Do automatic feeders work?

[Jdale78]

A mix of pellets and flakes would work great....pellets sink.

The other consideration is a feeding ring. This holds the flakes long enough to either be eaten or sink before getting sucked up by your overflow. I make my own with a piece of tubing, dowel and suction cups, but you can also purchase them:

how does the food come out of the ring?

 

[vetteguy53081]

is there a food that sinks more than others? So my Goby gets some too

Pellets

 

[cmcoker]

What do people do for tanks with mesh tops (my wrasse would likely carpet surf going for the feeder)!

I have mine balanced on a shim that sits on the corner, I positioned it to drop above a powerhead. I feed frozen in the evening but I'm gone from 545a to 7p most days, so I use this full time. The fish, hear? the feeder start and rush to the corner now so nothing goes in the overflow anymore.

 

[redfishbluefish]

how does the food come out of the ring?

Floating food (flakes) are held within the ring until it is eaten or sinks. If I didn't use a ring, the majority of the flakes would end up going to my overflow and sucked into the sump.

 

[dylana407]

Has anyone used one? Do they work if I'm gone a few days? or does anyone have any other ideas if I can't get someone to stop by?

How old is your tank? What kind of fish do you have? I don't feed my fish at all when I go on vacation. The longest was 10 days.

 

[SPSReeferMI]

I recently bought into the Apex ecosystem and I own 2 AFS feeders from Neptune. I’m very happy with them and they integrate perfectly into their ecosystem. Right now, I have one on my main display and another on my quarantine tank. I turn them on only when I’m traveling for work. In the future, I plan to have one dispense meaty pellets and the other dispense algae-based pelllets.

For background, I have a Waterbox 170.4/5 and I have 3 tangs. My goal is to keep my fish happy and fed. Having tangs = making commitments like this to feed often. Neptune makes this possible in a very comprehensive way. Given my commitments at work, it’s important that I can automate feeding when I’m not at home. Tangs need to eat often and I like them fed 2x per day.

Pros:
- Multiple types of food can be dispensed (pellets or flakes)
- Apex AFS will log every feeding (so that you know the exact time and that it did spin (I use a Nest camera to confirm it once in a while - it’s fabulous to watch)
- Completely integrated into the Apex control system
- I plan to place both of mine from a hanging light fixture (out of sight) once I settle on which one to buy

Cons:
- It’s loud - so if you are home and on a conference call, it sounds a bit louder than necessary
- Adjusting the pellet amount is not as easy as it looks (I’ve made some overfeeding mistakes here)
- You need enough clearance if you plan to have it on the back of your tank
- Suggest that you have a feeding ring or can throttle back your return pumps to avoid pellets going over the overflow.

 

[Peace River]

I usually hold it under the water before releasing the food so its saturated enough to sink and they all get some. Just the fingertips.

If your fish will all eat sinking mini pellets then it should work in a similar way.

 

[Jdale78]

I have mine balanced on a shim that sits on the corner, I positioned it to drop above a powerhead. I feed frozen in the evening but I'm gone from 545a to 7p most days, so I use this full time. The fish, hear? the feeder start and rush to the corner now so nothing goes in the overflow anymore.

very cool

 

[w2inc]

I recently bought into the Apex ecosystem and I own 2 AFS feeders from Neptune. I’m very happy with them and they integrate perfectly into their ecosystem. Right now, I have one on my main display and another on my quarantine tank. I turn them on only when I’m traveling for work. In the future, I plan to have one dispense meaty pellets and the other dispense algae-based pelllets.

For background, I have a Waterbox 170.4/5 and I have 3 tangs. My goal is to keep my fish happy and fed. Having tangs = making commitments like this to feed often. Neptune makes this possible in a very comprehensive way. Given my commitments at work, it’s important that I can automate feeding when I’m not at home. Tangs need to eat often and I like them fed 2x per day.

Pros:
- Multiple types of food can be dispensed (pellets or flakes)
- Apex AFS will log every feeding (so that you know the exact time and that it did spin (I use a Nest camera to confirm it once in a while - it’s fabulous to watch)
- Completely integrated into the Apex control system
- I plan to place both of mine from a hanging light fixture (out of sight) once I settle on which one to buy

Cons:
- It’s loud - so if you are home and on a conference call, it sounds a bit louder than necessary
- Adjusting the pellet amount is not as easy as it looks (I’ve made some overfeeding mistakes here)
- You need enough clearance if you plan to have it on the back of your tank
- Suggest that you have a feeding ring or can throttle back your return pumps to avoid pellets going over the overflow.

I have the apex and agree that is it way too loud. I also have three of the lifeguard intelli-feed inits. They look identical except the lifeguard one has a button you can push to make it manually feed one rotation so if you want to see your fish eat, you can just hit the button.

I like the units because they keep the food dry. I love Eheim for other things but not the feeder. I use pellets. Always. All of my fish other than the copper band butterfly have taken to them. I use them as nutrient management. I think Pellets are a great plan.

My apex is loud and I have to log in to my account and turn it on to make it feed one round. The lifeguard has a manual set up. It is a little more work than the apex, but it is also a one time deal. I think I like the cheaper Lifeguard better.

Those two are the only ones that could keep my food dry. There is an Eheim that has screw drives that I really liked, but it was hard to control small amounts of food dosing. I ended up giving it away. I always use a ring that the food drops in to keep it from the overflow. The fish learn where the dump is and hear the feeder moving and come to the spot. The create enough surface agitation to get the food to fall.

Auto feeders are all I use.

 

[EmptyWallet]

Eheims work great. I'm away 5 days a week EVERY week so the fish's life depends on them including a Moorish Idol. 1x pumps flake and pellets (mixed together) 1x pumps nori cut into flake size (I use a blender). I find the flake distribution to be uneven and at weeks end the moisture gets in and hardens up the flake making it worse. I found that by using a shim and tilting it slightly forward it works better (keeps the flakes at the front not the bottom of the food chamber). If your on pellets it would be brilliant and easy to control exact portion sizes, flakes are a bit inconsistent.

 

[LilElroyJetson]

Using the Eheim posted earlier in this thread as well. I’ve been away from my tank since June 7 (so almost 3 months now) and it’s still pretty full, using New Life Spectrum .5mm micro pellets, and has been feeding without issue the entire time I’ve been gone (I can see it every day on my cloud cam). I also like that it blows air thru the device to keep moisture from causing the pellets to stick together.

 

[jordan9095]

I like the eheim better than the neptune. Cheaper and basically does the same thing. I feel like you can feed less with the eheim. I have the apex turn everything off a few minutes before and after feeding. Eheim runs on batteries so could die when you are gone. Not sure how long the batteries last

 

[ChrisH]

I also use the Eheim with no problems (I've never seen the Apex in action, so comments here are useful to me). I feed a mix of pellet and flake, with a bit of powder all churned together. The pellets sink next to a Tunze stream and are pushed into the tank, but the flake and powder floats ...

Instead of a feeding ring, I added an Eheim surface skimmer

Next to where the food drops in. Pellets still sink and the Stream takes care of them. I've removed the sponge/filter from the skimmer, so this takes the flake and powder and carries them underwater, spitting them into the current. Works extremely well, has done for years.

 

[TRIGGER SHARKFIST]

I have two different feeders. A Jewel rotating barrel one and a Eheim rotary one.

I find they get blocked if you mix flake and pellet together as the flake can get damp.

I have a full glass top but have made feeder hoods with special holes for when I go away.

Done 2 weeks away and auto feeder worked well. Had someone come in and supplement feed and check livestock every now and again.

 

[TRIGGER SHARKFIST]

Run the Autofeeders for a couple of weeks before going away to test them. This will also give you peace of mind.

 

[Ecvernon]

Eheim withe the eheim feeding station is a great feeder. I plan to get another one. Very reliable. I love the feeling station because it fits on my euro braced aquarium.

 

[3dvice]

Another vote for the Eheim feeders, good and reliable.

 

[Taxus812]

Great thread. How are they with moisture? I heard many allow moisture into the hopper causing the food to stick,

 

[blackstallion]

I also use the Eheim with no problems (I've never seen the Apex in action, so comments here are useful to me). I feed a mix of pellet and flake, with a bit of powder all churned together. The pellets sink next to a Tunze stream and are pushed into the tank, but the flake and powder floats ...

Instead of a feeding ring, I added an Eheim surface skimmer

Next to where the food drops in. Pellets still sink and the Stream takes care of them. I've removed the sponge/filter from the skimmer, so this takes the flake and powder and carries them underwater, spitting them into the current. Works extremely well, has done for years.

Using a surface skimmer to take food down into the water column is an intriguing solution to avoid all the food going into the overflow. Do you know if the pump on the skimmer would work for pellets as well as flakes? Does the food just get pulverized and crushed up or is it still in tact once it's in the water column? One thing I'm not crazy about with this solution is the suction cup mount, seems like it would come loose often.

I'm wondering if the XP Aqua Flexi surface skimmer would be a decent solution since it has a magnetic mount and DC pump. Would the DC pump be able to handle transferring food into the tank or would it clog and/or pulverize the food?

Sumpless Auto Top Off System

Xp Aqua's Sumpless ATO - Complete ATO & Surface Skimmer for Sumpless Aquariums Sumpless ATO is the first and only ATO designed specifically for aquariums without sumps. The combination of the sleek overflow box and the innovative dual-optical sensor ATO will help to keep your aquarium topped...

www.marinedepot.com

 

[vetteguy53081]

I use Apex AFS which is all dry food and No clumping, moisture etc