Traveling

Question
Thank you for the quick and clear response.  As a followup, I am starting to think we have overfed our fish and he may be having problems.  He is swimming sideways (at an angle) sometimes - not all the time but on occassion.  Should I do anything?

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Followup To
Question -
I have a betta fish and am traveling to go out of town for two days.  Can I skip feeding the fish and expect it to be alive when I get back?  How long can it go without food? I usually feed it four pellets every night.  Am I feeding it too much? How often should a person feed a betta fish?

FYI - fish is in a beta tank and both were purchased in May 2004.  I change the water once a week.
Answer -
Hi Rick;

Healthy fish will do just fine for a week to 10 days with no food whatsoever. It's perfectly all right to leave him hungry for a few days. Just don't feed extra when you get home to make up for it. He can get indigestion and die from bowel obstruction if he overeats.

Two pellets once a day is all that is really needed. Bettas really don't move around that much so they tend to get fat easily. If you think he is getting thin after a couple of weeks, increase it to 3 pellets and see how he does. Fish can suffer life threatening health problems (like people do) if overweight.

Followups welcome

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

Come on over and join us on the freshwater fish forum at About.com to get even more information too;
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/questionsanswers/a/naavigateforum.htm

My member name is ChrisR62. See You There!

Answer
Hi Rick;

Overfeeding is probably it. Cut back on food and it should correct the problem. Another way to help him is by soaking the pellets in a little water before feeding. This gets air out of the food so he can digest it better.

Followups welcome

Chris Robbins