Is there such a thing as a vacation block feeder for a beta fish available in stores?
sclay95843 asked:
We are going on vacation next month and we have a Beta. I have no one that can come over and feed it. Are there vacation block feeders for Betas I can put in his one gallon tank? What are my options?
Bonnie
We are going on vacation next month and we have a Beta. I have no one that can come over and feed it. Are there vacation block feeders for Betas I can put in his one gallon tank? What are my options?
Bonnie
Tags: Betas, Feeder Fish, Fish Stores
November 3rd, 2008 at 12:35 am
Yes, check the pet store near you.
November 4th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
go to a pet food store and there should be weekly feeders and 3 day feeders you can get. They have some for tropical fish, but if it would help and offer less concern by a few tiny little fishes (minnows) and put some in his tank, he’ll eat them and then the feeder or vise versa.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Depending on how long you’re going to be gone for (up to a week), you may be better off not feeding him at all. Those vacation feeders really muck up the water in a filtered tank - imagine what it would do to an unfiltered tank.
You could look into an automatic feeder, but again, you have to be careful to set it just right so that it only dispenses a couple of pellets for your little guy. They have been known to be unreliable, however. If you get the cheap versions, you may come home to a tank full of food.
Even hiring someone to come over to feed him could be risky. Some people will take way too much food and put it in there for him. Even if you specifically state, “Give him only 3-5 pellets”, they will still overfeed them. I speak from experience.
Your best bet is to just fast him - don’t give him anything. Think of it as a cleansing of his bowel. He will be fine when you get home.
November 6th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
I worked at petsmart for a while and they have feeders for fish when you go on vacation. The question would be how long are you going on vacation? You can either call petsmart or go online @petsmart.com or just walk into the store and ask there. Its our job to know the answer or find someone who does.
November 9th, 2008 at 6:15 am
How long are you going to be gone? If it’s only a week then you are better off not using a vacation feeder. As it’s likely to spew food all over your tank, and rot. Which is worse for your fish than not feeding it. A betta can fast for a week with out issue. (Plus no food means he isn’t producing much waste.)
Personally if you are going to be gone for more than a week I’d be more concern about cleaning tank your betta’s tank water than food.
November 12th, 2008 at 6:42 am
Of course there are. They load the water full of chemicals, and stress the betta so that it doesnt eat. Then the low quality food slowly dissolves, adding toxins to the water, killing you fish while you are away. I have experience with them
A far better choice is to either get a fish feeder, available at your local fish store, or just not feed. A betta will be fine for a week or 2