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Tropical Fish Keeping Pet Shops and Product Reviews => Fish Food Product Reviews => Topic started by: Mirage on April 29, 2015, 05:32:21 PM

Title: Fish Tank Auto feeder
Post by: Mirage on April 29, 2015, 05:32:21 PM
Hi all,
I'm going on holiday for 2 weeks and need to use an auto feeder on my juwel tank. I know juwel make one so that's not a problem.
What would be the best food to use as normally I use a mixture of flake, frozen for the tropical fish and algae wafer for the plec.
Is there an "all in one" solution ?

Any food brands etc to go for ?

Thanks

Phil
Title: Re: Auto feeder
Post by: Sue on April 29, 2015, 06:25:13 PM
I have never used an autofeeder but I imagine that you put the usual food into each compartment.

And I would recommend testing the feeder before you go away. I've heard of some that go berserk and drop all the food in at one go, and others that let damp air in so the food gets sticky and won't come out.
Title: Re: Auto feeder
Post by: fcmf on April 29, 2015, 06:38:01 PM
Hi,

I don't have a Juwel auto-feeder but I do have a Fishmate auto-feeder.  Irrespective of brand/model you opt for, I can't emphasise enough how important it is to test it out for at least 24hrs beforehand and ideally for several days.  That will give you an idea in practice (as opposed to what the box says) of which foods go through and don't get stuck.  My auto-feeder has, over time, and not because of depleted battery power (I always put new batteries in it just before use) or malfunctioning in any other way, developed its own idiosyncrasies  eg it's necessary to adjust it in such a way that it's on the verge of depositing the first feed rather than at the intuitive position otherwise it actually misses out the first feed at the appointed time and waits until the second appointed time to do so.  Another issue is that, over time, more moisture/condensation seems to be in the air and affecting the food quality in the auto-feeder by making it soggier - I now need to leave the top cover of the auto-feeder open in order to minimise this whereas this wasn't a problem in the past.  Best to discover these issues before rather than after the event.

I don't know anything about the Juwel brand, but the Fishmate auto-feeder takes flake and pellet food (generally, the bigger, the better, as it's less likely to get stuck and clog up the deposit slot altogether, which has happened with flake food quite a few times in the past) and should take algae wafers (but I haven't tried that); it definitely wouldn't take frozen food as that would defrost before getting to the point of being deposited through. 

Hope this helps.
Title: Re: Auto feeder
Post by: Mirage on April 29, 2015, 07:59:22 PM
Thanks for the replies, I've actually opted for a fish mate f14, ordered it about an hour ago. Got some pellets 1.5mm I think they were to try out. Like mentioned I think flake could become moist/soggy and stick.
Plus with this one I can set the portion sizes to suit and also add algae treat every few feeds and a plec pellet as and when needed.

Thanks again