tablet. And for < 14 days, a whole tablet. For me its 10 days, a 10 liter tank with 2 4/5 cm fish and 5 4/5 cm shrimp and a 3 cm otto. I think a half tablet should be fine, but my macro shrimp is a bit of a glutton. He even eats the shels of the other shrimp. (He gives me a heart attack every time I see him eat that, but till now he hasn't actively attacked the other shrimp.) Tomorrow I'll do a water change and test it with half a block and see how it goes.
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Posted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 7:07 pm
I've always heard it's better not to feed if you can't get a sitter. The blocks aren't too good for your tanks chemistry because food shouldn't be left in a tank over a period of time. You know how they always say remove uneaten food after a certain amount of hours? Same principal. Auto feeders aren't reliable, especially for the crazy prices. Often times they break down and dump all the food in the tank.
I'd say go with Lizzy's idea of fattening them up. Start a week or two before you're going away. As long as you're sure you'll only be gone 10 days, you should be good leaving them. Unless you have any tanks with aggressive fish, then they'll pick off the weaker ones. They can be left without food for up to two weeks. They can go longer than that, but that's just cruel. If they eat your plants, that'll be a good food source for them anyway while you're gone.
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Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 8:24 pm
good idea testing the half block and the water chemistry
that way you know
heck
they dont even need food for the whole 10 days. even just giving a quarter of a block to feed for 5 days would be ok
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Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 3:31 am
Yay! Tomorrow will be the last day!
I found out that the fish need a much smaller dose then what the package prescribes. Though the food doesn't seem to affect the water at all. It did cause an algea bloom, and I am itching to clean that up, but it's actually not that bad, since the last few months I had to buy tablet for my algea eaters.
My little Otto is fatter then ever now.
The gouramis and shrimp do nibble on the tablets, but not that much at all.
They really slimmed over the days, and lost their color intensity and compettitiveness. They aren't that happy with the situation, and show it. But they are still healty, clean scaled, bright eyed and curious. So I don't worry about leaving them anymore.
I think that after a large water change and some proper feeding they will be perfectly pretty again.
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