how can goldfish be fed if i am away from home on a vacation?

Question

i plan to go away from the long weekend (4 days) and i dont want to let my fish be fed by neighbours etc...is there a way to feed my goldfish.

Answer 1

At the pet store, you can get "weekend feeders", they are a tablet or chalky white looking fish.....I usually break one in half, and you throw it in the tank, apparently it releases the food over a duration.....I've used them for years, and I havn't lost a fish over a long weekend yet! They're only about 2 bucks for 4 or 5 also. Cheap!

Answer 2

Some weekend feeder blocks are better than others. If you are going to use them, you need to do a water change just before you go and immediately when you get back. Fish will survive a little while without food, especially in a well planted tank, but this is not the best solution. I get a friend to feed them. If they aren't fishy people, don't worry. I just get an ice-cube tray, and put each meal's food into a different pocket. Then I fill up with water and freeze. Now all your neighbour has to do is throw in an ice cube a day. Voila! No overfeeding.

Answer 3

Dont buy those stupid feeder blocks, they rot the water. Just make sure to do a partial waterchange before you leave and to make sure your filter is working good. Fish will survive 4 days without food. Those feeder blocks alter your water chemisty and they dont work.
If the filter stops, then your fish will die. That is the only major concern when leaving. If you can have someone run over and check on the fish it will be better. Also u can premeasure a specific amount and put it in little baggies and lable it like mon, tues, wed, thurs or wich ever days you are going to be gone. But seriously it takes like a month for a fish to starve to death. 4 days is nothing.

Answer 4

Weekend Feeders (can be found at Petsmart, Petco ect)

They are white blocks that fall to the bottom of your tank and your fish eat off of it as they like.

Its rather clean and the best choice in my opinion.

They have them for 2 days, 3 days, 7 days.. ect These cost from $2-around $4.

If you want to spend more $$$$, they have an automatic fish feeder. It releases food at a certain time daily into your fish tank. I believe it costs around $15-$20.

PS: don't just throw a bunch of flakes or pellets in it. They will not eat it all and it will actually cause them harm.

Answer 5

You can only rarely under-feed fish but too many people over-feed them. Fish will be fine if left for 4 days without food but if you're worried you can buy various slow release blocks which release food over a number of days.

Just be careful you don't overdo it when you come back (or even just before you go) as this could be very polluting to your tank in the long run.

Answer 6

Don't buy those vacation blocks, they can mess with your Ph and other params. I have heard stories of people who used them and when they came back their fish were either dead or dieing cause the Ph dropped so low. They also don't always dissolve right and can dissolve too fast and your fish will eat them the first day or they may dissolve too slowly and you fish wont get enough food. 4 days is nothing, its actually good to let their digestive system clean out every once in a while.

Answer 7

Pet Smart has a fish food that releases over the course of 3-4 days. Worked for me.

Answer 8

Yes, feed the gold fish a live pirranha. The pirranha still might be alive when you get back, but the goldfish will eventually eat it from the inside out.

Answer 9

Visit the pet store and buy some small cheap fish that only eat plants, and put them in the same tank. When your fish get hungry and there usual fish food doesn't arrive.. the new fish will serve their purpose...

Answer 10

fish will be fine for a short amount of time like this so you dont need to worry. in fact they can go a couple of weeks without feeding. the blocks they sell you in pet smart are just an expencive way to pollute your tank,