How long can Bettas go for without being fed? (Need help)

Question
Hi Chris,

I'm a 'novice' in caring for Bettas (or any other kind of fish for that matter) and I'm going through a terrible dilemma... I have 3 male Bettas, each in a separate tank of about one gallon+ of water. I've had them for almost 4 months and they are doing great. I've grown to love them very much, and I do agree with some of your comments regarding them being capable of recognizing people (Each time I'm ready to feed them -which I do once a day- I swing the bag of pellets in front of their tanks, making some noise, and they 'dance' towards me very fast, and get excited about the upcoming food.)

As you can see, I'm truly enjoying them. My dilemma now is that, because of work, I'll have to travel out of town for 13 days (including the day I'm leaving and the day I'm returning home) and haven't been able to find somebody who could come to my place to feed them. I've even looked into the possibility of carry them with me, but that's impossible. My question is, how long can Bettas go for without food?

I will change the water (90%) the night before leaving and am planning on change it again as soon as I get back. But I'm terrified to the thought of finding them sick or (worst) dead!!

As a regular routine, I change the water once a week (I think the longest I've gone is 10 days) Every time I change it, I treat tap water with "Complete Water Condition" and add "API Aquarium Salt". Also, once a month I've added one doses of "Betta Revive". Checking the water condition, 3 tanks show similar readings: 7.5 PH, between 0.25 & 0.50 Ammonia, about 0.15 Nitrite and 0.0 Nitrate. Water temperature moves between 75 & 80F.

I'm feeding my Bettas the "Hikari Betta Bio-Gold pellets" (one a day) and about twice a week I add 1 Freeze Dried Bloodworm as a treat.

Can my little Bettas survive the ordeal in the event I can't find a caretaker for them? (I'm leaving on Wednesday morning!!) What can I do to help them?

Thanks so much!"


Answer
Hi Pam;

I'm so sorry I couldn't get to your question before you left! They will probably be okay but it is a long time for them to go without food. Without being fed the water should not get nearly as dirty as usual so I think you are safe there. Another alternative in the future is to take their tanks to your local fish store for "boarding". Make sure it's a well-run store that seems to have healthy fish. I used to do it for some of my clients. They would charge you a fee but I think it's well worth it to know they are supervised.

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins