[deso]

I leave for a 9-day vacation tomorrow morning, and was wondering how to proceed concerning feeding for my betta boy, Modi.

He will be staying with my apartment building's concierge. Thankfully, she is an animal lover with two dogs, a rabbit, and a tortoise, but I don't want to give her any more work than she already has. So, I bought an automatic feeder that can give my dear fishy two pellets a day (to keep the waste levels down in his 2-gallon semi-planted Fluval Spec), but would he be better off just not eating for the nine-day time? He may not catch the pellets when they fall into the water, as they'll be swept off quite quickly by the baffled filter current. He's usually busy exploring and only comes to the surface to beg for food when I stand in front of his tank, so I'm worried that the pellets will go unnoticed and rot, causing other problems.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Danibunkins]

Get him used to the automatic feeder before you go. And you may want to turn off the filter the first few times it spits pellets out, so he has a chance to realize where they are coming from.

 

[thekoimaiden]

Frankly, I wouldn't risk it. Nine days is a long time without a water change. I've found that when I let my tanks go this long and I have someone feed them, I tend to come back to problems like finrot and fungal infections. I have also had really bad experiences with automatic feeders. I would just let him go without food.

 

[deso]

Nine days without food...he won't starve to death? Or get sick from lack of nourishment? I know it's been said that bettas can go for a month without eating, but it's something I'd rather not think about.

Either way, I'm doing a 100% water change right before I leave tomorrow morning.

 

[thekoimaiden]

For a healthy betta, 9 days without food isn't bad. Because they are cold-blooded, a fish's digestive system is different from ours (warm-blooded). It's once you get over two weeks that you will have think about having someone feed him. Maybe you could just ask your friend to feed him once or twice.

 

[deso]

He's in great shape right now with some extra padding around his ribs, so I suppose he'll just be a bit skinnier when I get back. I'll skip the auto feeder and ask the concierge to pop in and give him a pellet or two in the middle of the week.

Many thanks for your advice!

EDIT: and now I'll be leaving him in his usual spot on my nightstand in my flat. Will probably be less stressful for him than having to move six floors down tomorrow and then up again in nine days.