juz a qn to ask, is placing a feeding block in the tank better or leave my gf alone without food?
20gallon tank wif 4 gf (2-3inches), plastic plants and some driftwood. filtration 264G/HR.
me going brisbane for 7days.
thanks for any advice.

Goldfish can stay for about 7 days just eating
live plants.But putting a feeding block would be alright.
I don;t see anything wrong in useing the feeding block.

thanks alot for ur reply.
had some doubts in using feeding block becos i have never use one. kinda worried tht it might cloud the water when my gf go on a feeding frenzy once they start feasting! u know these gluttons do u?! haha...

The feeding blocks never last as long the time stated on
the packaging. Mostly because the goldies will pick at it
until it's gone, normally within 2 days. Another thing that
can happen is it can mess with the ph stability.

Here are some things you can do. Give them an extra feeding
or two the day before you leave. Do a 50% water change
before leaving and after returning. Add a couple live plants
for them to graze on. Otherwise, like Black Oranda mentioned,
they will be fine for a week without food. (they will probably
look better)

I agree 100% with PM. Leave some plants in there for them to much on.

Feeder blocks are made of plaster and are more trouble than they're worth! They belong on the shelf with pH ajuster products

thanks alot. i will take the live plant insead of the feeding block. any recommendations of which type of live plant is suitable for my situation?

Well, pretty much anything is considered delicious by goldies..
I know mine munch on water lettuce and water hyancith (sp), but I havent tried anything else with them.

I would think pond penny and wisteria would be good ones, but once again I don't have the experience. I'm sure somebody else will come along with recommendations!

if your going away for a week
its best to fast your fish
putting the blocks in will create shock because of ph changes
and this will create unneccesary shock
so its best not to feed them at all
or just buy some anacharis for them to munch on

Cool i learned alot from this topic. Now i no what to do when i go on holiday in the Summer Thanks guys.

all been said..

so I am jus contributing to the statistic by voting

I vote for live plants (small leaf type or needle type)

I vote AGAINST blocks.. some as mentioned, good for PH buffering (a point to consider since u leaving) and some even contain undesirable material in order to prevent it from being water soluable which is bad for gold fish too..

Get a fish feeder from nooppee for $19 It works great you just pour the food You use normally into it and it will feed them rtwice a day once in the morning and once in the evening. You should read the instructions for further details

I'd go for the feeding block. There are certain types of feeding blocks. Some are for 3 days, some for 7 days, some for a day.