i'm going to go on vacation for 2 weeks soon, and i'm concerned about my little fishies!

last time i left for a couple days, i dropped a feeder into the tank and it did so much damage to the tank and fishies that i don't ever wanna go through it again. my little blackie got soooo constipated and bloated that i was scared he might have had dropsy since his scales were practically sticking out. he was so lethargic and unlike himself for an entire week. thankfully, he is back to his normal self and 'un-bloated'

point being...no more feeders. can they go 2 weeks without food? or am i going to need to request someone come over every couple of days to come feed them?

it depends on the temp.

anything above 60 degrees F, I say 5 days max.

~Hi~
Well you have 2 options.

1. Get a automatic feeder, Walmart has them for bout 10-11 bucks.

2. Have someone come over and feed them every couple days or so.


I leave every other weekend, and used to use the weekend feeders also, Never had any luck with them. I gave up on them so I just have my father in law stop over once during the weekend to feed.
Really goldies can go about 3 days without feeding in my opnion, I have done that before but felt bad when I got home and she was begging so I spoiled her with peas and flakes...
Really which ever you feel more comfortable with is fine, If you have someone come over be sure to tell them how much to feed them etc.

Hope that helps some.

Either way will work for sure. But be warned, make sure you totally and fully make sure the person you have coming over understands all the rules. My brother was left trusted and I assumed he knew what to do. Unfortunately I returned to 2 tanks that looked like milk.

I was off on my honeymoon...He had left the lights on for 2 weeks and overfed. I almost died at the site. Of course he didn't mean to do it... I forgot to tell him details because I was too anxious about getting married etc.

Put your lights on a timer.

Some people claim that fish are fine for up to two weeks without food. But one of my concerns would be that the amount of ammonia produced by the fish would drop considerably after that amount of time causing a die back of some of the bacteria and a possible ammonia spike when you start feeding again. Just a theory.

An automatic feeder is good but only dispenses pellets or flakes with no pre-soaking (highly recommended for goldies).

If you have someone come over to feed, put all the food into separate portions (ie. in little baggies or something) so that they know only ONE PORTION per day. Or let them feed gel cubes - an exact amount so there is little to no room fo error.

Also, have them feed way less than you usually do, since you won't be there to do a water change.

I never thought of this...it makes perfect sense tho. Gotta keep those bugs fed too

I would set out a tiny bit of food for each feeding day and hide the rest in a place they will never find! Yes, make sure they understand all the rules completely. Automatic feeders are much better than weekend feeders, but there can still be freak accidents (and there has been here also).