Do you overfeed before vacation?

[NYCEnglish]

I tend to be out of town 7-8 days out of every 20 or so and I have several traditionally "difficult" fish including a Leopard Wrasse, a Mandarin, and a pair of Red Sea Harlequin Filefish. I have them all eating frozen and pellets, but I sorta worry when I'm gone for 5-6 days at a stretch and they are relying on a 100% pellet diet via my automated feeder.

So...a couple of days before I leave I overfeed them with one serving of pellets and 2-3 serving of frozen.

I've had all these guys for a long time and they all seem fat and happy but I'm wondering what others do in my situation.

 

[duromega]

get another auto feeder and put a different kind of food so they have a diverse diet while you're away

 

[Potacka]

In the past, when I had fish only, I have overfed by a little for a few weeks leading up to going away. The thought was to fatten up the fish a little so they would be better able to deal with the auto feeder. I have no idea if it helped or not, but never came home to any losses.

 

[NYCEnglish]

I mix a couple of different types in the same auto-feeder cup already - have to do that as the Mandarin and Filefish have really small mouths and can't take bigger morsels like my clowns or Blotched Anthias.

get another auto feeder and put a different kind of food so they have a diverse diet while you're away

 

[NYCEnglish]

This is exactly my logic too! :biggrin:

In the past, when I had fish only, I have overfed by a little for a few weeks leading up to going away. The thought was to fatten up the fish a little so they would be better able to deal with the auto feeder. I have no idea if it helped or not, but never came home to any losses.

 

[Paul B]

Take the fish with you, they may enjoy the rest.

 

[NYCEnglish]

Nah, a couple of them get car sick - fish puke everywhere...

 

[troywalkerphoto]

I feed live food before I leave. If you have a mandarin then I would suggest that you O.D the tank on pods leading up to your leave of absence. The day of, I would add a full portion directly to the live rocks with all pumps turned off to allow the pods to hide within.
This way the fish have fattened up and they will have live food to hunt during the day and especially at night.