Fish Feeder

[toonmick]

CAN ANYONE RECCOMEND A GOOD FISH FEEDER APART FROM THE NEIGHBOUR CHEERS

 

[england]

man up the road


only kidding.....................how long is it for


how long are you going on holiday for??or is it for ever use??

 

[toonmick]

man up the road


only kidding.....................how long is it for


how long are you going on holiday for??or is it for ever use??

2 weeks sorry

 

[england]

you can buy fish automatic feeders in the shops............or vacation food..........when i go away i get a member of my family.....or a friend thats the best way for me

 

[mark.w.jones]

you can buy fish automatic feeders in the shops............or vacation food..........when i go away i get a member of my family.....or a friend thats the best way for me

I havnt seen anyone on this forum admit to using an automatic feeder. Maybe they distrust the technology who knows. Never used them myself but can't see the harm in buying one to try out. I'd certainly test it for a few weeks before relying on it when I went away. The only disadvantage I can see is that it can obviously only feed dried foods like flakes and pellets so won't provide the variety that your fish usually get. e.g. fresh veg, bloodworm, daphnia etc. If you do a search for feeder blocks a lot of people are against those as well. Damage fish, change water conditions, don't feed consistantly. Others say don't rely on friends / neighbours as they can overfeed unless you only leave measured amounts of food. Some say your fish can go a week without feeding at all.

Whatever floats your boat id say.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Whatever you do, don't buy the cheap Hagen feeders sold at PEts@home and similar. Mine overfed for 3 days and then clogged up and refused to feed at all. So I got both a filthy tank and hungry fish.

There are more expensive brands that are supposed to be better. I believe Practical Fishkeeping Magazine did a consumer test a year or two ago, you might be able to find that if you google. But I believe there was an Eheim feeder that they thought was really good.

Feeding blocks are a problem, as they foul the water. I did try once with tetra sticks, and they weren't too bad. Not as good though as my preferred option:

Buy pill dispenser from pharmacy. Measure out one serving per compartment. If you have more than one tank, number each dispenser- and the tanks, so they can't get mixed up. Instruct neighbour/friend/relative to empty one compartment into tank every other day- this means fish are kept on short rations- counterbalances lack of water changes. Then HIDE ALL OTHER FISH FOOD. This way there will be no way your fishsitter can overfeed however kindhearted and incompetent.

 

[millym]

hi
we've got a 'fishmate 14' auto feeder that feeds fish for up to 14 days. we just use it when we go off on holidays & it generally works well & doesnt clog as it has a port where you can attatch a air tube from your airpump to keep the food dry.
there is one important point to make about this feeder though - dont overfill the little sections for food that rotate around or it will get stuck & not work( as we found out the 1st time we used it!!!) but once you get the hang of it it works well ( load & test it BEFORE you go away to make sure its not overloaded.
we also have a hagen feeder for our fry tank & have found that it clogs very easily as the food gets damp. adding some broken bits of catfish/algae tablet in with the flakehelps a bit but its not as reliable as the fishmate 14.

 

[FBF]

a good water change and a feed the day before you leave and all will be well when you return. 2 weeks is fine and infact good for the fish. most people dont like to try it but once you've had the balls to give it ago you'll soon learn