Thursday, July 30, 2009

am buying a pet fish but i am going away for three weeks what should i do?

You can leave it for two weeks with out food. You can leave it with a shell brick food for ten days. but after the ten days would it be fine for a further two weeks?
Answers:
I think if you put a few live plants in with it, it could munch on them. My brother can't keep live plants in his tank for long because his fancy goldfish end up eating them all. I have also seen my fish eat very small baby snails. If you put a snail in with it, it would clean up after the fish and, it would make babies (you only need one snail!) and hopefully your fish could eat them. If not you might come home to a snail infested aquarium! Hmmm you could also just wait and not have to worry!
buy the fish when you get back
Maybe you could wait to buy it when you get back? I wouldn't leave the fish without food for 2 weeks. I've never used the blocks of food. I would think those would dirty the tank up. They make a timer/food release thing that goes on the back of the tank. Not sure how long it goes for though.
4 weeks is kinda long, but they have auto feeders out there, not just the little food bricks. They're not cheap though. Maybe someone can come by and drop another 10 day feeder in after the first two weeks?
Wait to buy the fish.
you shouldnt buy the fish if your going to be gone.
I'd say have a neighbor take care of it, or at least drop by in 10 days.
They actually make long time feeders. They have mechanical ones that put the right amount of food in the tank at the same time every day. You might also want to have someone come in and check on them every couple days. My tank held up just fine till I went on vacation, it sprung a huge leak and we lost everything. So make sure someone can come around and check on it. Oh and it's best not to leave a fish bowl but a tank with a filter because then it will stay clean and at a proper temperature. If you leave a bowl you will have abunch of algae to deal with when you return.
buy the fish when you get back. don't be selfish. even if you want it now, this is a life we are talking about and its not worth risking because of your entertainment needs
There are vacation tablets you can buy at a Wal-mart or any other retailer of pet supplies. The ones I have seen are usually in the shape of seashells and stuff like that. Otherwise, ask someone to be a pet-sitter for your fish. I would highly recommend buying your pet fish after you get back from your trip.
buy the fish when you get back
I would also recommend waiting. If you want a particular fish, most decent local pet stores will hold the fish for you. Or you could have someone check on it for you. Depending on the set-up (freshwater, brackish, saltwater) this can be tricky for someone who doesn't know your fish needs.
really you should wait to get your pet. It really needs to be watched for the first few weeks of cycling your tank that way when your nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia spike, your new fish doesn't get too stressed out. Highly recommend waiting till you get back. Set up your tank and let it run while you are gone then when you get back, get your new fish.
HAVE SOME ONE FEED IT WHILE YOUR away or bring it with you in a transportable tank of some sort from the pet store has them reason being if you dont feed it at all for three weeks it will enevatably die and if you feed to much to compansate for being gone it will eat itself to death
i have 2 pet fish and have left them without food 4 up 2 a month but it is a long time but i think they will survive maybe let a friend or family feed them or wait till you get back then buy it but i have left them for up 2 a month so if you do it should survive but a month is a long time
Get the fish when you get back. Don't use those food bricks (or your ammonia and nitrites will go through the roof!)
Like many of the others, my first thought was for you to wait till you come back before you buy the fish. The fish is still an decent living thing with sense of hunger and pain etc, so it would not be right and humane to rush to buy it then leave it alone.

However, if you have some proper help, be it neighbours or friends etc willing to come to feed and look after the fish regularly, then you may consider buying first. But if the fish are just introduced, they might suffer from diseases, unable to settle in or suit your aquarium system requiring proper care which your helper may not be able to provide.

Hence, you should know that feeding of the fish (even if in adequate amounts without fouling the water) is not the only consideration and be advised to postpone your purchase till later when you are back with the available time to provide reasonable care to your new pet.
Snow Gal - it depends what kind of fish you have. Those vacation bricks are rubbish as they mess up your tank. Get someone to baby sit your fish and feed it once a day and do water changes as normal - as you cannot leave a fish for 3 weeks without doing water changes. except if you get the fish sitter to add Tetra Easybalance to the tank once a week.

Good luck.
either wait to buy the fish or go to a pet store and they might have fish feeders that you can put in your tank while you are away so that your fish will stay fed

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