How long without feeding fish?

[Sashaka]

A few days at most. Especially with the anthias. They need to feed all day long.

When my father has to go away he measures out the feedings in advance for my step mom. He puts them in little containers, tells her to defrost one a day and feed the tank. This way he knows exactly what's being fed. And how much.

I do the same...premeasure my frozen food mix, cube them, and then tell my husband how many cubes to defrost and feed to each tank. I currently have 4 saltwater tanks up and running. My Copperband butterfly needs to each everyday...just like your anthias. An established tank with pods helps. :)

 

[Sashaka]

As long as I want....

;Jawdrop;Dead

...Anyway, here you can find research documenting the daily nutritional requirements of many ornamental fish (note this is in mg/day often for fish that are grams in size). Know that I don't post this to flame a spam war, but only in the hopes of educating. . . .Fish don't eat like dogs.
Nutrient requirements for ornamental fish

Interesting and good to know. Thank you for posting. :)

Maybe the question should be “How long can I go without eating?” Try it and let us know....

"In a 1997 editorial in the British Medical Journal...Generally, it appears as though humans can survive without any food for 30-40 days, as long as they are properly hydrated" ( https://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-12-humans-survive-food.html ). However, Michigan Reefer, fish are not people and different fish require different amounts of food. Grazers need to graze, gobblers like puffer fish and anglers can go longer without eating; very active fish like anthias and Copperbands need to eat several times a day.

NIKKEN ニッケン刃物 名刀ペーパーナイフ 沖田総司モデル(菊一文字) MT-34S 文房具 事務用品[▲][AB] レターオープナー・ペーパーナイフ

3541円 レターオープナー・ペーパーナイフ NIKKEN ニッケン刃物 名刀ペーパーナイフ 沖田総司モデル(菊一文字) MT-34S 文房具 事務用品[▲][AB] 私たちの評判は、1995年にニューヨーク電気決済センター内で電化製品を販売する小さな店として始めた私たちの礎石です。

aquaristcourses.org

I guess what I'm getting at is most creatures (human, canine, fish) can go through periods of starvation and survive the ordeal, but if we can prevent this stress on a creature in our care, shouldn't we? Freeze some cubes of food and have someone defrost and feed daily. That way there is no overfeeding and the fish are fed at least once a day. Come home to happy, healthy, less stressed fish. :)

 

[Shane1975]

When I go on vacation I feed walking out the door and have someone come by and feed at least every third day. I also show them how to check pump flow, temp, skimmer and water level. I only have a 7 gallon topoff which will get me by for usually around 5 days before needing refilled. I portion out there food for each serving for them to feed and label with the day.

Other than that they get fed once a day with a mixture of pellet, frozen and seaweed all at the same time so they can pick what they like, ha.

 

[Michigan Reefer]

Just got back yesterday from my vacation, it was great and the fish tank looked great when I got back. I left Friday morning and returned Tuesday afternoon. I did a small water change Thursday evening and fed Friday morning. I had someone stop by the house Saturday and Monday to feed a frozen cube and some mysis flake food as well as check water levels even though I have an ATO. If I ever leave longer then a week I think i'll purchase an auto feeder in the future. As for now I like having somebody at least check if my water levels are correct and if something catastrophic didn't happen while I was away since I don't have any kind of controller on the system. They might as well throw in some frozen food and flakes while they are there. I'm not in the hobby to keep animals to "survive", but to thrive and be happy and healthy. I won't go more then a two days without feeding the system.

 

[Sashaka]

Just got back yesterday from my vacation, it was great and the fish tank looked great when I got back. I left Friday morning and returned Tuesday afternoon. I did a small water change Thursday evening and fed Friday morning. I had someone stop by the house Saturday and Monday to feed a frozen cube and some mysis flake food as well as check water levels even though I have an ATO. If I ever leave longer then a week I think i'll purchase an auto feeder in the future. As for now I like having somebody at least check if my water levels are correct and if something catastrophic didn't happen while I was away since I don't have any kind of controller on the system. They might as well throw in some frozen food and flakes while they are there. I'm not in the hobby to keep animals to "survive", but to thrive and be happy and healthy. I won't go more then a two days without feeding the system.

Sounds like you have a workable plan in place. I have to BEG my hubby to feed while I'm away, lol. Glad everything turned out well for you and your fish. :)

 

[Paul B]

When I was in the Army I had this huge albino catfish in a 10 gallon tank by himself.
I came home a year later and the thing died the week before. It ended up in about 3" of water and I doubt anyone fed it more than three times if ever.