Experiences with Automatic Feeders? Suggestions?

[JRagg]

I’m going to be out of town for two weeks starting on the 6th of next month, and I’m looking at options for feeding my fish while I’m gone.

Has anyone ever used automatic feeders before? If so, what kind? Is the amount being fed adjustable, and did it seem reliable? There are several that I’ve seen on the market, and the pricing and mechanisms between them look extremely varied. Are there any that just don’t work?

I’d rather not get any responses saying to just have someone else look after the fish. That is an option at this point, but there’s no way that I’m going to ask a co-worker to drop by every day. If I do have him do it, I will probably ask him to drop by once ever 3-4 days to feed. I would also feel wrong not paying him to check on them, so the cost may even out anyways. That’s why I’m looking into an automatic feeder.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

This is one area not to go cheap. I've heard excellent reviews on the Eheim feeders. They are more expensive, but I have heard nothing but good things. Buy one ASAP and run it on your tank for at least a week so you can monitor how much it drops.

 

[talloulou]

I've never had any problems with automatic feeders and I've used both cheaper models and more expensive ones. The key is to set it up with fresh batteries a few days before you leave town so you can see that it is working right and that it is dispensing the desired amount of food. Most of them advise you to set it up in an area that's free of splash. If the feeder gets wet it could make the food clog and clump. I never had that problem with mine but I always placed them far from the filter.

 

[WaterPond]

I used a cheap on that i got for less then ten bucks, i put it on two days before i went away so i could see how it worked, It was horrible, it feed my fish 10 times the amount i feed them every night, by the hour. I took it out the moment I saw how much it fed my fish. If i had kept it in over the time i went away, it would have killed all my fish.

 

[JRagg]

Well I've looked around and read a few reviews. Drsfostersmith have a few that I looked at. It seems that the Eheim has really good reviews (on that site and elsewhere on the net) with the main drawback being price. I'll have to use pellets when I use that thing though. I just don't want to lose $20 worth of fish (the only 2 I have ) just because i was being a cheapskate (which is very common for me).

I'll drop by Petsmart on the way home tonight and see if they have one in stock, otherwise I'll order it tomorrow second day air so that it gets here before the weekend.

Thanks for the responses.

 

[mobiusnu]

I used a cheap on that i got for less then ten bucks, i put it on two days before i went away so i could see how it worked, It was horrible, it feed my fish 10 times the amount i feed them every night, by the hour. I took it out the moment I saw how much it fed my fish. If i had kept it in over the time i went away, it would have killed all my fish.

I had the opposite problem with mine. The first time I used it, I used flake food which must have clumped after only a few days. Hardly any food was dispensed. The second time I used it, I used very small pellets, and it stopped rotating sometime in the middle of my vacation.

This is the one I used: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=8118

As far as I can tell, it's absolute trash.

 

[JRagg]

Well I went to petsmart today and only saw a couple models there. One was similar to what mobiusnu had. The other was a hydor, but it was this exact model. They must brand some of them Hydor and some Ekomixo. It was identical.

I'm going to go with Fishyfanatic's advice and not skimp and get something inexpensive that will stop working.

Has anyone else owned one that either worked well, or didn't work at all? I'm leaning towards either the Eheim or this Hydor. Both seemed to have pretty good reviews. I just would rather save $15 and get the Hydor if I know it's going to do the job perfectly fine.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

We used to have a member on this site that did not feed his own fish. They were fed daily with the Eheim. He has since moved on but he highly recommended that brand. Hopefully someone who has used the Hydor can give their experiences.

 

[hc8719]

when i was in the bahamas a couple of weeks ago, u bought a plenn-plex daily double, feeds twice a day.

jragg if you told us, or stated in your "myinfo" what fish you even have, it'd help.

a trick with mine was to make sure the flakes are small enough to fit through the feeding tube when it made a revolution, test yours out a few days ahead of time, ohh and make sure yours is set at the right times, i dunno how early it gets dark where you are, but 8am and 8pm worked nice for me

i had 9 neons, 4 columbian tetra, 2 balloon mollies, 2 chromides, 2 glass cats, 2 kuhlis, and 5 glass fish in the tank at the time, the water stayed clean too, and it was clear the fish had eatten with the mess they left

while the feedings were adequate for these fish, i had to move the gouramis, as they would actually knock the smaller fish outta the way for food

 

[JRagg]

I've got a pair of Apistos in a 10g tank. I'm probably only going to have the feeder feed once a day since I'll have to use pellets, and they usually don't get touched until they soften up a bit. My fish don't generally touch flake. I usually feed freeze dried bloodworms, daphnia, and the occaisional pellet.

I ended up getting the Eheim from DrsFosterSmith. Kind of expensive, but I threw in a couple items that I planned on getting in the future from a LFS (cheaper online) to help me justify shipping costs.

My lighting is on from 7 to 1 and from 3 to 9 each day. The Eheim actually has a clock on it, so it shouldn't be too hard to set correctly. I'll post again when I get it (thursday) and test it.

 

[lyquidphyre]

I have an Eheim on my tank (finally set it up) and I love it!

Ive been using flakes and pellets with it, and I havn't had to feed my fish at all for the past week and with my schedule that works out well =o)

hehe where were you when I needed help programming mine?!?! hehe

 

[aquanewbie72]

when i was in the bahamas a couple of weeks ago, u bought a plenn-plex daily double, feeds twice a day.

I also have the Penn Plax Daily Double and it didn't work that well. It seems the flakes fell out while the dispenser was at a slight angle instead of up and down, so it missed the opening in the top and dumped the flakes onto the top of the tank. I'm not sure if any actually MADE IT into the tank or not. Luckily I was only gone 3 days and everyone was fine... no harm no foul. But if I'm ever going to be away again, I'll probably buy a more expensive, more reliable model.

 

[lyquidphyre]

I've got a pair of Apistos in a 10g tank. I'm probably only going to have the feeder feed once a day since I'll have to use pellets, and they usually don't get touched until they soften up a bit. My fish don't generally touch flake. I usually feed freeze dried bloodworms, daphnia, and the occaisional pellet.

I ended up getting the Eheim from DrsFosterSmith. Kind of expensive, but I threw in a couple items that I planned on getting in the future from a LFS (cheaper online) to help me justify shipping costs.

My lighting is on from 7 to 1 and from 3 to 9 each day. The Eheim actually has a clock on it, so it shouldn't be too hard to set correctly. I'll post again when I get it (thursday) and test it.

When it comes in, will you send me a PM? I don't have the manual to mine, and I *thought* I programmed it correctly but I checked today and it didn't go off at the time I thought I programmed it to go off.

thanks =o)

 

[chantale101]

This is the one I use when I get outta town! It works pretty darn good!! As long as its cleaned out after its used its good to go!
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...x=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&pc=1&N=2004&Nty=1

 

[JRagg]

yeah liquidphyre, I'll let you know how to program it. depending on what the manual looks like, i may just scan it at work and email it to you or something. It should be in tomorrow.

I certainly hope this thing works. My two fish laid eggs the other day, and they hatched last night. I've got about 3 dozen pink dots on the bottom of the tank. I guess it's going to come down to how good of parents they are, because there's no way that I'll be able to care for them when I'm gone.