Will Fish Be Able to Survive for a Week W/O Food?

My fish have gone without food for 2 weeks a couple times a year. No problems. I feed normally before I go on vacation. I also reduce the heat from the usual 78 degrees F down to about 75. This slows the fish metabolism a bit. However, for only a week, I wouldn't bother with the automatic feeder or reducing the heat.
 
I am surprised so many have gone so long w/o feeding fish? I have left on a 2-day weekend w/o feeding them over the weekend and when I come back several of my fish have turned pale and completely void of color. I have also been gone for longer and have entrusted feeding to a friend, only to find out that he only came over twice in a weeks time and yes I did loose a fish or two. I have since used the dissolving feeder tablets and purchased 3 auto feeders. I have not had a problem with any of them yet, except for batteries dying, causing the feeder not to operate. I would amagine how well fish do w/o food also depends on the particular fish or species of fish. Some animals in the wild go months w/o feeding.
 
Fish do not eat every day in the wild. A week without food is not a big thing to them. In most cases the tank will be healthier and clearer and the fish happy and perky when you return. Anybody who loses fish over a two-day weekend without feeding has a lot more tank problems than lack of feeding IMHO & IME.

Many times more tank problems are caused by over-feeding and inappropriate foods than by lack of food.
 
Pufferpoison said:
what about those fish pyramids?
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They're basically made of plaster and tend to release too much all at once. All around bad.

A week is not a problem and the fish won't miss it.
 
actually most freshwater fish can go for three months without eating. only the the more delicate fish like discus and fry of most species need to be fed daily.
 
knives can go 3-4 weeks without it. thats how you train them to eat preparred foods instead of feeders
 
RTR said:
Anybody who loses fish over a two-day weekend without feeding has a lot more tank problems than lack of feeding IMHO & IME.
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Well that is most likely true. However you should read my post more carefully as that is not what I said. I did say though that I have seen fish turn pale and loose there colloring after not being fed over a weekend. Made me kinda concerned. Perhaps now I will not be so concerned though since so many have said a week w/o food is no big deal. I also have not had a problem with the dissolving tablets, and I usually put them in a slower current area of the tank so they dissolve in about the time they say they are suppose to. Also kinda makes me wonder why most fish food says to feed 2-3 times daily if fish can go a week and the tank is healthier? Why not just every other day, or every other 3 days feed them?
 
loaches r cool said:
Also kinda makes me wonder why most fish food says to feed 2-3 times daily if fish can go a week and the tank is healthier? Why not just every other day, or every other 3 days feed them?
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The answer to that is rather simple. If you feed 2-3 times daily, you will run out of food faster than if you feed once every other day. This in turn means that you have to go buy more food and the company that makes the food earns more money.
 
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