Feeding Fish While You're Away for the Holidays

Thanksgiving trips start in about seven weeks. If you'll be gone for a few days, the good news is that your fish will probably be fine. More fish die from too much food while their owners are away than from too little.

How long can fish go without food?

Most healthy, adult aquarium fish can go three to five days without eating, and many can go a week. Fish in cooler water burn energy more slowly and can go longer. Fish in warm water, and very small or young fish, need food sooner. In a planted tank with some algae, many fish snack between meals anyway.

For a long weekend: feed them well the day before you leave and don't feed them while you're gone.

For a week or more: plan on an automatic feeder or a sitter.

Before you leave

1. Do a water change a day or two before you go, and vacuum the gravel.
2. Clean the filter a week before, not the day before, so the bacteria have time to recover.
3. Check the heater, the light timer and the pumps. Make sure everything's running right.
4. Top off the water, so evaporation doesn't drop the level below the filter or heater.
5. Don't add new fish in the week before a trip.
6. Put the lights on a timer if they aren't already.

Automatic feeders

A good automatic feeder is the best option for trips over a week.

• Test it for a week or two before you leave. Watch how much it actually drops.
• Set it to feed less than you normally do, every day or every other day.
• Keep the food dry. Humidity from the tank can clump the food and jam the feeder. Mount it so the opening isn't right over a bubbling surface.
• Cheap feeders fail. They can stop feeding, or dump their whole load at once. That's the worst case, because rotting food can poison the tank.

Skip the vacation blocks

The plaster "vacation feeder" blocks that dissolve slowly are popular, but many keepers avoid them. They can cloud the water, change your water chemistry, and leave a lot of uneaten food rotting in the tank. Most fish are better off just fasting.

If someone's coming over

• Pre-portion the food in a pill organizer, one compartment per day. People who don't keep fish almost always overfeed.
• Leave a short note: feed one compartment, don't touch the settings, and call you if the water looks cloudy or a fish is dead.
• Tell them not to clean anything.

Power outages while you're gone

A storm and a power outage while you're away is the real danger, especially in late fall. A battery-powered air pump that kicks on when the power fails is cheap insurance, and our guide to keeping a tank warm in a power outage has more ideas.

Inverts and amphibians

Shrimp and snails graze and can usually go longer than fish. Crabs, turtles and frogs in a riparium vary. Musk turtles can go several days, while small frogs and fire-bellied toads do better with a sitter for longer trips.

When you get back

Don't make up for lost meals. Feed a normal, small amount and check the water. If you find a dead fish, take it out, test the water, and do a water change. Our why did my fish die checklist can help figure out what happened.

Sources (1)

Fish Tank World: Caring for Your Fish While You're on Vacation

Related: How to Cycle a New Aquarium (Fishless Cycle, Step by Step)