Automatic Feeders while on Vacation???

[Hb2000]

Hi Everyone;

I have a 15 Gal. tank with 3 peppered corys, 3 serpae tetras and a betta. I will be out of town for a week during christmas. Does anyone have a recommendation about automatic feeders?

I have noticed some feeders with one large container for food and then it dispenses food one or twice a day. But I want to make sure some sinking pellets for the cory cats are being dispensed and some proper betta food as well as flake. Maybe even a treat during the week like bloodworms. I would actually prefer something with individual daily containers so I could measure out the quantity and variety of food for each day.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

[fishdude]

http://www.DrsFosterSmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=8118&R=12824&N=2004+62741+113565&in_merch=1

or

http://www.DrsFosterSmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=4460&R=9428&N=2004+62741+113565&in_merch=1

either of these are good

happy Christmas1:) :D :) :p

[thumper]

whenever we go out of town, we have our neighbor come over and feed our pets. mabye you could do the same?

[mogurnda]

I have a few that allow individual portions. The Rainbow (http://www.bigalsonline.com/product_images/ASWO21037a.gif) feeder is one of them. I use sinking pellets in it, and it works great. Probably the least troublesome of the 3 types I use.

[aquariumfishguy]

Ha! I tried the whole "have the neighbor feed my fish" thing and I had things in my house turn up "Missing" so needless to say, they wouldn't be helping me out again! Then I asked a relative to feed the animals and they dumped in potting soil to the tank and blamed it on my cat saying "he climbed on the tank and knocked the plant over".

...anyway, ever since the winter of '86, I will ALWAYS use automatic feeders. And no, I dont recommend one over the other as I find that any of the name-brand ones work fine. Good luck!

[JSchmidt]

For a week, I'd leave them without food. They'll do fine, and you'll return to sparkling clean water.

Jim

[OrionGirl]

I would leave them alone with no worries. Adult fish can go for much longer than one week without food and suffer no ill effects.

[pinballqueen]

I agree. I tend to only feed my fish every other day anyhow, as a fish in the wild may not eat a big meal but once a week, the rest of the time being spent picking at plants and such. We forget that since fish are cold-blooded, they don't require the same amounts or frequency of feeding that a warm-blooded pet does because they do not have to maintain body temperature.

If it's just a week, turn off the tank lights, lock the doors, and enjoy your vacation. Your fish will be fine, and your water will be cleaner than you ever have seen it before..... and you'll probably start feedin every other day when you get back when you see how clean the tank is :)

[aquariumfishguy]

...but if you decide to feed them, DO NOT allow other people in your house!!!!! :shake: :p

[cblin]

I agree w/ what many people have already stated. Chalk up one for leaving your tank unattended feeding till you get back. I've heard of many horror stories of someone else overfeeding an owner's tank. Either you come back w/ a full tank of dead fish or a full tank of green algae,.

[thumper]

WOW I must have some good neighbors! :D :) ;)

[anonapersona]

Because I have someone come in anyhow to feed the cat, I make small envelopes out of wax paper and tape one per day to the front of the tank.

Some of my filters can stop if there is a temporary power outage, the Whispers for example, and this makes me nervous, so I like to have someone take a moment to look at the tanks to see that the filters are still moving water.

[Hydro]

It seems most feel one week without feeding is fine, and if done, could be done sparingly.

I'm wondering if you have to use a feeder (assuming you need to be away longer than a week), are there any feeder out there that can be programmed to feed only once every other day or every few days?

The feeders I've seen at the store and read about on the net all say they can feed daily or even several times each day, but none say less frequently than once each day.

[Sensei_the_dojo]

I bet that even if you couldn't find an automatic feeder that could be programmed to feed every other day, that this could be achieved by using the automatic feeder in conjunction with a power timing device like the ones used for lights while you're away. Set the power device to run 12 hours/day, that way the automatic feeders clock would take two days to run its one day cycle.

[Hydro]

That's a good idea and may work for units that run on DC instead of batteries.

Does anyone know if cutting the power to the automatic feeder will reset the feeder's timer or do funny things to the programmed feeding times? You know, kind of like your alarm clock or VCR clock flashing 12:00 after a power interruption.

Just curious. May be someone with a feeder can test this.

[JSchmidt]

My feeders are all battery powered and don't have every-other-day settings.

The idea of rigging something to get such a feeder to run every other day is interesting in an intellectual sense, but sounds like there is too much hassle factor and potential for an error while you're away to mess with, IMO, anyway. This is especially true since fish will do fine for a week without food.

Jim

[Sensei_the_dojo]

Originally posted by JSchmidt
My feeders are all battery powered and don't have every-other-day settings.

The idea of rigging something to get such a feeder to run every other day is interesting in an intellectual sense, but sounds like there is too much hassle factor and potential for an error while you're away to mess with, IMO, anyway. This is especially true since fish will do fine for a week without food.

Jim
You're probably right about that Jim. I've never played with automatic feeders so didn't stop to think about them being battery powered. The idea of the electrical lighting timer just popped into my mind so I figured I'd share. Maybe it'll come in handy in for someone in other circumstances. ;)