Vacation Question.

[Surferdave]

Basically I'm leaving for 2 weeks out of the country. I have 7 discus between 3.5 to 5.5 inches in my 60 gallon planted tank. If I'm leaving for would it be alright if they were fed just once a day? I was thinking I'd have a friend drop in 8 cubes of a mix of both hikari bloodworms and brine shirmp once a day. Will that be suffecient? My fish don't really eat tetra bits, and I don't want to worry about polluting the water while I'm gone, even though I do have an automatic feeder. Is that enough food?

Dave

[-gb-]

Hey Dave,

You may want to get a few opinions on this but... In my experience I have had a friend come in every other or every 3rd day and give the fish a feeding of blood worms and/or brine shrimp. Given that you're tank is planted the plants should help stabilize the tank and keep the water in much better condition that it would otherwise be. The longest I have done this is 7 days. Any chance your friend could do at least one water change? I've always shied away form having this done due to the fact that I have trust issues but if your friend is familiar with fish he might be able to help you out.

[mastiffff]

when i went for a vacation i had a friend comeover to feed once a day. i had 11 discus and its 6cubes mid day. but i bought an automatic feeder at petsmart about 30bucks. i used freeze dried blood worms. (try it i think they will eat it as well caue mine doesn't eat tetra bits as well)
the auto feeder feeds twice a day. that way its 3x feed a day and your tank wouldn't be clouded and wil not be as bad for the water quality. just make sure you do a big water change before you go.

[aquagal]

I have read on this forum you could go the whole 2 weeks without feeding. I have never gone more than 3 days. The trade-off with fewer feedings is that your water will stay cleaner. If I were leaving for 2 weeks, I would feed maybe 1 feeding every other day. I think your water (and fish) will survive just fine.

See what others say and do what you think is right for your situation.

Sherry

[Surferdave]

Thanks for the advice everyone, yeah, water quality is one of the issues, also I wouldn't want my fish to get stunted by not feeding them appropriately. My friend also owns 2 discus, but he has a much smaller setup, 30 gallon tank, and he's not familiar with the way I do water changes, either way, hopefully I can get him to do one for me mid week. Sounds like 1 feeding a day will work out great. Thanks!

David.

[Harriett]

I have read on this forum you could go the whole 2 weeks without feeding. I have never gone more than 3 days. The trade-off with fewer feedings is that your water will stay cleaner. If I were leaving for 2 weeks, I would feed maybe 1 feeding every other day. I think your water (and fish) will survive just fine.

See what others say and do what you think is right for your situation.

Sherry


If you have adult fish then you could leave them unfed for the 2 weeks---with 3" juvies I wouldn't do that; you would compromise health.
Best regards
Harriett