Leaving for a week.

[jjohnwm]

I trust your guys’ judgement over my own.

Judgment? Yeah, okay...let's call it judgment.

We're trying to help you avoid all the pitfalls...because we have already fallen into all those pits at one point or another. Hell, I've fallen into the "somebody-feeding-my-fish-for-me" pit so often I should have built a permanent ladder in that one!

Good judgment comes as a result of experience. Sadly, experience is usually a result of bad judgment.

 

[Milingu]

My Tropheus after 17 days without food.
14 days were planned, ended with beeing away for 17 days.
No casualties but some new fry in the tank. No fish too thin, just slightly flat or concave belly line. Nothing which couldn't be fixed with two days of normal feeding. Everyone showing great colours.

Nothing I would recommend to do regularly, but if only once or twice per year most adult fish have no problems with 1-2 weeks without food.

 

[Matth05]

Judgment? Yeah, okay...let's call it judgment.

We're trying to help you avoid all the pitfalls...because we have already fallen into all those pits at one point or another. Hell, I've fallen into the "somebody-feeding-my-fish-for-me" pit so often I should have built a permanent ladder in that one!

Good judgment comes as a result of experience. Sadly, experience is usually a result of bad judgment.

I could have worded that differently and maybe been more elaborate. Most members here have been doing this way longer than I have, some longer than I’ve been alive. It’d be ridiculous for me not to take into consideration advice or alternate opinions.

Trust me in no way did I think anyone was being judgmental. One of the things I appreciate most about this forum is that members are willing to give advice in a blunt, and straightforward way.

 

[jjohnwm]

I could have worded that differently and maybe been more elaborate. Most members here have been doing this way longer than I have, some longer than I’ve been alive. It’d be ridiculous for me not to take into consideration advice or alternate opinions.

Trust me in no way did I think anyone was being judgmental. One of the things I appreciate most about this forum is that members are willing to give advice in a blunt, and straightforward way.

Lol, no worries, I wasn't in any way suggesting that your use of the term "judgment" was negative at all. It's one of those words that has been so misused by so many for so long that it has taken on a negative connotation which isn't accurate.

"judgment", "discrimination", "ignorance" and many other words didn't originally mean anything bad. They've come to have a negative connotation to them due to misuse, nothing more.

If you are formulating an opinion or idea or plan, you use "judgment", i.e. your own interpretation of the available data filtered by your own intelligence. There can certainly be bad judgment or good judgment, but judgment itself is neither.

Now...about this "blunt" thing...

 

[Matth05]

Now...about this "blunt" thing...

 

[troublesum]

I personally think we (fish keepers) should feed less food anyways, i have always kept large cichlids and when ever i leave on vaca i never worry about the fish i believe in the wild they don't eat as much as we feed them in there glass boxes (or acrylic) Also it seems when ever i come back from my 10 day vaca which i do every year for the last 12 years i usually come back and my fish colors are always popping AND i come back to them always having fry in the tank.

 

[Gourami Swami]

I agree with the above- for one week your fish should generally be fine without food. If you do want someone to feed for you, just portion the food out, I use the pill containers with days of the week on them. Just tell the feeder to pop one day open and into the tank, and will avoid them overfeeding. Set your lights on a timer or keep them off. Do a water change a couple days before you go , and you are set. Safe travels!

 

[troublesum]

The pill bottle is a great idea the problem is i had a friend who had 2 Os in a 125 and he left his friend instructions to feed 1 bottle per day, a week later my friend came back and his Os were dead the tank was all green and nasty, my friend asked his friend what happened and he said he feed 1 bottle and the fish still looked like they were hungry and begging for more food so he gave them more.

 

[jjohnwm]

The pill bottle is a great idea the problem is i had a friend who had 2 Os in a 125 and he left his friend instructions to feed 1 bottle per day, a week later my friend came back and his Os were dead the tank was all green and nasty, my friend asked his friend what happened and he said he feed 1 bottle and the fish still looked like they were hungry and begging for more food so he gave them more.

This just goes to show that nothing is fool-proof against a sufficiently talented fool.

However, to be honest, I think your friend sold you a bill of goods with that story. Any Oscar, in fact almost any fish, that I have ever owned would easily hoover up 2, 3 or more days worth of food and still be looking for more. If a tank went from clear and healthy to dead and nasty...in a single week...there was way more going on than mere overfeeding.

Tales like this give the impression that keeping an aquarium means walking a knife edge of success that is surrounded by imminent disaster on both sides, with any small mis-step or blunder instantly plunging you and your tank into the abyss. That's not the case; a combination of research, common sense, empathy for the creatures in question, patience and a willingness to spend some time on it should allow just about anyone to keep an aquarium.

When one is vetting possible caretakers, it's important to remember that they need to be at least somewhat smarter than the fish. When it comes to getting someone to watch over your tank, the phrase "better than nothing!" is not always true.

 

[Ogertron3000]

If you are really worried the fish will starve get one of those plastic weekly medication boxes old people use.
Put a tiny bit of food on each day and ask you mum to feed that day only no matter how hungry the fish look.
I really think the big water change and minimal food will work out fine, a week isnt that long really.
The longest i went away for was 6 weeks, my brother came around twice a week or so to feed from the medication box i mentioned above, even then he was concerned it wasnt enough food (he knows nothing about fish) but when i came back all the fish were fine, i did a big water change and life went on as normal.
The more you have well meaning amateurs getting involved the more likelihood of something going very wrong.