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Im going to flordia may 24 and proably will be gone 5 - 6 days maybe 7 and dont know what to do about my fishes i though about a automatic fish feeder but i want to get just 1 but i have 2 tanks a 20g and a 10g i want to put my fish from my 10g in the 20g while im gone i have a female betta and 2 baby platys (the platys are big enough not to be eaten betta and platys been together for about a month and been ok) how long can fish go without eaten

2 weeks, even more.
They'll be fine, i'd just invest in a plug in timer for the lights.

I have to disagree with MEZ here, everything I read says 3 days. If you invest in a auto feeder you may come back and find that with the humidity around a tank that all the food is matted together and the fish weren't fed. Go to your LFS and the have feeder blocks that are good for 2 weeks. you place these in the tank and the disolve slowly release food and they work and are cheaper than the auto feeder

Djrichie
"So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish" Douglas Adams

I don't know about two weeks, but a week is all right. Larger fish can last a lot longer than smaller fish, of course, and some fish are not as well adapted to going a long time without food.

I've never tried using a feeder block, but fish are not generally adapted to eating chalk.

--------------------------------------------
The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

I found some "feeding blocks" on a website:
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/product/categoryInfoL3.web?options.passInCategoryKey=22904&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=fish_feeding_block

three days? come off it mate.
For the past 6 or 7 years ive left any and all the fish i have 2 weeks without food.
Good, healthy fish will be fine.

I'm going to agree with Mez. I've quite happily left fish for a week with no problems. I've often heard two weeks is possible (although I've not tried it myself). I've heard that there are problems with the feeding blocks contaminating your water and causing more problems than solutions. I've also heard that automatic feeders can cause problems (such as mentioned above, or malfunctioning and depositing too much food in the tank).

As mentioned, this can depend on which fish you have (and age of fish). Fry need more regular feedings, and of course, become more likely to become food if your other fish aren't being fed. Also be warned, that any live plants you have may take a bit of a nibbling while you are away.

Ideally though, you can find someone to pop into your house and give a pinch of food to your fish. For that amount of time away, they'd only need to call in once or twice so you're not really putting them out. You could show them how much to feed before you go, or leave a couple of portions in a couple of airtight containers to put in your tank. They would also be able to remove any dead fish from your tank (if it happened) and stop them contaminating your water. I once went away for a week, and was very grateful for someone being around to remove dying fish after Neon Tetra Disease and then Ick quickly struck the tank - my large losses could have easily become total losses (I will never, ever add new stock to a tank shortly before going away again. A very foolish mistake!).

Hi,
If your fish are healthy, then you should be able to feed
them for a day or two with some quality foods, a small
amount, a couple of times a day, before leaving. On return
a week or two later, you should find healthy, hungry fish.
When you get back sprinkle a little food in the tank and
then resume your normal feeding schedule the next day -
(after a water change)[hint ]

The problem with most automatic feeders is that they sit
over the open tank where splashing from air stone or filter
returns, or just plain evaporation, can cause the flake
food to become moist, even damp. When that happens, the
food will stick to the plastic and not fall out into the
tank or will jam the feeder wheel. Additionally, the wet
food will start to decay within the feeder.

The problem with feeder blocks is that you are placing
a week or two worth of food into the tank all at once.
Supposedly, as the water soaks into the block it will
loosen up and the fish can peck at it dislodging pieces.
The problem is that frequently when you come home, you
find a white cloudy mess in your water from a bacteria
bloom and the water will smell foul.

If healthy, they should do fine for at two weeks.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I know this hobby has different effects for different people... but I need to see it in writing that you can starve you fish for 2 weeks and they come out healthy.....I know I wouldn't want to be hungry for two weeks.... We all need a vac. from time to time but IMO that is animal abuse..... Sorry, that my opinion differs from you mez.... like I said I disagree with you... and frank tetra has come out with a new block that does not have all the binding agents in them they are pure fish food, I know people and I have used them and no such problems... now int he 90's they would have don what your saying but now with modern tech. they have profected them.

Djrichie
"So Long, and Thanks For All The Fish" Douglas Adams

Most tanks where you can easily leave fish for two weeks have alternate sources of food. If you just had fish + tank + gravel then you'd have some emaciated stressed fish, but if you had a slightly scungy healthy tank with some plants and some detritus and some random live things floating around then they fish don't seem to drop condition at all.

Depending on the fish size, energy needs and state of health, you could probably starve a small tropical to death (or at least the point of no return) within 3-4 weeks in a bare or, well lets call it an unmatured tank. Two weeks in a bare tank would very likely cause some physical damage and definitely leave you with sunken bellies, but two weeks in a healthy mature tank is not that big of a deal. Depending on the tank you could even increase that time. If your standard community tank cannot support fish for at least a week without outside intervention then there is something wrong with the setup IMO.

In my mind, it isn't so much how long can fish last without being fed but how long can the tank can support them.

I too wouldn't use feeder blocks, and I wouldn't use an auto feeder unattended for the entire duration either. I don't feel comfortable putting 2 weeks worth of manufactured food in a tank at the one time, regardless of how it is made. I'd do it with live food in some cases, but if you leave a tank unattended for that length of time there is no way I'd risk an ammonia spike or a bundle of fish gorging to the point of ridiculous on day 2. Auto feeders are getting better but still, they are machines and machines need checking and maintenance and they can go wrong. Over the last few years on this board alone there have been some really interesting autofeeder things that have either ended with unfed fish or overfed fish and if memory serves, at least two completely wiped tanks.

When I go out I have people able to feed my fish so it isn't a drama for me. Worst case scenario I have someone come over every 4 days and I take the inmates that require daily (or 4x daily *muttermutter*) feedings to be babysat elsewhere) and this seems to work fine. At the moment, I routinely give the fish periods of time without being fed, especially over winter. That is not to say that they don't have food, just that I'm not actively feeding them.


For the Florida trip, it is too late now to test feeder blocks and equipment. If you were going to use it you really needed to test it before you wanted to rely on it, just in case it didn't work or caused a problem so you could be on site to fix it.
I'd advise against swapping tanks as the filter *might* be affected (unlikely but I don;t know the stocking on the 20) and it will up stress levels a little which could reduce resistance to disease and there will be nobody there to spot it early.

Ideally, you can get someone to feed up for you while you are gone. Get a 7 day pill box from the chemist for each tank and put in to each compartment only what you would feed daily. HIDE THE MAIN FOOD CONTAINERS. Well meaning people kill fish, and wouldn't know a crashing biofilter if it bit them. Tell them to empty a single compartment in every day and ignore the begging.

If you can't do that, then depending on your tank and stocking, I'd be happy to leave them for that period of time. Whatever you do, don't gorge feed them the day before you leave or toss in a bundle of food as you walk out the door. That is a recipe for disaster. No big cleans either, if you need to do any maintenance that is out of the ordinary, delay it or use a stopgap measure, just in case it throws it into a mini-cycle.


For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett