Automatics Fish Feeders

[acech]

Hi Guys,

In a few months I am having to go away for 14 days and I have no one avaliable to feed the fish. I am looking for recomendations of the best way to feed my fish over the 14 days..

I am guessing that an automatic feeder would be the way to go, but I have had bad experiences with these in the past, can anyone recommend a reliable feeder?

Many thanks,

Chris

 

[Durbkat]

You should do what I do I use these vacation feeders they look like this http/www.petco.com/assets/product_images/4/4332400132B.jpg What size tank is it and what and how many fish are there in their? If they eat it all like say in six days or something they should be fine because I once went out of town for a week and put one of these in my tank that had 3 black tetras and a common pleco and my grandmother said it was gone the day after I put it in their and when I came back they were all fine.
Also what happened with the previous automatic feeders you used?

 

[rdd1952]

I have never used a auto feeder so I can't help much there. I do know that most all I have ever read on the block feeders similar to the one Durbkat posted the link for is pretty negative. Most people say that they are almost all chalk with ver little food in them and will really mess the tank up. There are several threads on TFF (use the search feature for "vacation" or holiday") about extended vacations. A lot of people have left their fish without food for 2 weeks with no problems. If you are going to buy a auto feeder, I suggest you get it soon and test to see how much it puts out so you can adjust it to a minimal amount. Otherwise you may come back to a disaster if it severly overfeeds them.

 

[Durbkat]

Please don't get rude with me guys, but every time I go out of town for more than 4 days I put a feeder in the tank to feed the fish then I just do a 20% vacum cleaning when I get back.

 

[morgan]

I used feeding blocks when I went away for 2 weeks, I am glad they worked for you Durbkat but I have only just got the tank back to normal several weeks later. The blocks altered the ph of the water and clogged the filter. I also used an automatic fish feeder which was very good. It works by battery. I filled it with pellets as flakes might get damp. I bought mine on ebay.

 

[andywg]

The blocks are not beneficial to the chemistry of the tank and a swift search will bring up some far more detailed reasons not to use them. All fish (save fry) can easy go up to a week without food.

I just pre measure a feed or two and get someone to pop in while I'm away.

 

[WendyinWichita]

My job is 100% travel, so I am away from home 2-5 days each week. Because of this, (can't not feed for 5 days each week) I have purchased automatic feeders.

I live in the US, and what I went with is available at Petsmart, called Hydor Mixo, it is also shown as Exomixo. I have 5 of them on 5 different tanks and have had no ill effects with the chemistry.

You can check Ebay (I have seen this feeder listed from the UK).

I have mine set to feed twice daily, but very small amounts of feed.

I like them so well, I leave them on full time and just supplement with brine shrimp and blood worms when I am home.

 

[imouse]

I use one of the Fishmate 14 day feeders on a regular basis and have no trouble with it. well i find i do have to add a few catfish pellets/algae wafers on top of the flake to ensure it drops through the hole.
A drawback with this model is the fact that it sits on the lid and may require a 1 inch hole drilled. The feeder does come with edge fixing brackets, but i found that moisture ingress caused the last 2 days food to become to damp to drop even though the airline was connected. with the brackets, the whole unit was over the water surface. I went for the 1 inch hole in the lid (Rio 180 standard hood) and now have the unit situated above the ballast/tube ensuring that the food remains crisp.


Hth
mouse