[Cattitude]

Just wondering if anyone uses those weekend slow-release food blocks for their bettas. I go away on weekends sometimes and I'm wondering if they work or if they are harmful?

Right now I'm weighing the stress of bringing my fish with me against using the feeder blocks.

 

[Sheldon31]

I've heard they can cloud up water and reduce the water quality a lot. Never used them myself and we always had pet sitters when I was growing up with fish because we also had dogs and small furies.

 

[wystearya]

If you will only be gone a few days, it might be better to just leave your fish. They can go without food for some time without it being a problem.

 

[BeckyFish97]

They caused an ammonia spike in my water, I came home to one dead female and her sister clinging on to life, it said on the back that it is less ammonia than daily feeding!I took it back to the shop, I got my money back, made a complaint and got a free female for it!I would say if it is only for a couple of days then just leave them, I was told they can go for 2weeks without feeding!

 

[Sheldon31]

I agree. A weekend is fine. Some people fast theirs for 1-2 days routinely or when they've accidently over fed.

 

[Myates]

Too many dead bettas happen because of the feeding blocks.. bettas tend to either over eat or the blocks cause the water quality to become deadly very quickly. A healthy betta can easily live 1-2 weeks with no food before it starts taking a toll on them. So a weekend with no food will not harm them in any way. It's better to protect the quality of water rather then making sure they eat those two days.

 

[CrazyForBettas]

I tried on once and it didn't feed my fish, it just clouded up the water. If its just a 2-4 day weekend, your Betta will be okay w/o food. As the other users have said, Bettas are okay 1-2 week without food, but I'd personally never go more than a week.

 

[thekoimaiden]

Betta are more than fine without food for up to a week. As everyone has stated, the weekend feeders are bad news as they cloud water, produce a lot of ammonia, and your fish will constantly gorge himself on it leading to bloating. Fish don't have a "stop eating" button (so to speak) because food is so scarce in the wild. They always have to eat as much as they can when they can because the next meal might be weeks away. However, this isn't the case in captivity. We feed them daily, but their brains still react as if they were in the wild and might not get another meal for a while.