Automatic Fish Feeders

[ginak]

I am going away for Christmas and I was thinking about getting an automatic fish feeder to feed my betta while I am away. Has anyone ever used one and would they recommend it?

 

[BINKSY]

Hi

Yes i use an eheim automatic feeder sometimes on a regular basis as i can be away from home a couple of days a week due to work. I have never had a problem with it and you can set upto 4 feeding times a day.



Cheers Gordon

 

[wendywc]

Test it while you're home first to be sure it doesn't drop too much food for him.

 

[zoekin8yg]

we have an auto feeder for our goldfish which works perfectly, havent tried with the bettas as they are more likely to jump out, the feeder we have needs a big gap in the lid

 

[jollysue]

I think just be sure he doesn't get overf ed. Bettas such little piggies. It would be better to let them fast a few days than to let them over eat.

 

[nicelights]

I can't give you any kind of qualitative analysis of how much to feed a betta, having no experience of them. I do have auto feeder and my mbuna know exactly what's gonna happen when they hear it whirring away!

I have mine sat inside the lid on a cross brace and am currently testing it for longer breaks as we have some hols coming up and I want it to work properly! All good so far, although I forgot about the timings on it when I removed it for a water change the other night! It started off and i ended up with food all over my little boy's feeding chair!

Gordon

 

[jollysue]

Well, Bettas only get a few pellets a day or a few 2 x a day.

 

[ginak]

Does anyone have any ideas on how to keep tank covered while I am gone? The tank that I have has rounded edges and I will need to leave the lid off for the automatic feeder. I am also very wary of using vacation feeders on my betta. Does anyone have any experience using the vacation feeders? I hear that they cloud the water...

 

[Naughtygirlrlw]

My daughter tried one (vacation food block) and all it did was massively gunk up the tank. I haven't heard good things about them at all. As for keeping the tank covered, do you have a round cookie sheet? Or maybe even a plate? You could also try Saran Wrap with some holes poked through.

 

[jollysue]

If it were only a few days, I would skip it with the Bettas. I have understood that they can go for a couple of weeks without feeding. The danger of overfeeding a Betta is very real. If you have some small fish like pigmy cories or scarlet dario dario (who need live food, so I would put a good dose of live black worms or something) who are in danger of easily starving, then work something out. But for fish that can do without I would not take a chance on fouling the tank. I used them once. Some worked out, some didn't. I would use pellets rather than flakes where I had to use them. The flakes jambed up and didn't despense.

 

[ginak]

I ended up getting an automatic fish feeder. I had to do a few modifications so that it wasn't dumping handfuls of pellets twice a day but I managed to get it to work. I've managed to borrow a larger tank from a friend for the holidays while I'm gone (since I can't be here to change the water). Do you think my betta would be sad if I had to move him back to his smaller one after the holidays are over?

 

[Rugby]

yes, both the blocks, the new gel formula tetravacation, and the mechanical ones,
they make a disaster of the tank.
i hate them.
i am using one on the tank that i maintain at my school, and i have to clean it ALOT.

its not fun. the block screw everything up. i had 75, yes 75 out of 425 die because of the blocks, and the fish didnt recognize the tetravaction as food.

i hate them.

Rugby