I noticed a post from fcmf talking about Fishmate auto-feeder which looks to have little compartments which different food can go into, but does this just do one feed a day if it can take 14 separate meals, as thinking this might be a better options.
Before I spend more money any other suggestions or views on whether there are other choices? I might be able to get someone to come round once a week when we're away, but don't really want them to have to do anything, just check that they are OK. Althought not really sure what I'd do if the weren't 
That's correct - the Fishmate auto-feeder has 14 compartments, so can be set to provide 1 meal per day for 14 days. [For general info for anyone else reading this, it can supply up to 4 meals per day but then would consequently run out after a few days. Theoretically, it could provide food less frequently than once per day if every second compartment were left empty, but would then 'expire' after 7 alternate-day feeds.]
The disadvantage, in my own experience, of having someone come round is that this can cause undue worry (unless they're experienced fishkeepers). As well as being let down by someone who had promised to come round and do the feeding, I had someone overly concerned about several things such as why all the plants had been uprooted / knocked over, whether the fish might be ill, etc, which in turn had me unnecessarily worried. If you were tasking someone to do any more than this, then another few points to bear in mind include: in much the same way as there can be a certain technique to opening/locking a door, there can be a certain technique to opening a tank lid without disturbing the filter such as causing it to dislodge in such a way that it vibrates against the glass or inadvertently catching a floating plant which in turn uproots a piece of wood underneath, which can set in motion a chain of potentially awkward events; I read recently of someone who advised the visitor to switch off the tank lights but the visitor switched off the filter too/instead, resulting in a tank of dead fish; when feeding, I'd recommend the auto-feeder over humans, but, if you prefer humans to do this, then putting the food into an egg-cup covered in clingfilm in advance to be simply emptied into the tank, with the food tubs hidden out of the way to avoid temptation to overfeed, is the best way to go about this.
Hope that's helpful.
Topic: Holiday Feeding - Auto Feeding Advice Sought (Read 6984 times) 10 replies
August 05, 2013, 08:23:18 PM
