I'm going on vacation for a week. If I get a vacation feeder, will bettas eat it?

Question

You know those little rock-looking things that fish can pick at and the food comes out? Do betta fish eat those?

Answer 1

Depending on how long you're going to be gone for (up to a week), you may be better off not feeding him at all. Those vacation feeders really muck up the water in a filtered tank - imagine what it would do to an unfiltered tank.

You could look into an automatic feeder, but again, you have to be careful to set it just right so that it only dispenses a couple of pellets for your little guy. They have been known to be unreliable, however. If you get the cheap versions, you may come home to a tank full of food with a dead fish.

Even hiring someone to come over to feed him could be risky. Some people will take way too much food and put it in there for him. Even if you specifically state, "Give him only 3-5 pellets", they will still overfeed them. I speak from experience.

Your best bet is to just fast him - don't give him anything. Think of it as a cleansing of his bowel. He will be fine when you get home.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Bettas can go for at least two weeks without eating, but I did have a betta that would eat from those feeders. Be sure to do a serious water change before and after the vacation though. All the non-food material in those feeders dissolves into the water, and there tends to be a fair ammount of wasted food.

Feeding a betta vegetables or plants will not work at all since the betta is carnivorous. However, a betta can be trained to eat small live snails in your tank, so if this is a common thing, and you have a lot of snails anyway, crush a few of the small ones around feeding time one day each week or so, and pretty soon, your betta will figure the trick out himself. Snails with fragile shells, like bubble snails, and ramshorn snails work best.

Live food such as dapnia is also a good treat for bettas, and you can put an aquarium divider in, with the food on one side, and the betta on the other. It'll take a while for the live food to go over.

Tubifex worms are not such a perfect treat for this idea, but since they hide in the gravel, no divider is needed. You'll need some super cleaning when you get back though, since most of them will starve to death and die in the gravel.

Answer 3

No. The vacation feeders sink to the bottom. Bettas have an up-turned mouth, meaning that they'd have to swim upside down to get at the food.

Also, vacation feeders are held together with some pretty nasty stuff. As they dissolve, they pollute the water and will usually kill your fish (especially if it's in a bowl).

Your Betta will not starve in a week. Just feed him extra the days leading up to the trip and then feed him when you get home. He'll be fine. Or you could ask a neighbor or a coworker to feed your fish while you are away.

Answer 4

Bettas are carnivores and will not eat plants. If he is well fed, a healthy fish can go for 2-3 weeks without eating. Just feed him well for the week before you go and don't worry about him. Make sure he has clean water and he should be fine.

Oe, if you have a friend you trust, they could come in or you could take the betta to their house. Show them how much to feed and only tell them to feed every third day. That would be another way to go.

Those feeders are made of plaster of paris and it will change the water chemistry in a small tank as it dissolves. If you have a filter, and still want to use a feeder block, put in new charcoal before you go.

Answer 5

One week is nothing. A healthy well fed fish (your betta), can go for up to 2 weeks without food. Any other fish is the smae, except for fry. A vaccation feeder has 1 purpose in life. To sell itself. After that here is what happens, the feeder is dropped in, starts to release a spew of chemicals, and more chemicals, and more chemicas, then a teeny bit of low quality food, which is uneaten and starts to rot. By the time you get back, the feeder is gone, the water is super cloudy, some of your fish are dead, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are sky high, and you just wasted 5 bucks on a lousy product. It happened to me

Answer 6

Bettas are hardy fish and will survive easily a week without food. Feed them twice a day normal amounts 2 days before you leave, and clean their bowl tank normally after the last feeding. Vacation feeders are more likely to foul the water and kill your betta than hunger. More than a week you should have someone come in and feed the guy premeasured amounts every 2-3 days.

Answer 7

I believe they are good for any fresh water fish. Ask at your local pet store. They SHOULD be able to tell you.

Answer 8

You should ask a pro, however I would go for something more natural, like edible plants.

Answer 9

yes