Is holiday fish food any good?

Question

I'm going on holiday for christmas (13 days actually) and thinking about some fish-feeding solution. Is holiday fish food any good or should I go for more expensive, automatic feeders? Thanks ;)

Answer 1

There are already some good answers here, but to back up the above persons answer, here's my two pence worth.

Personally I wouldn't use one of the holiday feeding blocks, the risk to fouling the water is too great for me. Equally, an automatic feeder runs the risk of malfunctioning and dumping all of the food in your tank at once.

As has already been said your best bet is having a friend/neighbour/'anyone you're sure won't hold parties in your home and rob you ' pop in every few days to feed an amount that either you've taught them to do, or have left in separate measured quantities for them. To be honest, for a 13 day holiday, they would only need to pop in once if they really didn't want to be put out. You would also need to train them to remove any dead fish that they spot (otherwise you are risking a polluted tank).

Personally, I wouldn't want to take the fish with me as suggested above. My view is that the stress of catching and transporting the fish would be more of an issue than the lack of feeding.

I think that you are probably safe to leave the fish for the full 13 days. In the wild, fish can go quite some time between meals and so should be fine. However, this depends on your fish. Do you generally keep them well fed or are you already keeping them on a 'natural' diet sparse feedings? (if they're well fed they will have more reserves to work off). You could try tweaking the temperature of your tank down a small amount to slow down their metabolism? (be careful though, I do mean a small amount). Do you have predatory fish along with potential prey? You may have predators that haven't attacked your other fish as you've kept them well fed. A short while of no food may drive them to try a taste of your other fish. If you go for this option, also be warned that your fish may well take chunks out of any real plants that you have. Don't expect to find your planted tank in the same state that you left it in.

The biggest problem I've had when going away is disease. Once I left for a week, I asked my flatmate to give the fish 1 or 2 small feedings while I was away. Unfortunately (like a fool), I had introduced some new fish a few days before leaving and they bought a dose of white spot with them. My flatmate had no idea and watched quite a few die. By the time I got back and identified the problem, a few more were too far gone to save although I did manage to treat and save a lot of my fish (in fact this seemed to trigger breeding behaviour in my kribs after this, the male had previously shown no interest!!).

So in summation, your best bet is to befriend a fellow fish enthusiast who is willing to pop in and look after your tank and treat it as if it was their own! If that isn't possible, I would feed the fish well and give them a good water change before leaving them for the 13 days.

Good luck!!

Answer 2

Holiday Fish Food

Answer 3

Holiday Fish Feeder

Answer 4

Hi Lemon Starfish, Holiday or timed feeders are a complete waste of time & money-they either fail to work at all or dump the entire amount in at once, bloating the fish & sending your tank into toxic meltdown killing all your fish. The blocks are rubbish as well-they cause eco chaos too by breaking down far quicker than planned. These devices are so unpredictable you could set one up & watch it for a week & it would perform faultlessly, then the minute you close the front door it explodes! Not worth gambling with the lives of your fish.

Is it possible to get a responsible friend, neighbour or relative to feed them a few of times during your absence? You only need to do this every few days-for instance on the third, seventh & tenth days, fish are fine without food for several days & because you will not be around to do partial water changes & general maintenance it's a good idea to feed sparingly to minimise pooping. Put the allotted amount for each feed in a small ziploc bag [this will keep it fresh] & label each bag with day & date-then there is no confusion for the person doing the feeding & strict rules-no more to be given how ever cute the fish beg! If this is a possibility it's also a good idea to supervise this person doing a couple of test-feeds before you go away so you can ensure they remember to close all sliders/lids etc afterwards. Do a partial water change the day before you leave & another immediately when you get back.

If getting a 'fish-sitter' is not an option then I would suggest taking them with you, dismantle every thing as the last thing you do before leaving & set everything back up as the first thing before unpacking at your destination. The Three answers below are all good advice for moving your fish-best of luck & happy holidays to you & your fish!

Answer 5

Do you have a neighbor or family member that might be able to go in like every 3rd day or something like that to check on the filter operation, the heater and water levels? I would hate to come home to find my fish dead because something malfunctioned. That's just me though. We have my father-in-law come in and check things out a couple of times while we're gone.

I personally use a battery operated feeder. But that's me. Everyone feels differently. I set it up to feed a LITTLE food once per day. I set it up to feed less then normal because I don't want to have to worry about fouling the water any more then necessary while i'm not home. (If I could get it to feed every 2nd day I would!)

If you were able to have someone go in every few days to check on things, you could ask them to feed the fish a LITTLE (leave pre-measured feedings out for the person....I use human pill containers that you can get from the dollar store..... the ones with the little compartments for days of the week or times of day. I put the correct amount of food in it so they just have to lift the top and pour it in, it works great!). If they were only going in every few days, just put a normal feeding amount in the container, no extra. There is plenty for them to eat in the tank.

Just some thoughts for you. And also, IF you were to get a vacation feeder (which I personally wouldn't do unless 100% necessary), please get a good quality feeder so you stand less of a chance of fouling up your tank. There are plenty of people who use these feeders successfully, so even though some people say "NO WAY", others will say "YES, OF COURSE". It's a totally personal preference, there is NO right or wrong answer here. So don't fret too much over the answers you'll be getting. It's ultimately your decision. I've used them in the past with no problems myself, but don't really like to unless I HAVE to. I personally feel that some people who say don't do it have water problems to begin with and the feeders make it worse. Just be sure if you DO use the feeders that you clean your tank well right before you leave so you KNOW it is nice and clean. You should do this whether you use the block feeders or not.

Good luck to you and I hope you enjoy your holiday!!! ;o)

Answer 6

You can get some excellent holiday feeders. As long as you look for one that says it does not cloud the water, then that is the best option.

The automatic feeders have more of a chance of going wrong - and if the block didnt work, the fish could still bite parts off so no need to worry about starved fish!

Answer 7

Get an automatic feeder out of the two - the blocks mess up your water quality something rotten!!

The best option (which might not work for you for whatever reason) is to get someone in every few days to feed them. they can easliy suvive a week without food. So see if someone can pop in and feed them every 3-4 days with an amount of food you have already measured into the correct amounts!!

Have a nice holiday!!

Answer 8

For the best answers, search on this site https://shorturl.im/axnXM

I would assume not. As they are technically not fish. However if you are leaving for a couple days you could get some crickets or mealworms and just leave those in there. Another option would be feeder guppies, but be careful. Some feeder fish are known to bring diseases into tanks.

Answer 9

Yhyh very good i went on holiday for 2 weeks n it done the ok .

Answer 10

I've always used it with my fish and they have been fine!