# No one to feed my fish what do I do?



## valachase (Jun 22, 2011)

My family and I have to leave town unexpectedly for 3 days. I can not find anyone I trust in my home to feed my fish while we are gone... not sure if it matters but we have:
4 corys
12 danios (pearl and zebra)
3 black skirts
5 white skirts
6 harlequin rasboras
6 platys
3 goldfish
1 betta
and 1 aquatic dwarf frog

Is there something I can do to make sure the are okay (is there some type of "time release food"?) can they all have the same thing? I currently feed them flakes (i have betta flakes goldfish flakes and tropical fish flakes) also use sinking pellets for the corys.... freeze dried bloodworms and frozen brine shimp also get rotated in... Is there something better to give them?

Thank You


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## Doctacosa (Mar 8, 2011)

I can't say for your specific species, but usually, fishes will be able to take a 3 days break without problems. Resist the urge to overfeed either before leaving, or once coming back. My own tank just went through a 4 days sprint without any food, and everything is fine. They did look excited about their first meal, though! 

Automatic dispensers are also available. I spent two weeks and a half away on vacations not too long ago, and I installed one filled with crushed flake food to keep the critters fed. My own unit cost less than 20$, and worked well enough!


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## BarbH (May 23, 2011)

Your fish will be fine going 3 days without being fed, they are fine not being feed for a week, and I believe I have seen others say they will be alright for up to 10 days. Resist using one of those vacation feeding blocks that are suppose to slowly release the food, they cause more problems than they do good. As the OP also mentioned there are automatic dispensers that can be used in which you place the food that you feed them into it. But I wouldn't worry for being gone for three days, and your fish will be especially happy to see you when you get back :-D


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

If the fish are healthy and the water is stable and in good shape, fish can easily go a week and even longer without "food" from us. In a well established tank they will find a lot of zooplankton. But even without, as long as they are healthy they can manage for days without eating. Most overfeed their fish somewhat, so they are probably well prepared for a good fast.

I do not recommend those auto feeders or food blocks. First they are not necessary, second they can malfunction. We have had a couple threads recently about this happening, with disastrous results; a sudden dump of food in a tank can create terrible water problems and fish can even die as a result. Not worth the risk.

Fish always appear hungry so we must be careful not to overfeed. A hungry fish is a healthy fish. The better quality prepared foods we use now have more than sufficient nutrients with just a flake or two.


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## valachase (Jun 22, 2011)

Thank you all,
after re calculating I realized I would normally feed my fish in the mornings as I start my day so they will be fed before I leave so it will only be 2 days... I will refrain from buying any types of dispensers and go with they will be fine... I checked my water yesterday and all was good the water change for the week has also been done already so maybe I'll just double check my water tonight and if it's good then I'll assume everything is fine.... thank you everyone for you quick and knowledgeable responses.


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