You are in a situation where you are not able to feed your flowerhorn for days. You might know flowerhorn fishes has a huge appetite for food. Your flowerhorn fish requires high protein-rich food for the development of their humps and their colorful body. So, can your flowerhorn survive without having food for days? What should you do when you cant feed your flowerhorn for some days?
Yes, it is safe to leave them for a week without food. Survivability of your flowerhorn without feeding also depends upon your flowerhorn’s health. However, in 3-4 days, the KOK will start getting flat because of food deficiency. It should take a week or two weeks to get back his KOK to normal if kept in the perfect condition only, or else requires more time and care.
Besides, you can use a reliable automatic feeding tool to feed your flowerhorn while you are away. If you care more about your flowerhorn, you can get someone to feed your flowerhorn by giving proper feeding instructions to him/her. Let’s discuss these further in detail about these topics.
Your flowerhorn fish can endure without eating for days. These fishes are stronger and tougher than other fishes. Flowerhorn fishes are cold-blooded, which allows them to survive longer without food with no illness.
How Many Days Can Flowerhorn Survive Without Food?
Generally, a healthy adult flowerhorn fish can survive for a weekend or two without food. Small flowerhorn fish needs a proper feeding schedule every day. Otherwise, your flowerhorn fish will die sooner than you will expect.
Therefore, your flowerhorn fish survivability depends upon the size of your fish without food.
Without proper feeding for days, you will see the side effects on the health of your flowerhorn slowly.
You will notice your flowerhorn’s KOK starts getting flat in 3-4 days without food. As we know, KOK deflation means your flowerhorn fish cannot get the required fats in the future if you do not feed your fish properly. Furthermore, with an increase in stress and your flowerhorn fish might die.
Reasons Why Your Flowerhorn Can Survive For Days Without Eating
The survivability of your flowerhorn fish depends upon the size and health of your flowerhorn fish. Large 5-7 inches flowerhorn fishes can survive much longer without food than small flowerhorn fishes.
Because of the following characteristics of your flowerhorn fish, your flowerhorn fish can survive much longer than other fishes:
Bigger Nuchal Hump
A healthy, disease-free flowerhorn can go from 1 to 2 weeks without eating. Their Nuchal hump contains a lot of fats stored in it. The bigger the hump your flowerhorn has, the higher the chance of survival during a time of scarcity.
Cold Blooded Nature
Flowerhorn fish is of cold-blooded nature which means that they cannot regulate their body temperature. These fish’s temperature keeps changing according to the environment of your tank.
Furthermore, your flowerhorn fish do not require food to produce heat. They depend upon the changing environment of your tank.
Omnivorous Fish
Flowerhorn fishes are omnivorous fishes. These fish can survive longer without food than other fish species because they do not have to digest a lot of food to maintain their regular body temperature.
Their fatty hump provides sufficient energy to survive a long time without food.
How Can You Feed Flowerhorn Fish While You Are Away?
The best method to feed your flowerhorn fish while you are away is by using an automatic feeding machine.
Automatic Fish Feeder
With this device, you will be able to feed your flowerhorn fish in an appropriate amount. You just need to set feeding time and add pellets or flakes into the machine to feed your flowerhorn all day.
Zacro Automatic Fish Feeder is a Rechargeable Timer Fish Feeder with USB Charger Cable, Fish Food Dispenser for Aquarium or Fish Tank.
Take Help From a Trustworthy Friend Or Relative
Another method is to hire a trustable person to look after and feed your flowerhorn fish. You need to give proper instruction to your trustable friend to feed your flowerhorn fish. Make sure there should not be the problem of overfeeding.
Best Automatic Feeder For Your Flowerhorn Fish
You can use the EHEIM fish feeder machine to feed your flowerhorn fish while you are away.
It is easy, trustable, and can be used with both fresh water and saltwater tanks. It is easy to set up as well.
Other automatic feeding devices are the Juwel automatic aquarium feeder, the PORSCHE automatic fish feeder, etc,
How To Use EHEIM Fish Feeder Device?
With the help of the EHEIM fish feeder, you can feed your flowerhorn with the use of your hands by pressing the “EHEIM” button on the top of the device, or you can program how many units to dispense food automatically.
Here’s how you can program your EHEIM Fish Feeder:
- Open the package and use two AA batteries to charge the EHEIM automatic feeding device.
- Firstly, use the “MODE” button to select the time of your device.
- Secondly, You can increase the time with the help of the “plus(+)” sign.
- After setting your desired time to feed your fish, press “MODE” again to display the arrows. Arrows represent the number of food to dispense in your aquarium.
- Finally, press “SET” to set up feeding time for your flowerhorn fish.
- The “SET” button helps to set the time to feed your flowerhorn fish.
- You can program up to four automatic feeding times only.
NOTE: Zero arrows represent your flowerhorn fish will not get the food from your device.
What Sorts Of Food Can We Put In EHEIM Fish Feeder?
You can use small size fish food only. Such as pellets or flakes. If the flakes or pellets are too big, they might not pass through the slider. You might have to crush the flakes if it is too big.
- Omega One Freeze-Dried Blood Worms, 0.96 oz
- 200 Live Daphnia by Aqua L’amour
- Hikari Bio-Pure Freeze Dried Daphnia for Pets, 0.42-Ounce
Some Tricks Before You Leave Your Aquarium
There are some tricks and must-to-do to reduce your flowerhorn appetite and minimize potential health issues in your flowerhorn fish when you are away.
Put Your Light On A Timer
A timer for your aquarium lights makes sure your flowerhorn fish gets to know day and night time. As we know, flowerhorn fish get hungry if it swims all day. Therefore, setting up a shorter light time will reduce your flowerhorn activity and hunger.
Do A Water Change
You should do a 30%-40% water change before leaving. Your ammonia and nitrate level will rise if you are not for too long. If you do it earlier, your chances of increasing ammonia and nitrate level will be lessened.
Check Your Water Parameters
Water parameters are the most important thing to look out for before you leave for certain days. Your flowerhorn fish is very sensitive to ammonia and nitrate level.
Make sure you check your ammonia and nitrate level, pH value, and temperature of your tank before leaving.
| the pH of the water | 7.0 to 8.0 |
| The hardness of the water | 8 to 20 dGH |
| The temperature of the water | 78 to 84 F (25 to 29 C) |
Check Your Filter
The filter is also the most important component of your tank. Clean your filters before one week of going on your vacation. If you forget to clean your aquarium filter, your flowerhorn will experience stress.
Check For Sickness
Before going somewhere for some days, make sure if your flowerhorn is showing its regular behavior. Check if your flowerhorn is sick or not. Make sure your flowerhorn is healthy and swimming properly.
Some FAQs
How Long Can Flowerhorn Fish Survive Without Food?
It varies on your flowerhorn fish health. Normally, these fishes can live for more than two weeks without food.
How Many Days The EHEIM Automatic Fish Feeder Can Feed The Flowerhorn Fish?
The EHEIM Automatic Fish Feeder device can feed your flowerhorn fish for up to six weeks.
How KOK Size Is Determined In Flowerhorn Fish?
KOK is generally determined by genetics, water parameters, foods, stress level, etc.
Can You Feed Your Flowerhorn Fish Excess Food Before Your Vacation?
No, you should not feed excess food to your flowerhorn fish because the excess food will fall to the bottom which will affect the water quality and creates stress in your flowerhorn fish.
Conclusion
You do not need to worry much about your flowerhorn fish. If your flowerhorn is healthy, I can assure you it can survive without food for up to two weeks or more.
Make sure you follow the above advice before leaving for a long vacation. Enjoy your time!