How long can fish go without food in a pond

Pond fish can easily live for a couple of weeks without being fed, in fact if your pond is set up right with a well-balanced eco system they can feed off natural food in your pond, this can be algae, microscopic organisms, plants and bugs.

Pond fish also store food in their body mass which they can use to live off.

There are things you might want to consider though.

• The temperature of the water, I go into this in a bit more detail below.
• Your fishes feeding habits, it’s a good idea to get to know how your fish feed so you can get a better idea of how long you can leave your fish without being feed.
• The age of your fish, if you have new baby fish you should take more care when leaving these for periods of time, older fish are a lot more sturdy and will need less care.
• Types of fish, to be honest most pond fish can live for long periods of time without being fed but there are some that you might want to keep an eye on.

Feeding your fish while you are away

If you are heading out for a well-earned break you shouldn’t worry too much about whether your fish will survive without being fed, but if you are there are things you can do to prepare your fish for living without food for a short time.

One thing to consider is the time of year, in winter months when the water temperature in your pond is low your fish will stop eating all together so you needn’t worry at all if you go away at this time of year.

During other times of the year you will probably be feeding your fish on a regular basis, so if you are worried you can ask a neighbour or family member to pop in and feed them while you are away.

Make sure you give them firm instructions if you are asking someone to feed your fish while you are away, they might over feed your fish if they don’t know what they are doing.

You can also think about an automatic fish feeder which will give you peace of mind, just fill it with fish food and let the feeder dispense over a period of time.

Another method is slow release food, these are great for weekends or longer breaks, just choose the one that will cover the time you are away, just place them in your pond, the block will slowly release food into your pond for your fish to feed off.

Can pond fish survive without being fed

Yes they can, but that doesn’t mean that you should never feed them, you need to look after your pond fish as you would any other pet, but for the times you want to go away they will survive without being fed.

Today my mum told me that we are going on vacation tomorrow. And I was looking at my aquarium and wondering how long do goldfish live without food?

I did some research and found out that goldfish can live for about 2 weeks without food. 

So if you are away from your home and can’t feed your fish for two weeks then it will be fine. 

If you are going to stay out of your home for more than 2 weeks then you should ask your neighbor or friend to feed your fish.

I found a very interesting news story related to the topic that goldfish actually survived 134 days without any food after an earthquake in New Zealand.

But chances are those goldfish survive on algae or any other plants in the aquarium in those 134 days.

What if you have goldfish in the pond?

Goldfish can easily live for a couple of weeks without food in the pond.

A pond usually has various insects, algae, etc which is good food for the goldfish.

If you are too concerned then you can add some plants in the pond and goldfish can eat them when they are hungry.

Arrangements can you do if you are going to be away from your home for more than 2 weeks?

If you are going away from your home for more than 2 weeks then you will have to make some arrangments to feed your fish.

1. Ask your neighbor or friend to feed your fish

The simplest arrangement you can make is to ask your neighbor or friend to feed your fish when you are away from your home.

How often should they feed the fish?

Ideally, they should feed your goldfish 2 to 3 times a day. But as now that we know that goldfish can survive about 2 weeks without food, you can ask your neighbor or friend to feed your fish once a day or even once in 2 to 3 days will be just fine. 

Obviously, feeding goldfish less than 3 times a day is not a very good idea. And it will definitely affect their growth.

Also, it is very easy to overfeed a fish and a person who doesn’t know anything about fishkeeping can easily overfeed a fish.

So I highly recommend you tell them the quantity of food they should be feeding your fish.

How much you should feed your goldfish at a time?

A good rule of thumb is to feed your goldfish the amount of food it can consume within 2 minutes or feed your goldfish food equals to the size of the eye of it.

Once you know the amount of food your goldfish should eat the simple way to make feeding your goldfish easy for your neighbor or friend is to use a pill organizer.

In the pill organizer, you can fill up the quantity of fish food your goldfish need to be fed in each little box and then your neighbor or friend will just have to empty one box at a time in your aquarium.

How often should I feed the pond goldfish?

Usually, you should feed once a day to your goldfish and you should feed the amount of food that the goldfish can consume under 2 minutes. 

The amount of food you should feed to your goldfish also depends on the temperature of the water and the season.

For example during the spring and summer, the water is warm and also the fish are very active so you will need to feed more food these days.

On the other hand in winter you will need to feed relatively less food.

2. Use an automatic fish feeder

Another simple and easy way to feed your fish when you are on vacation is to use an automatic fish feeder.

The automatic fish feeder is great you just have to feel up your fish’s favorite fish food and set timer on the automatic feeder and then it with automatically dispense the food.

Also, some automatic feeders can hold fish food that can last for 6 weeks which is a lot of time to enjoy your vacation.

Check out our Automatic Fish Feeder recommendation

3. Use slow-release fish food

Slow-release fish food is probably the cheapest option to feed your fish when you are on vacation.

Slow-release fish foods come into two categories

1. Weekend feeder blocks– This fish food will keep your fish fed for 3 days. So if you are planning for a weekend vacation then these blocks are perfect.
2. Vacation feeder blocks– These blocks can keep your fish fed for up to 14 days. So if you are planning for a long 2 weeks vacation then you can use the vacation feeder blocks.

Here’s the table of some slow-releasing food products, their validity and for which type of fish they are suitable for.

Conclusion

Goldfish can live for about 2 weeks without food. But it’s not a good idea to keep your goldfish unfed for that long. So if you are planning to go on a long vacation you should make some arrangments to feed your goldfish.

The simplest arrangement is to ask your neighbor friend to feed your fish when you are on vacation.

If you don’t want to bother anyone then you can use an automatic fish feeder.

Besides using slow-release fish food is also a cheap way to feed your fish when you are away from your home for a long time.

FAQ

What can a goldfish eat? (Besides fish food)

Besides fish food goldfish can eat a lot of other human foods.Goldfish can eat vegetables like:1. Carrots 2. cucumber 3. Spinach4. Kale5. Peas6. Broccoli7. CucumberGoldfish can eat fruits like:1. Apple2. Grapes3. Orange4. Watermelon5. BananaAnything else:

1. Cooked rice