Vacationing suggestions for goldfishes

[herp17]

Well, vacation for me but what are some of the things I should do for my fish?
So I'm going to be away for a little bit over 2 weeks for vacation. What are some of the things I should do so that my goldfishes will be ok? If possible, I prefer not to have someone come to the house. I read that I should change about 50% of he water in my tank. And then everything should be ok. What about feeding? Can they go for two weeks without food? I know they can do a while but how long is a while. Suggestions? Any information would be greatly be appreciated. :worship:

[Mikey V]

Is an Auto-feeder an option?

If you dont want to spend the money, try getting some hardy but edible plants the goldfishes can graze on if they get hungry. I'd suggest some duckweed, or even hornwort.

[bekko]

I think the best thing to do is change as much water as possible and then just walk away. Vacation problems are always related to over-feeding. Without feeding, you do not even have to worry as much about water quality deterioration or even a power failure. Fish can shift into catabolic mode and use their energy reserves and will not starve in two weeks.

-steve

[afertuna]

i agree with steve!
Allen

[suphi]

I'm taking a one-week vacation in March and am going to starve my fish also. It is safer this way.

[herp17]

Cool beans! Yeah, I wanted to just change water and walk away. And heard about some nightmare stories about automatic feeders. Just wanted to make sure they will be fine for 2 weeks without food. Thanks!

[Cincy Ranchu]

If you feel two weeks is too long, consider putting measured amounts of food in baggies taped to the tanks and have someone feed every day or two...

[suphi]

Come to think of it, I never fast my fish for 2 weeks. The longest stretch I've done was 9 days when they were really sick. Ranchu can starve for more than a month though, according to several prof breeders.

[herp17]

Yeah, I want to avoid having someone to come by to feed them since I just moved to a new area and don't know if I can really trust anybody yet.

I'm just going to let them go without food for that duration. They are all nice and fat anyway. :Geek:

[fish don't sweat]

If you hang a piece of meat over the tank flies will lay eggs on it and the maggots will drop into the water and feed the fish automatically. A friend of mine put me wise to this when he went on holiday for three months and he fed his fish this way. He put them in the bath and hung up a dead goose. The fish were all alive and well when he returned.

[Virginia ranchu]

I hope you are kidding!

That's the most disgusting thing I have ever heard of

[fish don't sweat]

There is nothing disgusting about it at all, it's entirely natural.

[herp17]

Got back yesterday. The no feeding plan worked well but now my black ranchu has drowsy. I did a 50% water changed once I got back. Going to repeat again today. The water quality were all fine before I changed the water. Ammonia=0, pH=7.6, nitrites=0.25 ( a little high). Hopefully the little guy will recover. I keep reading that drowsy is a terminal thing.

[George Ludrosky]

Are you sure that it is dropsey? are the scales sticking out from the body?

I have had a few fish that seem to recover and lived fairly long lives. I would never use them for breeding though because from I have read it is a genetic disease.

Sorry to hear about your fish and hope he recovers for you.

[OldMarine]

It's always better to under feed your fish than over feed, for obvious reasons. Especially in a closed enviroment like a aquarium or man made pond where the filtration can easily be over burdened.

[herp17]

Are you sure that it is dropsey? are the scales sticking out from the body?

I have had a few fish that seem to recover and lived fairly long lives. I would never use them for breeding though because from I have read it is a genetic disease.

Sorry to hear about your fish and hope he recovers for you.

Yeah, it's dropsey alright. I seen it before. Ever since I got that black ranchu, he always did have a swimming bladder problem. He's still alive, bloated but still gets around. I need to do some more reading to figure that cause but will still do water changes.

[afnaveils]

Oh, I've out of town for 2 weeks. I put pieces of lettuce or spinach and the fish have all the time to nip on them and not get too hungry. As the leaves tend to weaken on the edges, it becomes easier for the fish to feed on them.