What am I going to do now?

[littlereefer]

Went to the Island for 5 days and over-fed my SW aquarium because I knew I wouldn't be home to feed them everyday so I come back today and all my fish are dead, and my corals, 20 corals- dead and gone, 3 fish- dead and gone, MY LIFE SUCKS!

[onefishtwofish]

oh no.........what a loss. i dont know if its the same with sw but many people recommend upping the food a bit for a week or so b4 you leave and then the fish r ok without food for quite a while, well at least a week. i didnt beleive it at first, but then africans go for 21-28 days without eating when they r holding and do not die.

[Otter]

Far better, almost always, to let them go hungry next time, or set up a brine shrimp hatchery for the time you're gone. So sorry to hear about this. Are you sure your corals are all dead? They may just be very sick. I'd get the fish out of there and try to salvage what you've got left.
Good luck!!!

[Rogue9]

your fish shouldn't starve in 5 days....
something else was wrong.
maybe over feeding spiked the ammonia and killed the rest.
When you over fed, did they EAT the food or just float all over the tank and filter?

[scherzo]

Feeding well before you leave is the best thing.

Like what was said earlier... Your corals may not be dead...

Remove the dead fish.

Do a massive water change, check our levels for cycle.

How big is your tank? Are you running a skimmer?

[littlereefer]

I over fed for the 5 days but they always work, and I got out dead fish, and only 2 corals died, Sooooo I still got all my other ones left!!!!! And I have done water change, it's all good now! Next time I will be sure to set up brine shrimp hatchery or get a friend too come over and feed my fish and coral! thxs guys!

[pisces]

over feed! usualy 3 ~5 day dont feed the fish still okie, they wont died, but maybe fighting each other! too bad heard about that! maybe next time should get the auto feeder !

[scherzo]

I hope everything has returned to normal for you.

[BigFatLyre]

very sorry to hear about that; I've recently been talking to Ubentu, Aquaman, and a number of members about the fact that we all have a tendency to overfeed our fish, causing nitrate spikes. Fortunately for me, I have pretty tough freshwater, but unless your fish are emaciated/stressed/underweight to begin with, living in a liquid environment means they fine for weeks, even months depending on the temperature.
The exceptions would be killifish and I don't know anything about corals, but having someone else feed them was a mistake my neighbour just made: They, of course, dumped food in and fortunately nothing was lost, but the better plan would have been to leave well enough alone.
They're fish; they not mammals!

[Otter]

When I have friends or family care for my tanks, I set out pre-made "doses", and I only have 'em swing by a couple times a week. I'm sure the fish could go quite a while without feeding (especially the freshwater... lots of expensive plants to feast on) but I always figure the least disruption to their schedule the best.