How Long Can A Beta Go Without Food?

[John]

All:

I'll be away for 4 days and unable to feed my son's beta fish. Will it
survive?

Thanks in advance,

John

[Elaine T]

John wrote:
> All:
>
> I'll be away for 4 days and unable to feed my son's beta fish. Will it
> survive?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> John

All of my fish including my betta just went on a 4 day fast last week.
I fed them pretty generously for the 3 days prior and changed some water
the day before I left. Everyone was fine when I returned except for one
rasbora, who died. I suspect it's the rasbora who spent rather a lot of
time on the carpet after a flying leap out of his acclimation bowl when
I first bought them.

--
__ Elaine T __
><__'> http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><

[IDzine01]

4 days is the maximum I would go without finding a friend to feed for
me. I think he'll be just fine. Just don't overfeed him before you
leave. Give them the normal amount of food and clean the water before
you go. Also, when you return, don't over feed to compensate for being
gone. Again, just feed the usual amount to avoid any complications.

Have a good trip.

[Elaine T]

IDzine01 wrote:
> 4 days is the maximum I would go without finding a friend to feed for
> me. I think he'll be just fine. Just don't overfeed him before you
> leave. Give them the normal amount of food and clean the water before
> you go. Also, when you return, don't over feed to compensate for being
> gone. Again, just feed the usual amount to avoid any complications.
>

I'm curious because I've never had to fast tanks longer than 2-3 days
before. I wasn't too worried about my betta going without food for 4
days, but my lambchop rasboras are awfully small. I thought maybe
feeding a bit more before I left would help them make it through the
lean time. Is it better to feed even small fish normally before and
after a fast or is your advice specific to bettas?

TIA!

--
__ Elaine T __
><__'> http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><

[Tynk]

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?betta001.wav=betta

Bettas ( Just a friendly FYI....2 t's and the correct pronunciation
link is above....I'm guessing that's the reason for the misspelling,
usually is), can go just fine for 4 days without food. Just make sure
he's fed just before you leave, and have the food ready while you're
unlocking the door when ya get back.
He may even seem to ignore you, or even flare at you, depending on his
personality, when you arrive home.
If you have a cat, you know exactly what I mean, lol.
My best adice:
If he's in an unfiltered container, do a 100% water change the night
before you leave, and a normal feeding. The day you leave, make sure
all is well and feed normally, and cover the top with something that
allows airflow, yet keeping him from possibly jumping. Fine fabric mesh
works great for a quick fix. Do not give extra to "tide him over", as
that can pollute his tank, or cause him discomfort if he over eats.
If he's in a filtered, heated tank (best option for any Betta), do a
normal 20% water change and ditto on the feedings as above.
*Never* use one of those "vacation feeder blocks", as they contain
plaster with a bit of fish food i them. As the plaster slowly melts it
really screws up the water chemistry, which can hurt your fish.
Bon Voyage.

[IDzine01]

I would think feeding the normal amount before and after would go for
small fish too. TYNK mentioned many of the reasons (keeping the tank
from getting polluted, etc). With Bettas it's especially important not
to feed too much because they are especially sensitive to overfeeding.
The biggest cause of constipation and bloating among bettas is
overfeeding. It can even lead to swim bladder disorders in some fish.
Also, bettas are carnivores and have a shorter digestive track then
veggie eating fish which means food passes through them faster.
Ultimately, the food ends up as poo mucking up the tank and since
you're not home to remove it, it turns into toxins and upsets the water
quality.

Rasboras may not be as sensitive to overfeeding as bettas are, but
still much of the same reasoning applies. Remember too, it's not
unusual for fish to go without food for a short while in nature.
Chances are there wouldn't be a guilt induced buffet awaiting them once
food does become available again. ;-)

Just a theory too... When we go without eating for a period of time
(like when we're sick) our stomachs tighten and it takes much less food
to fill us up after we're feeling up to eating again. I wonder if the
same goes for fish tummies. There's something to ponder....

[NetMax]

"IDzine01" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>
> I would think feeding the normal amount before and after would go for
> small fish too. TYNK mentioned many of the reasons (keeping the tank
> from getting polluted, etc). With Bettas it's especially important not
> to feed too much because they are especially sensitive to overfeeding.
> The biggest cause of constipation and bloating among bettas is
> overfeeding. It can even lead to swim bladder disorders in some fish.
> Also, bettas are carnivores and have a shorter digestive track then
> veggie eating fish which means food passes through them faster.
> Ultimately, the food ends up as poo mucking up the tank and since
> you're not home to remove it, it turns into toxins and upsets the water
> quality.
>
> Rasboras may not be as sensitive to overfeeding as bettas are, but
> still much of the same reasoning applies. Remember too, it's not
> unusual for fish to go without food for a short while in nature.
> Chances are there wouldn't be a guilt induced buffet awaiting them once
> food does become available again. ;-)
>
> Just a theory too... When we go without eating for a period of time
> (like when we're sick) our stomachs tighten and it takes much less food
> to fill us up after we're feeling up to eating again. I wonder if the
> same goes for fish tummies. There's something to ponder....


I wonder how long it takes for a fish to digest a normal meal.. 15
minutes? and a huge meal.. 16 minutes? ;~) Feeding normally or feeding
more probably has very little bearing on the fish's state, but may
negatively affect the water conditions (especially with bowled fish).
The best is to condition the fish in the weeks before leaving, using a
variety of high quality foods, and extra feedings. Then they will be in
the best condition to weather a fast.

Small fish like rasboras are a challenge though, as they can only build
up a small amount of extra energy supply, but they are great nibblers, so
having a variety of plants, various bits of algae and micro-organisms
within, will practically guarantee they will be fine. An approach I've
used is to move plants around before leaving. Plants removed from a
dwarf cichlid tank will have lots of stuff on the leaves which ignored by
the cichlids, are a feast for the characins and cyprinids. I'm sure
others have noticed this effect. Moving plants, driftwood etc into
another tank will often make them the center of attention for a couple of
days while they are 'cleaned'.
--
www.NetMax.tk

[[email protected]]

Elaine T wrote:
[deleted]
> All of my fish including my betta just went on a 4 day fast last
week.
> I fed them pretty generously for the 3 days prior and changed some
water
> the day before I left. Everyone was fine when I returned except for
one
> rasbora, who died. I suspect it's the rasbora who spent rather a lot
of
> time on the carpet after a flying leap out of his acclimation bowl
when
> I first bought them.
>
Wow your carpet kills. Shouldn't you take that as a sign that you
should vacuum more often?

[deleted]

[Elaine T]

NetMax wrote:
> "IDzine01" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>
>>I would think feeding the normal amount before and after would go for
>>small fish too. TYNK mentioned many of the reasons (keeping the tank
>>from getting polluted, etc). With Bettas it's especially important not
>>to feed too much because they are especially sensitive to overfeeding.
>>The biggest cause of constipation and bloating among bettas is
>>overfeeding. It can even lead to swim bladder disorders in some fish.
>>Also, bettas are carnivores and have a shorter digestive track then
>>veggie eating fish which means food passes through them faster.
>>Ultimately, the food ends up as poo mucking up the tank and since
>>you're not home to remove it, it turns into toxins and upsets the water
>>quality.
>>
>>Rasboras may not be as sensitive to overfeeding as bettas are, but
>>still much of the same reasoning applies. Remember too, it's not
>>unusual for fish to go without food for a short while in nature.
>>Chances are there wouldn't be a guilt induced buffet awaiting them once
>>food does become available again. ;-)
>>
>>Just a theory too... When we go without eating for a period of time
>>(like when we're sick) our stomachs tighten and it takes much less food
>>to fill us up after we're feeling up to eating again. I wonder if the
>>same goes for fish tummies. There's something to ponder....
>
>
>
> I wonder how long it takes for a fish to digest a normal meal.. 15
> minutes? and a huge meal.. 16 minutes? ;~) Feeding normally or feeding
> more probably has very little bearing on the fish's state, but may
> negatively affect the water conditions (especially with bowled fish).
> The best is to condition the fish in the weeks before leaving, using a
> variety of high quality foods, and extra feedings. Then they will be in
> the best condition to weather a fast.
>
> Small fish like rasboras are a challenge though, as they can only build
> up a small amount of extra energy supply, but they are great nibblers, so
> having a variety of plants, various bits of algae and micro-organisms
> within, will practically guarantee they will be fine. An approach I've
> used is to move plants around before leaving. Plants removed from a
> dwarf cichlid tank will have lots of stuff on the leaves which ignored by
> the cichlids, are a feast for the characins and cyprinids. I'm sure
> others have noticed this effect. Moving plants, driftwood etc into
> another tank will often make them the center of attention for a couple of
> days while they are 'cleaned'.

Thanks, NetMax. Using conditioning foods makes a lot of sense to
prepare fish for a fast.

My father once told me that small fish can always find something or
other to eat in a planted tank for a few days, including the plants
themselves if nothing else. I noticed that all the tender end shoots on
the Mayaca in the betta's tank are gone. Hmmm... I sure miss the
springtails that appeared at the surface of my big planted tanks in
Maryland. Those were great live food.

Moving plants around is an interesting idea. Pity I always let mine
root into the substrate so moving them would be hard on the plants.
I'll try moving the driftwood and algae-decorated rocks if I have to
fast the fish again.

--
__ Elaine T __
><__'> http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><

[Geezer From The Freezer]

If you're away longer than you want to be, and know this in advance
then leave lights on to grow algae around the tank - food for them
whilst you are away. Also think about adding some edible plants.

[John D. Goulden]

If you're that worried, get one of those little automatic feeders that
dispense a bit of food on regular intervals. It may be tough to get one
sensitive enough to dole out an appropriate amount for one betta, though.

One of my wife's first bettas refused to eat for the first two weeks we had
him. He finally settled down (and / or we finally found a betta food that he
liked) with no harm done and lived for a couple of years before passing on
to the Great Fish Tank in the Sky.

--
John Goulden