We are going to be away for 2 weeks for holidays and cannot find anyone to come and feed my goldfish for me
I am thinking of setting up the tanks with lots of charcoal in a bubble filter on top of what is normally in there now (a 1800l/hr hang on side filter). I have 4 feet tanks with 2-3 X 4 inch ryukins in each tank. With the low density and charcoal, hope to reduce any detrimental buildups. I will also be reducing the amount of food they get (using autofeeder). Was thinking of feeding once every 2 days. Does anybody have any experience with this? What is the lowest frequency I can feed the ryukins? Once every 3 days? 4 days? Water temperature should be around 15-20 degrees celsius (autumn in Melbourne)

Dont feed.2 weeks is OK (unless they are fries) and it is better for the water quality as well.

just bare minimum feeding once a day just to keep the filter working would be fine ;)

Keeping goldfish and has to go for long absence without any survelliance put your fishes at high risk. The 1st thing in my mind is how to ensure no power trip

gohks no power trips in Melbourne unless we get bombed by terrorists again.

This post has been edited by desireless: Mon, 29 May 2006 5:45 pm

just go for the holiday.

Change water at least 24 hours before flying off and no feeding after that. let the system run by itself.

After the trip, just change water and feed slowly.

WAH really can don't feed for 2 weeks? Sounds bit cruel leh... Maybe I just buy a few bunches of Elodea and leave in the tanks and don't feed. That way at least they still got something to eat - if not come back all my ryukins become skinny buggers hehehe

Well kencheng if i was in melb might have helped you out , bad luck me in brisbane. What about if any lfs they might help you out? or might have to plea from the PM for assistance .....after all paying so much taxes.

Maybe I failed to mention to all these people that I have a bare bottom tank. No green water and no algae. So if I don't feed they SERIOUSLY got nothing to eat. Does the theory of not feeding for 2 weeks hold true still? I am really trying to push the frequency of feeding down so that the water quality stays reasonably good

Comments please - particularly with people with this kind of experience will be VERY appreciated.

Hi Ken,

Ranchus can go unfed for months during winter. That's when they go hibenate. Sometimes when I QT my new fishes, I don't feed at all for about 2 weeks. Since you're only going for 2 weeks, there's no worry about your fish dying of hunger .

When CP mentioned don't feed, the purpose is to keep the load in your tank to as low as possible, so that your water doesn't foul up quickly.

If you already have an over-crowded tank, then don't feed at all till you return.

If you've been a good boy to keep a sparse tank (for eg, 100litre to one 4inch goldfish), then you may feed a little (a few pellets) a day (with the help of a battery-run auto-feeder) so that your goldfish can produce enough ammonia to keep your filter working, as ET has mentioned.

For either case, slowly increase the feeding to normal after you return, as Matrix has mentioned.

well, the weather should be cold now in melb. when i was there back then, no feedings for 3 weeks, not a problem at all. dont even have to switch on the light. elodeas should be okay but once they decay, not such a good thing huh. Anyway, 2 weeks should be alright. Btw, where do u get your goldies from dude??Interested to know.


cheers

cool guys - thanks for the advice. Will probably feed like once a week with battery feeder
impellitteri I get my goldfish from New Life aquarium - happen to chance onto them and picked 4 not bad ryukins from a batch he got. But have not see anything similar quality lately. Except for a few good orandas etc... But in saying that I got Jodi from Brisbane to import a batch of Jap lineage ryukins for me from Thai Ranchu Centre. For a reasonable price I am hopefully going to get 15 Show Class Grade II ryukins this Thursday. Have to see the fish to confirm grade! If you in Melbourne and wanna share some imports I am interested
I am hopefully going to breed them to establish some lineage in Melb!
You got Lobang for good goldfish here?

I feed ~0,2% of fishweight, high energy food, every day and use this: