How long can fish be without food?

[AquaWave523]

How long can I keep fishes without food? I was thinking of getting an automatic feeder but the fish I have eat only meat and not flakes.

[ajcanale]

This greatly varies between species. Typically, carnivores can go longer without food. It is also dependent on how well fed and healthy the fish are. A well fed and healthy fish can go days to weeks without eating. There are some exceptions. I don't think anthea's could go longer than a week, but I could be wrong. Another factor to consider is the ecosystem within the tank and it's ability to provide nutrition via live rock, algae, plankton, pod's etc.

[bnumair]

i would say 5-7 days on any fish as long as they are well fed and healthy before hunger strike.

[that guy]

It all depends on the fish like stated above. Carnivores don't need to eat as often as some others. Many fish will eat copopods and other small animals and algae in the tank. Refugiums provide a great place where copopods can breed and everyone once in a while they will get sucked up into the main display. If you can wean the fish onto flakes then the automatic feeder might be a possible way to go.

[hollister]

Many fish need veggie and meat. Also feeding amiunt and scedule is very important to tank health. So. feeding fish very important and cant be trusted to automatic feeder.

[gweston]

I'd take aggression into account. A starving fish may go to town on tankmates if desperate. There is no where to run.

I treat my critters like family pets, and feel bad if I have miss a day. Though in reality that wouldn't be a problem. I've done 10+ day vacations with an auto feeder running once per day, with a neighbor tossing in pre-measured portions of thawed mysis and/or brine in every 2-3 days. Any more than a few days though, and you'll need to take top off water, skimmer overflow risk and what not into consideration too. Even with a controller I sweat through vacations worried about the tank LOL.

My normal feeding schedule is twice a day, but on total averages around a frozen cube worth. That is for 8 fish plus other critters between two displays. A 125 and 40.

I'd think a tiny bit, even if only once a day by feeder, is better than nothing.

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[Palting]

One week is generally acceptable. The longest I've gone away is two weeks. No food for the fish. However, as you see in my sig, all my fish are omnivores or pod eaters, and can munch on other things in the tank. I do have a lionfish tank, and I understand lionfish and most carnivores can go several weeks without food.