I am leaving Friday to go to OH to visit. I will be back on Sunday evening. Do you all think Larry will be ok w/ not being fed. I am still trying to cycle his tank out - so maybe the no feeding will be good for a couple days? His ammonia has been up and I can't get it down. This is sort of a multi subject question. Do you all use the blocks that you put in the tank for a few days? Should I use one or let him be. I have live plants in the aquarium for him.

Any feed back would be nice.
Thanks in advance!

Generally speaking goldfish would be absolutely fine without feeding for a short period like that.

If you are still cycling then it is better not to have your fish fed while you're away, as you won't personally be around to keep an eye on the parameters and water change as necessary to keep harmful waste levels down.

Usually, I'd say feed the day you go, do a partial water change and then leave them until you come back.

As you're still cycling, personally I would stop feeding the day before you go away, test the water, do a large water change to dilute any Ammonia or NitrIte right down and then not feed them until you come back. It's only a few days and I think this would be much safer than feeding. The goldfish will still produce enough waste to keep your cycle going.

People have mixed view about feeding blocks. One of the biggest concerns with them is that they can be unreliable in the rate that they dissolve and break down and that can potentially really pollute your water.
There have been some real horror stories about this before.

Automatic feeders can sometimes work, but again they can go wrong as well. I think the safest option is to always feed fish by hand (yours or whoever can be trusted to look after them while you are away). That way you have complete control over what goes into your tank.

Having said all that, as your tank is still cycling and you're having Ammonia peaks at the moment I would not recommend using either of these two while you are away. So, I would just leave them in terms of feeding.

They can always nibble on the plants while you're away (and they probably will! )

Just my ideas, hope this helps and have a good trip!

You need to do larger water changes to get your amonia down, like 90-95%. If your amonia is at 2-3 ppm, and you do a 90% change, there's still plenty in there to continue the cycle-ing. when I was cycling my 80 gallon, I had to do 95% change every 2-3 days to keep the amonia below 3 ppm.

If you're gone Fri and get back Sun, my view is that this is a healthy little "fasting" for your goldfish . . .don't worry!

Thanks for the feed back. I think I will pass on feeding him as he has a live plant to nibble on. I will do a big water change before I leave too as I won't be here to check it.

Thanks everyone! Have a great day!