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Happy Holidays everyone!

I'll be away for 9 days. Friends are either on vacation or live too far away. I've been checking in the LFS for automatic feeders. They are either outrageously expensive or don't seem to work very well. And I'll need 3 of them..
I also see some vacation fish food(looks like a white plaster pyramid, which I'm a bit skeptical if this would cause more harm than just not feeding.

Many said not feeding fish for a week is not a problem. But is 9 days stretching a bit too much? What can I do better prepare my fish for this long holiday fasting?

Hi go for a feeder while some of your fish may be fine others probably will not be so lucky. I bought an automatic feeder off ebay and it works fine. I had it set up for two weeks while I was home to check as some report that the food (flake that needs to be crushed a little) clogs and goes moldy. I had mine resting on the light so it was about 10cm above water level and did not have this problem. The feeder I bought was a rip off copy of the enheim one which in Aust cost $100. I got mine (the copy)for $20 I know they sell them on eBay Australia.

Thanks Pla.
But I'm afraid getting the auto feeder from eBay is a bit too late for me now, as I'm departing in 3 days.

Just leave the fish and don't worry about them. As long as they are healthy, nine days really isn't that long for them to go without food. Make sure you feed them well before you go, and everything should be fine.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Just a vote to back up what Natalie said. 9 days is not all that long for the fish to go unfed. Just do a water change before leaving, and all will be fine. Those vacation blocks all too often end up polluting the tank far worse than helping feed the fish.

Thanks Natalie & Bignose.
This is exactly what I plan to do. Feed them well in the coming 3 days plus a water change before I leave. I will also gradually lower the temp from 78F to 76F. Hopefully this will reduce their metabolism for the extended days without food.

Good news! The cheap automatic feeder I bought from the LFS actually works. The instruction was not very clear though..

So now I don't have to feel guilty starving my fish while I'm enjoying my vacation.

Nice that it's working .
I'd suggest making sure it's working from now until you leave....which looks like in a days time....
It's often suggested to run an automatic feeder for a week before leaving on a trip just to make sure that nothings going to jam up. Of course that still doesnt promise that nothing will go wrong, just means that you may catch something that goes wrong before you leave. I know it's a bit late for this time around.
As far as I've heard the worst that usually happens is that they jam up and don't feed the fish, which as has been said, for the 9 days your leaving them wont be that much trouble.

^_^

I'm back from vacation.
The auto feeder did not pass the 2 day test, I returned it to the LFS before taking off.
So my fishes went 9 days without food - and I'm glad to report that they are all doing fine. In fact, they did not show any sign of distress or weakness.

I fed them lightly on the first day. Then followed by a good dose of forzen bloodworm on the second day. They're now back to their top condition. Thanks to all..

RickyM I'm going away for 10 days again this year. I bought a feeder from WalMart $20 and it works fine. I tested it for about a week first to adjust it. First I crushed up the flakes a bit smaller and also put some tape on the dispenser to allow less food to drop thru. What was your problem with yours I'm wondering? By the way there's not too many Canadians on this site where are you exactly?

120 GAL. Community Freshwater (2 huge mated angles, 2 German rams, Red tail shark, 2 Pearl Grammies, 3 Bushynose Plecos, Swordtails

110 Gal. (3 Koi Angles, 3 black marble viel tail Angles) 20 Neon tetras, 1 red tail shark, 3 clown loaches, Platys

Hi Bar-B I'm from Montreal.
I don't know exactly what's the problem of the auto feeder I returned. It was supposed to feed the fish twice a day. The instruction was not very clear on how it works. For testing, I just filled some shrimp pellets and mounted it on an empty box. It only delivered the food once - I didn't see it but some pellets were dropped into the box overnight. I do not have control on when it is suppose to deliver the food. Then it never worked again (on the 2nd & 3rd day).

When I returned the auto-feeder to the LFS, the girl at the cashier told me that there were quite a number of complaints about that feeder. I'll have a look in Wallmart next time before I plan my next vacation.