Tropical Fish Forum

Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => Fish Food and Feeding => Topic started by: barneyadi on March 23, 2017, 06:28:05 PM

Title: Holiday feeding
Post by: barneyadi on March 23, 2017, 06:28:05 PM
I will be away for a week and have got no one to feed fish. I did buy an automatic feeder but with only 4 (maybe 8) by the time i go away this might not work. Any suggestions?
Title: Re: Holiday feeding
Post by: MarquisMirage on March 23, 2017, 06:39:58 PM
Feed them on the day you go and as soon as you get back.  They can get by for a week without food.  Though use the auto feeder if you can.
Title: Re: Holiday feeding
Post by: Sue on March 23, 2017, 07:01:51 PM
Test the auto feeder before you go away - put it on the tank and see if dispenses the food properly. Sometimes they drop all the food in one go, other times dampness gets in and the food does all sticky and won't come out.
Title: Re: Holiday feeding
Post by: Matt on March 23, 2017, 07:27:40 PM
Which feeder do you have?
Title: Re: Holiday feeding
Post by: barneyadi on March 23, 2017, 08:07:18 PM
Which feeder do you have?

It's the Juwel autofeeder. I am using micro pellets which I understand are less likely to clog together.
Title: Re: Holiday feeding
Post by: Matt on March 24, 2017, 06:54:50 AM
The one with the airline connector? Use this if you can.

How much will it feed on its minimum setting?
Title: Re: Holiday feeding
Post by: barneyadi on March 24, 2017, 11:44:16 AM
The one with the airline connector? Use this if you can.

How much will it feed on its minimum setting?

No, one without the air line. Will test in next couple of days to see how much it drops.
Title: Re: Holiday feeding
Post by: barneyadi on March 24, 2017, 01:45:23 PM
Well tested on smallest amount and far too much for fish.
Title: Re: Holiday feeding
Post by: fcmf on March 24, 2017, 01:45:32 PM
I also have an auto-feeder (Fishmate, without airline, in my case). I concur with the previous advice to test it out beforehand, ideally for a couple of days if you can - this gives a chance to address any issues that you might find. For example, I have to adjust mine in such a way that it's about to dispense food, otherwise it misses the first feed.

[Sorry, B - our posts overlapped.]
Title: Re: Holiday feeding
Post by: Sue on March 24, 2017, 01:59:20 PM
Is there anyone who woud be willing to feed the fish for yuo while you are away? If you do, just measure out the amount of food per day and ask them to put that food in the tank. i use one of those pill dispansers with a compartment for each day. It doesn't need to every day, one or twice during a week is enough. (And hide the food tub incase the person thinks you aren't giving them enough food and gives extra)
Title: Re: Holiday feeding
Post by: adenann on June 03, 2017, 11:04:43 AM
:wave:

We've just completed a test of a two week absence using Tetramin 7-Day Holiday Blocks.

Water tests after week 1 showed slightly raised NO3, up from 5ppm at the start of the week to 15ppm.  Everything else absolutely normal.
:fishy1:

Before today's water change, NO2 was up to 0.25ppm (not expected) and NO3 up from 15 to 40ppm (expected).
Our normal 20% water change brought everything back to normal, i.e. NO2 and NO3, back to zero and 5ppm respectively.

According to Tetra, for our number of fish, size of tank and time we were "away", we were just on the border between using 1 or 2 blocks.  Having used Tetramin Weekend Holiday Sticks a couple of times now, Tetra seem to err on the side of overfeeding.  In this test case, we only used 1 block.  At the end of the 2 week trial only about 1/4 of the block had gone.

The fish seemed to be a bit on the hungry side but they all look very healthy and happy.  Even all the very shy Corydoras have taken to coming out in the evening to gaze out of the front of the tank
:fishy1:

Overall, we're very happy and relieved that the test has worked out well.  We can now go away for real with some level of confidence that the fish will be OK.
 :cheers:
Title: Re: Holiday feeding
Post by: fcmf on June 03, 2017, 04:52:37 PM
Thanks, @adenann - very helpful/useful review.
Title: Re: Holiday feeding
Post by: adenann on June 03, 2017, 05:32:08 PM
@fcmf
 :wave:
No problem.  I wasn't sure which thread this should have been posted to, fish feeding or product reviews.  I'll leave it to you to move or copy it elsewhere as appropriate.
 :cheers: