Why are people down on auto feeders?

On my 55 gallon tank I have been using two high quality Ehiem autofeeders on it since I got it about two weeks ago. I have them both feed twice a day, one with tropical crisps and the other with sinking shrimp pellets. The fish never miss a meal, they never get overfed, and they come to expect exactly when they are getting fed.

Why are autofeeders such a bad word in the fish keeping community?

[krap101]

because sometimes it dumps like alla it out ro sumtin liek that

[Quake2player]

I bought an autofeeder years ago and it worked horribly prolly cause it was an "el-cheapo" model. As it turned to release food, the opening would get moist thus the flake food would start sticking and not come out. That was the end of that.

Tony Starks, do they sell your Eheim autofeeder at DrFosters Smiths website? I'm actually considering one cause we may be away for close to a week this summer.

[Blucat]

i wouldn't want to use the auto feeder (unless for long vacation) because i love hand feeding my fish. it is very entertaining to feed thhe fish from my fingers and watch them go for the food. i never tire of watching my fish before, during and after feeding my fish as this is when they are most active, cute, funny and interesting.

Originally Posted by Quake2player

Tony Starks, do they sell your Eheim autofeeder at DrFosters Smiths website? I'm actually considering one cause we may be away for close to a week this summer.

42.99 at BigAls or 49.99 at PetSmart, not sure about Drs. Great quality product, you can set it to feed up to 4x ed whatever amount you want. Moisture never gets in the food because it only flips over to feed and then flips back over.

[ace1uno_00]

I dont like auto feeders for some reason but yet i never used one. lol
I'll try one when i go to Puerto Rico this summer.

[joedarat]

i have the eheim, and it works great, food never get moist, and fish get fed just enuf

[malkore]

Most people won't spend $40+ on an autofeeder, especially fools like me with 7 aquariums! I can see it now: "Honey, I spend $300 on auto-feeders for my aquariums. Is that a problem?"

[severum mama]

LOL me too! I'd like to get some for the rare instances when I am on vacation, but with 5 tanks there's no way. If I had that much extra cash I'd replace all my cheapo light strips before I bought auto feeders.

[TankGirl]

This is skewed thinking, but I can imagine using one if I was home to keep an eye on it, but I would not leave it unattended for a week or two while I was away - that is the time it would fail and dump a month's worth of food in the tank at once. So, it kindof defeats the purpose. I don't mind leaving most of my fish (except fry) for a week without a meal, and if it was for longer than that I'd have someone come in a couple of times and feed for me.

But I'm like Malkore in that 6 tanks with autofeeders would be an expense difficult to justify!

[Pufferpunk]

Same here, I have 9 tanks. My lil ole lady neighbor comes over & just dumps the premeasured food I have in Dixie cups for her every 3 days. She's not failed me yet! Otherwise, I like my fish to know I'm their feeder, not just some mechanical thing...

[Fishyfanatic]

I've tried automatic feeders on my cichlid tank and it seemed like there just wasn't enough food coming out. Then again, I had a cheap one. Also, when it would drop the food in, the fish didn't always realize that it was being dropped in. I would set it up and let it feed while I was there and the fish would just be swimming around and wouldn't realize that the food was dropped. I couldn't imagine buying enough feeders for all of the tanks. When we go away, James' brother comes over and feeds them for us once a day.