Rouseabout Posted December 20, 2014 Report Share Posted December 20, 2014 Advice please - going away over Christmas and my Malawi tank fish won't have anyone to feed them for four days. Is this likely to be a problem? Reluctant to purchase an auto feeder as I am rarely away these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Likoma Posted December 20, 2014 Report Share Posted December 20, 2014 Dont sweat it they will be fine for a short period like that without food. If possible dose the tank with something like melafix before you go to account for the slight increase in aggression. Enjoy your time off Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted December 23, 2014 Report Share Posted December 23, 2014 i have left them for up to 5 days with out feeding when i have had to. no issues at all and it seemed they bred every time i did so, not sure if there was a connection or just coincidence. not sure about the advice regarding dosing the tank, i haven't and wouldn't. it doesn't make sense to me to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Likoma Posted December 23, 2014 Report Share Posted December 23, 2014 The technique of feeding fish up and then fasting them to induce breeding is used in fish houses the world over. Survival instincts I guess. Breed while you can you might not get a chance again. Regarding the melafix comment. No one can deny the connection between food surplus and aggression. You only have to look at the reaction of hungry people the world over. It makes sense that as fish get hungrier they will defend their territories with more vigor. I don't know what the degradation period is for a product like this but if it could as an example prevent an scuffed eye from getting infected then bonus. The information put forward by myself is always anecdotal. I have been using the Professional strength Melafix in our fish house for the past 2 years now with not a single death that can be logically attributed to it. This is across a large population of fish and water. In fact when we visited Malawi in July we had house sitters looking after the fish house. Not a single noticeable death in the entire month period. Part of their routine was that every third day the correct dosage of melafix was added to every tank. This was done in part to deal with various colonies of fish coming into maturity and scrapping it out. It seemed to work very well for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted December 23, 2014 Report Share Posted December 23, 2014 it doesn't make sense to me because i also haven't had any fish deaths either and i don't use any meds at all. i have left them for several days and never had an issue. the tank also gets a good clean as the algae grazing nature of the fish clean it up so they aren't actually being starved the entire time. I'm not saying you shouldn't dose, that's your choice but i think it's a waste of time based on my experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted December 23, 2014 Report Share Posted December 23, 2014 I would also not worry about feeding them while you are away. When I go away I normally just do a water change the day before I leave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Likoma Posted December 24, 2014 Report Share Posted December 24, 2014 it doesn't make sense to me because i also haven't had any fish deaths either and i don't use any meds at all. i have left them for several days and never had an issue. the tank also gets a good clean as the algae grazing nature of the fish clean it up so they aren't actually being starved the entire time. I'm not saying you shouldn't dose, that's your choice but i think it's a waste of time based on my experience. All good info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rouseabout Posted December 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2014 Thanks all, Fed them morning of 23rd then again evening of 28th - no issues or damage observed so all good. As well as there being algae on the rockwork, I added three chunks of courgette before going and there was zero left when i returned. :nilly: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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