No food for 5 days

[abraha]

Can my fish go without food for 5 days? I have to be away and they will not eat anything but frozen, so auto feeders are not an option.
Has anyone gone that long without feeding their fish?

These are the fish:

Lyretail Anthias
Ocellaris clown mated pair
Hippo Tang
Yellow Tang
Kole Tang
Firefish
Mystery wrasse
Psychedelic mandarin dragonet
Banggai Cardinal

 

[karoljablonski]

Neighbor

Neighbor

Can your neighbor or family member do it?

 

[Black Mammoth]

I would try and get someone to feed them if possible. If you can't, I would feed heavily leading up to your departure. The Mandarin will be fine as he is hunting pods. The day you leave, you could put some Nori in there to help the tangs. The tangs will probably to continue to peck at things. I suspect that the clowns will be fine. You can probably get away with it, but it would be best to get someone to help out. I would be a little concerned for the other fish not mentioned.

 

[Froggy]

I would worry about the Anthias. They need to eat often. The Tangs also should eat several times a day and need grazing throughout the day due to their high energy swimming habits. If you have some algae growth in the tank, the Tangs may be ok. The Anthias probably would not fare that well IMO. The other fish if plump now should be ok,

 

[1DeR9_3Hy]

The only fish i am worried about is this Anthias.

Keep in mind though, as long as you have been feeding all these fish well for a decent amount of time (a few months?) they will be able to survive 5 days without food. How long do the collectors hold the fish without feeding when they snag them out of the ocean? Isn't it around 3 days? Then add another day of shipping, + a week of acclimation wherever they end up...and your looking at 2 weeks without food (which is pretty bad for the fish, but my point is your doing half that...)

I would be more worried about aggression flaring up when they start getting hungry...thats the unknown.

 

[AuroraDrvr]

They'll be fine.

 

[jamesdong009]

As stated previously, I think they all should be fine. The only fish that might be of a concern would be the Lyretail Anthias. I have not kept one personally so I can't give any advice, but the others will be okay.

 

[dadonoflaw]

the fish will be fine. i have done this many times before with no trouble. when i was more sparing on feeding i would feed once a week and i had 5 lyretails. 20 fish in all and they did fine. i slowed down because when i would feed no one was hungry. especially if you have been feeding well they will be fine.