Going on hoilday for two weeks whats the best method for feeding my fish

Hi , i'm going away for two week , i live on my own and do not want to give
the neighbour my keys etc , so whats the best method , i've seen the food
blocks that slowly dissolve over a period of time , will these do the trick
? my tank is a rio240 , so its not small tank its set up for tropical and i
have about 14 fish in there , 9 are small fish , 3 are medium and 1 large
parrot fish around 7 - 8 inches long , they all get along just fine etc ,
if the blocks are a suitable option , then how many should i buy ?

I was going to ask my local pet shop tommorow , but i find its usally best
to ask the consumers advice first and ask the seller afterwards , its a good
pet shop , but joe publics opinion is usally the best.

Or should i over feed the fish for the next few days and will they be okay
for two weeks with out feed (which i doudt) but i thought i would ask.

On Mon, 01 May 2006 19:49:11 GMT, "InfoMania" wrote:

Hi , i'm going away for two week , i live on my own and do not want to give
the neighbour my keys etc , so whats the best method , i've seen the food
blocks that slowly dissolve over a period of time , will these do the trick
? my tank is a rio240 , so its not small tank its set up for tropical and i
have about 14 fish in there , 9 are small fish , 3 are medium and 1 large
parrot fish around 7 - 8 inches long , they all get along just fine etc ,
if the blocks are a suitable option , then how many should i buy ?

I was going to ask my local pet shop tommorow , but i find its usally best
to ask the consumers advice first and ask the seller afterwards , its a good
pet shop , but joe publics opinion is usally the best.

Or should i over feed the fish for the next few days and will they be okay
for two weeks with out feed (which i doudt) but i thought i would ask.




For two weeks, the fish should be fine without any feeding. I've done
it several times, up to two months.

I went away from 2 and a half weeks and i used a automatic feeder. i
asked pplz here what the thought of those feeding blocks and i got some
very negative comments about how crap they are in general - so i went
and bought an auto feeder..

Feeding is the least of the worries.....Odds are most if not all
folks over feed their fish more than the need anyhow.......the object
is to maintain them at a good level not make em fat and happy, well
happy perhaps but not with feed.

There is all kinds of problems that can go wrong......A tank can leak,
a filter unit can kick out, power can go out, and when its back up may
or may not retsrat some filteration devices.....Heaters can
stick.......water evaporates............all of which are more
important than them not eating for a mere 2 weeks, so at the least
hjave someone stop by and check on them. Make up a bucket of water and
make a mark on the tank with max and minimum water levels, so they
know when to top off tank.....trust feeding them to a bona fide fish
keeper less you risk a poluted tank when yu return.......but feed is
not a must have.nice yes, necessary no.

Do you pumps and filters restart ok after a power outage, if not, buy
one that does.......**** happens and if its gonna go south it will do
it when your not around to recity it.

I reduce all lights, fish really do not need much or any lights, but
live plants do, so if you have live plants you would be best having
the light on a timer, less you get a algae bloom from too much or
dead plants from insufficient light......

The only ones those feeding blocks benefit are the manufacturer, and
retailler, nd it gives some owners of the fish peace of mind, which is
a false security anyhow, but it suits them I guess......no amount of
overfeeding them are gonna make up for not being fed 1 or 2 days or
even 2 weeks later...........Prove that concept to yourself and eat
enough tonight so you do not eat tomorrow.

On 1 May 2006 14:06:47 -0700, "Mariachi" wrote:
I went away from 2 and a half weeks and i used a automatic feeder. i
asked pplz here what the thought of those feeding blocks and i got some
very negative comments about how crap they are in general - so i went
and bought an auto feeder..

Koi-Lo....
Frugal ponding since 1982.
Aquariums since 1956.
Some assholes Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
*Note: There are several *Koi-Lo's* on rec.ponds.
But, I am the one and only original Koi-Lo.
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

Roy wrote:

Feeding is the least of the worries.....Odds are most if not all
folks over feed their fish more than the need anyhow.......the object
is to maintain them at a good level not make em fat and happy, well
happy perhaps but not with feed.

There is all kinds of problems that can go wrong......A tank can leak,
a filter unit can kick out, power can go out, and when its back up may
or may not retsrat some filteration devices.....Heaters can
stick.......water evaporates............all of which are more
important than them not eating for a mere 2 weeks, so at the least
hjave someone stop by and check on them. Make up a bucket of water and
make a mark on the tank with max and minimum water levels, so they
know when to top off tank.....trust feeding them to a bona fide fish
keeper less you risk a poluted tank when yu return.......but feed is
not a must have.nice yes, necessary no.

Do you pumps and filters restart ok after a power outage, if not, buy
one that does.......**** happens and if its gonna go south it will do
it when your not around to recity it.

I reduce all lights, fish really do not need much or any lights, but
live plants do, so if you have live plants you would be best having
the light on a timer, less you get a algae bloom from too much or
dead plants from insufficient light......

The only ones those feeding blocks benefit are the manufacturer, and
retailler, nd it gives some owners of the fish peace of mind, which is
a false security anyhow, but it suits them I guess......no amount of
overfeeding them are gonna make up for not being fed 1 or 2 days or
even 2 weeks later...........Prove that concept to yourself and eat
enough tonight so you do not eat tomorrow.


I had a major bad experience with one of those feeder blocks around 16
years ago and came home to a tank of dead fish so will never use them
again...

As Roy has said, your major issue is power or pump failure....and boy
have I been there....nothing quite a tank with no filtration for 2 weeks
to kill your fish....

Get a fish sitter, and teach them how to recognise and deal with a pump
failure....even if that means giving an emergency number to you to talk
them through it....

Give instructions to feed half or even a quarter what you do...you can
guarentee they will double it.....so you reach the right amount...fish
can go a while without food, especially in an established tank with
plants and other food sources....mine don't suffer if I miss a day....

Gill

Roy wrote:

Feeding is the least of the worries.....Odds are most if not all
folks over feed their fish more than the need anyhow.......the object
is to maintain them at a good level not make em fat and happy, well
happy perhaps but not with feed.

There is all kinds of problems that can go wrong......A tank can leak,
a filter unit can kick out, power can go out, and when its back up may
or may not retsrat some filteration devices.....Heaters can
stick.......water evaporates............all of which are more
important than them not eating for a mere 2 weeks, so at the least
hjave someone stop by and check on them. Make up a bucket of water and
make a mark on the tank with max and minimum water levels, so they
know when to top off tank.....trust feeding them to a bona fide fish
keeper less you risk a poluted tank when yu return.......but feed is
not a must have.nice yes, necessary no.

Do you pumps and filters restart ok after a power outage, if not, buy
one that does.......**** happens and if its gonna go south it will do
it when your not around to recity it.

I reduce all lights, fish really do not need much or any lights, but
live plants do, so if you have live plants you would be best having
the light on a timer, less you get a algae bloom from too much or
dead plants from insufficient light......

The only ones those feeding blocks benefit are the manufacturer, and
retailler, nd it gives some owners of the fish peace of mind, which is
a false security anyhow, but it suits them I guess......no amount of
overfeeding them are gonna make up for not being fed 1 or 2 days or
even 2 weeks later...........Prove that concept to yourself and eat
enough tonight so you do not eat tomorrow.

On 1 May 2006 14:06:47 -0700, "Mariachi" wrote:

I went away from 2 and a half weeks and i used a automatic feeder. i
asked pplz here what the thought of those feeding blocks and i got some
very negative comments about how crap they are in general - so i went
and bought an auto feeder..


Koi-Lo....
Frugal ponding since 1982.
Aquariums since 1956.
Some assholes Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
*Note: There are several *Koi-Lo's* on rec.ponds.
But, I am the one and only original Koi-Lo.
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

Reducing lights is fine if you don't have a heavily planted tank....I
have to strike a balance in the summer between the tanks overheating and
plant health....last summer the plants got sacrificed...this year we've
put in air con... :-)

Gill

InfoMania wrote:
Hi , i'm going away for two week , i live on my own and do not want to give
the neighbour my keys etc , so whats the best method , i've seen the food
blocks that slowly dissolve over a period of time , will these do the trick
? my tank is a rio240 , so its not small tank its set up for tropical and i
have about 14 fish in there , 9 are small fish , 3 are medium and 1 large
parrot fish around 7 - 8 inches long , they all get along just fine etc ,
if the blocks are a suitable option , then how many should i buy ?

Will the small fish fit into the parrot's mouth when it gets good and
hungry and starts looking at them as food? If not, don't worry.
Otherwise you'd better find someone who you trust with your keys to come
and feed every few days. Put the proper amount of food for each feeding
into a paper packet so they feed the right amount.

--
Put the word aquaria in the subject to email me.
Did you read the FAQ? http://faq.thekrib.com

"InfoMania" wrote in message
...
Hi , i'm going away for two week , i live on my own and do not want to
give the neighbour my keys etc , so whats the best method , i've seen the
food blocks that slowly dissolve over a period of time , will these do the
trick ? my tank is a rio240 , so its not small tank its set up for
tropical and i have about 14 fish in there , 9 are small fish , 3 are
medium and 1 large parrot fish around 7 - 8 inches long , they all get
along just fine etc , if the blocks are a suitable option , then how many
should i buy ?

I was going to ask my local pet shop tommorow , but i find its usally best
to ask the consumers advice first and ask the seller afterwards , its a
good pet shop , but joe publics opinion is usally the best.

Or should i over feed the fish for the next few days and will they be okay
for two weeks with out feed (which i doudt) but i thought i would ask.

Automatic feeder and feed less than usual, rather
than more. Don't overfeed ahead of time,
whatever else you decide to do. That just fouls
the water with no one there to fix it if your
filter decides to die while you're away.

I have a neighbor come in. I know you said you
don't want to do that, but if you change your
mind, the simplest thing to do is buy some of
those cheap weekly pill dispensers. Each day
is labeled, put the amount of food you would
normally feed (or less) in each little compartment.
Two weeks = two pill dispensers. At a USA
drugstore I can buy one for less than US$1.00.

Gail

"Gail Futoran" wrote in message
...
the simplest thing to do is buy some of
those cheap weekly pill dispensers. Each day
is labeled, put the amount of food you would
normally feed (or less) in each little compartment.
Two weeks = two pill dispensers. At a USA
drugstore I can buy one for less than US$1.00.

Gail

Now that's thinking ahead....and froogle to boot. What a Gal...what a
Gal...!!!

"-ED" wrote in message
...

"Gail Futoran" wrote in message
...
the simplest thing to do is buy some of
those cheap weekly pill dispensers. Each day
is labeled, put the amount of food you would
normally feed (or less) in each little compartment.
Two weeks = two pill dispensers. At a USA
drugstore I can buy one for less than US$1.00.

Gail

Now that's thinking ahead....and froogle to boot. What a Gal...what a
Gal...!!!

Thanks. I probably stole the idea from
someone on rec.aquaria* sometime in the
past!

Gail