Does anybody have any automatic feeder recommendations?

[Mpwallace1]

Hi, we are planning to take a 10 day vacation soon and I'm ramping up for it.
I ordered a good 750 volt UPS via work, in case of power failure, and ideally I want to get an automatic feeder, so I was wondering if anybody has some recommendations or lessons learned they could share pertaining to that equipment.
The tank is a freshwater 45 gallons and I typically feed them at 8am and 6pm.
My concern is I have 2 dwarf gouramis, along with 6 neon tetras, 6 albino tiger barbs, 6 rainbow danios and 2 small plecos. Because of the variation in sizes of their mouths, I need to target and feed them different food.
I find that the gouramis won't touch the tiny bug bites, or tiny spurilina pellets I put in for all the little guys and they seem to like flakes, or brine shrimp, or freeze dried or frozen blood worms. The plecos, who knows if they are eating all food from the bottom, but they do like veggie wafers, and cucumber and algae. So as you can see my challenge is to ensure everybody gets their proper food. It looks like they all eat the flakes but they need to be ground up very small for the danios and and neons. So if I go that route for everyone, then I'm thinking the small ground up flakes will more than likely drop out if the feeder 1st in one blast, as the feeder spins.
Not looking forward to (what I am assuming I am going to have to do for feeder installation) cutting the plastic edging on my glass lid to accommodate the installation. I have some cut outs already for the 70 hang on back and the heater but they are a nice custom fit.
I don't know, maybe I'm taking it too the extreme and shouldn't worry about their favourite foods. They won't starve themselves no matter what I put in there, or maybe I should break the news to them that I am no longer running a restaurant.
Thank for any recommendations.

 

[BBradbury]

Hello mp...

Fish can easy go a couple of weeks with little or no food. I plan ahead and a couple of weeks before I leave I feed the fish a little more and more often. A day or so before leaving, I stop feeding and do a larger than normal water change. The water change removes the added nutrients and aerates the tank water. The fish live off their stored fat and I come home to a clean tank.

B

 

[dalto]

The lessons I have learned about automatic feeders is not to use them. They probably have more risk of killing your fish then not feeding for 10 days would.

As bbradbury states, healthy, adult freshwater fish can go quite some time without eating.

 

[Brookster123]

I use an eheim. Well used.. in actually in the process of setting it up again. I'm using it for once daily small feedings. I'd never trust it/any auto feeder for a week all by itself.. robot uprising could trash the tank!! In your case I wouldn't worry to much, a healthy fish is a hungry fish and a hungry fish will eat like me on thanksgiving!!

 

[Mpwallace1]

Right on...that's good news. Thanks. I'll feed the stink out of them 2 weeks before we leave, let them get a beer belly, then they can live off the fat of the land.
Thanks