Best moistureproof auto feeder please?

Pkr · Dec 29, 2020

Ill be out of town for work for a month, and the landlord is a huge pain, dissaproves of visitors so a pet sitter is not a convenient option. Ive read up on food blocks but id rather try a feeder ( I PROMISE TO TRY IT OUT FIRST TO ADRESS THE OVERFEEDING ISSUE TO MY BEST)
Here are my main issues- Mine is an open tank. And humidity levels are pretty high where i live. What are the best reliable moistureproof feeders? Ill be feeding pellets and not flakes. Ill have a baby cam installed so i can check on them, and have a friend do an emergency visit if need be since she lives about an hrs drive away.
Has anyone left for a month or over with a feeder? Howd it go?
- a friend will drop in once in two weeks for a 30% water change and to check reg water evaporation

Also tanks specifics- 30 gallon, 6 cardinals, 6 glofish, 4 ember tetras, 4 rummynose, a pleco some snails and shrimp.

Thankyou guys!

AbbeysDad · Dec 29, 2020

Eheim makes a couple of really good feeders. I thing you'd be best served with the 2nd (auger style) feeder as it remains closed and only opens to deliver food. Very versatile and easily programmable to deliver specific amounts up to 4 times a day (although you'd likely only want one or two).
I've used both with great success.
As to the open top...I might consider a simple sheet of plexi-glass on top while I was away. (I cover all my tanks for evaporation control and to discourage jumpers....but each to his/her own).

Pkr · Dec 29, 2020

This has been very helpful! If you have a link to the eheim feeder model youre talking about kindly do attach! Thanks a ton

mrsjoannh13 · Dec 29, 2020

AbbeysDad said:
Eheim makes a couple of really good feeders. I thing you'd be best served with the 2nd (auger style) feeder as it remains closed and only opens to deliver food. Very versatile and easily programmable to deliver specific amounts up to 4 times a day (although you'd likely only want one or two).
I've used both with great success.
As to the open top...I might consider a simple sheet of plexi-glass on top while I was away. (I cover all my tanks for evaporation control and to discourage jumpers....but each to his/her own).

@AbbeysDad - how does this work with a lid that covers the hole tank? Mine has a feeding door that you have to press to lift open. Otherwise the entire top of the tank is covered by a lid that rests on a little lip all the way around the edge of the tank. You mentioned you keep your tanks covered so just curious how the feeders would clamp on and work with a full lid.

AbbeysDad · Dec 29, 2020

mrsjoannh13 said:
how does this work with a lid that covers the hole tank?

It doesn't. There needs to be about a 1" gap in a place where the feeder can set and drop food into the tank. This can be in the rear where there's a gap for a filter inlet tube or the like. Eheim makes a feeding station but I just set mine on the glass cover or on top of the HOB Aquaclear.

Colin_T · Dec 30, 2020

Hi and welcome to the forum

Make sure the aquarium has a coverglass on it to reduce evaporation and stop fish jumping out.

If you have a friend coming in at 2 weeks, get them to feed the fish and don't worry about the auto feeder.

I went away for a couple of months and left my sister to look after my fish. She didn't feed them at all and when I got back, most of the fish were still there and quite happy. They had eaten all the plants and removed all the algae, but the only fish I lost were babies and a few species that were specialist feeders. I must point out that at the time, I had a fish room with 40 tanks when this was going on and I lost about 1% of the fish.

If you feed the fish up really well before you go, and have lots of plants in the tank, they should be fine for a month. If your friend can come in once a week or once a fortnight and give them a feed, that will get them through. Just make sure your friend knows how to feed fish and doesn't just dump a heap of food in the tank.

-----------------------
Increase the lighting on the tank to 16 hours a day. It should encourage algae and the fish can pick at that.

Add lots of plants 2-4 weeks before you go so you can monitor them and make sure they are ok before you leave. Extra plants will provide more food for the fish, in the form of infusoria and other small organisms.

Feed the fish 3-5 times a day for 2-4 weeks before you go. This will allow the fish to gain some weight and they can live off the fat reserves while you are gone. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day or two while feeding more often to keep the tank clean.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Clean the filter a week before you go. Wash the filter media/ materials in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the lawn/ garden.

AbbeysDad · Dec 30, 2020

Although like us, fish can survive for long periods with little/no food, I'm not so sure it's very healthy. I'm not sure why there's a "fear of feeders" out there. Perhaps some bad experiences with early models that didn't perform properly. I've used feeders in fry tanks even when I'm around just to ensure routine multiple feedings per day.
I'd agree that if one was away for only a week, we could let fish go without feeding. Then again, since I've had such good luck with the aforementioned feeders, why would I do that?
No offense @Colin_T, but I just think withholding food, nearly starving fish is a bit cruel when we have capable, reliable equipment available at a reasonable cost.
Having written the above, I think it's likely that on average, hobbyist's tend to overfeed fish routinely, but starving fish is just wrong, even if/when they survive.

Colin_T · Dec 30, 2020

Fish go for weeks or months without food in the wild. They can do this because they take their body temperature from the surrounding water and any food they eat is used to move and grow.

In a tank with lots of plants, healthy well fed fish can easily go a couple of weeks without food.

If the OP wants to use an automatic feeder, get one and set it up well before you go so you can make sure it is working properly before you leave.

mrsjoannh13 · Dec 31, 2020

As an update on this @Pkr and @AbbeysDad - I bought the Eheim auto feeder from Amazon. It does actually work with a hood. I have a cut out on the back of the hood for the filter and it is big enough for the fish food opening to get the food into the tank when it rotates. You can just put the unit right on top of the hood and the clear cover thing rotates and the food drops into the tank.

There is a small piece of velcro that you can affix - one side to the feeder and one side to the hood so that the feeder is on there a little more securely, although even without the velcro it doesn't seem like it will tip over. But once I test it out a bit more I will put the velcro square on the hood. It's black velcro so shouldn't be too noticeable when not in use.

@Pkr the feeder will feed up to 6 weeks I guess based on how much food you dispense and how often. There is also an adjustable grip thing that comes with the feeder so you can attach it onto the side of your tank (since you don't have a hood). So it should work. Since you are planning to feed pellets not flakes, I'd think you'd be fine in terms of humidity. Even flakes should be fine based on how the feeder is constructed.

Photos attached. Hope this helps!

Pkr · Jan 13, 2021

mrsjoannh13 said:
As an update on this @Pkr and @AbbeysDad - I bought the Eheim auto feeder from Amazon. It does actually work with a hood. I have a cut out on the back of the hood for the filter and it is big enough for the fish food opening to get the food into the tank when it rotates. You can just put the unit right on top of the hood and the clear cover thing rotates and the food drops into the tank.

There is a small piece of velcro that you can affix - one side to the feeder and one side to the hood so that the feeder is on there a little more securely, although even without the velcro it doesn't seem like it will tip over. But once I test it out a bit more I will put the velcro square on the hood. It's black velcro so shouldn't be too noticeable when not in use.

@Pkr the feeder will feed up to 6 weeks I guess based on how much food you dispense and how often. There is also an adjustable grip thing that comes with the feeder so you can attach it onto the side of your tank (since you don't have a hood). So it should work. Since you are planning to feed pellets not flakes, I'd think you'd be fine in terms of humidity. Even flakes should be fine based on how the feeder is constructed.

Photos attached. Hope this helps!

Thankyou very much!!!

Pkr · Jan 13, 2021

Colin_T said:
Hi and welcome to the forum

Make sure the aquarium has a coverglass on it to reduce evaporation and stop fish jumping out.

If you have a friend coming in at 2 weeks, get them to feed the fish and don't worry about the auto feeder.

I went away for a couple of months and left my sister to look after my fish. She didn't feed them at all and when I got back, most of the fish were still there and quite happy. They had eaten all the plants and removed all the algae, but the only fish I lost were babies and a few species that were specialist feeders. I must point out that at the time, I had a fish room with 40 tanks when this was going on and I lost about 1% of the fish.

If you feed the fish up really well before you go, and have lots of plants in the tank, they should be fine for a month. If your friend can come in once a week or once a fortnight and give them a feed, that will get them through. Just make sure your friend knows how to feed fish and doesn't just dump a heap of food in the tank.

-----------------------
Increase the lighting on the tank to 16 hours a day. It should encourage algae and the fish can pick at that.

Add lots of plants 2-4 weeks before you go so you can monitor them and make sure they are ok before you leave. Extra plants will provide more food for the fish, in the form of infusoria and other small organisms.

Feed the fish 3-5 times a day for 2-4 weeks before you go. This will allow the fish to gain some weight and they can live off the fat reserves while you are gone. Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day or two while feeding more often to keep the tank clean.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Clean the filter a week before you go. Wash the filter media/ materials in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the lawn/ garden.

This has been incredibly helpful thankyou! Im on the trip right now and ive got a little baby cam set up they seem to be doing fine. However i got a bit panicky so i hired a sitter despite my crazy landlord, ill deal with the problems soon enough

the sitter is dropping in every 3-4 days for now. And i also have a feeder installed, couldnt get the eheim in time so some other brand, working ok on baby cam though i cant clearly see if the foods fine or if it spoilt

my floating plants are growing a bit crazy dono if thats good or bad considering they must be thriving from the nitrates, my sitters doing a 25% water change weekly. So far all seems good hopefully no problems!

Pkr · Jan 13, 2021

Colin_T said:
Fish go for weeks or months without food in the wild. They can do this because they take their body temperature from the surrounding water and any food they eat is used to move and grow.

In a tank with lots of plants, healthy well fed fish can easily go a couple of weeks without food.

If the OP wants to use an automatic feeder, get one and set it up well before you go so you can make sure it is working properly before you leave.

Yes i got one

i was just super nervous that the feeder would jam because the food may spoil and turn moldy from humidity. On my baby cam it seems to be doing okay though

itiwhetu · Jan 14, 2021

Just get your friend to feed them once a week and they will be fine. Plant the tank out the fish will nibble on that. Fish don't need feeding half as much as we think they do.

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