Automatic Fish Feeders

Automatic Fish Feeders

With travel or vacations, I am thinking that an automatic fish feeder would be handy for fish that will take flake. For those fish that I have that require live food, I am looking into live food dispensers.

Does anyone have an automatic fish food feeder ? What are the solutions to damp food caused by moisture from the tank ? How large is the chamber ? How long have you left the feeder without refilling ? Looking forward to your experiences !

I got a automatic fish feeder with the used aquarium that I purchased about 3 years ago. I have never used it so I can't really answer your questions. But the fellow I got it from used it as his regular food dispenser. I guess he could not remember to feed his fish. He quite liked it and it worked well for him.

Thanks Starfish. I always remember to feed my fish : it is a part of the day that I really look forward to For the times that I am away I had been thinking of getting a few of these so not to have to rely on recruiting human help. Not an urgent need; just an idea that I hope will give more options.

I think it would be a great option for times away. That way you know how much the fish are getting and that they have not been forgotten, as long as the power does not go off. It is nice not to have to impose on friends or family every time you want to go away. I have not used it yet because I would need to cut a hole in my glass top or leave one section of the lid open in order to mount the feeder and have the food drop in the tank. I was afraid one of the fish would jump out while I was away.

Yes exactly. One of the cons is having to make an opening for the food to drop in, or at least keep the lid or canopy open, which may mean that a fish could jump. I was reading through posts on the internet and here are some cons:

CONS
Dampness accumulating and spoiling the food
Battery operated which may have the potential of no power after a week
For feeding twice to four times a day : chamber is not large enough to hold food for an extended time beyond a week
Clamp is not secure or does not fit on the side of tank; limited attaching options
Holds pelleted, dry flake or freeze dried : very few have chambers for wet or moist food
Tubing that transfers food from the chamber gets jammed
Cost upwards to $100

PROS
Allows extended time away / vacation
Feeds same time each day
Programmable to one, two or more feedings
Can set the amount of food
Battery operated so not vulnerable to home power failure

Well still searching. I am thinking or trying out a few types. Hope to hear what others experience.

I haven't used one, but I have thought about getting one for a while. It would be very handy to have for little holidays. Hopefully we will hear some useful reviews. I would be nervous about it malfunctioning by either not working or working too much.

I used the Eheim fish feeder exclusively for three years before I gassed all my fish. I really liked it, never had to change the battery's and when filled up with food it lasted six months. It has a fan that blows air into the food chamber every time it turns over to keep whatever food you have dry.

I have several automatic fish feeders and I love them! I use them mostly for small pellets as flake has a bigger chance of clogging.

I have eheim and Europet. I like the Europet best as it has a huge reservoir which can feed my fish for up to 3 months.

Both the Eheim and Europet batteries last a very long time and they are both digital allowing you to program several feedings a day as well as the size of each feeding.

Unfortunately Europet is not available in Canada; as the name says it is an European brand which I brought from the Netherlands.

Both these feeders work with suction cups so there is not a problem with a clamp not fitting on the side of the tank.

I also have a Juwel feeder which has the advantage that if you have a Juwel tank, that there is a special place for it in the lid which means you don't need to leave the lid open. Disadvantage of this one is that it is somewhat harder to program and has less options.

Here is a picture of my favourite feeder:

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NDc5WDUwMA==/z/3PAAAOxy3yNThuNY/$_75.JPG

They claim 99 days of feeding and I can attest that it is true!

I'm using a no name sort at the school - it was a manufacturer's sample at a store and they let us have it at a great price to help out. School projects survive on generously provided technological table scraps...

This is a good one. It runs steadily, does the job and covers all the vacations and weekends. I quite like it, although I would never bother at home. I would worry using it on a smaller or lightly populated tank. But for a large tank with a lot of fish, it dumps the required amount of food in with reliable regularity.

I also got a tank given to me with a feeder that the previous owner swore by. It's a cheapo one, but it seemed to work good for him.

If I am only away a couple days I don't bother with anything. Longer trips I just drop in one of those gel feeder thingys. They don't dissolve... the fish have to pick at them to get food. I left two in a tank and was gone for 3 weeks. Half of the gel things were left when I got back. You can get ones that are weekenders or weeklongs.

I think it's called TetreMin or something like that.