Can anyone recommend a good automatic feeder?

[smedley93]

I'm going out of town for a week next month so I'll need to get an automatic feeder. I was just wondering if anybody could steer me in the right direction.

Thanks

[j7x7]

Rainbow lifegard (Pentair now) used to make a high quality feeder that plug into an electric outlet.

[Roland Jacques]

I use two auto feeders on all my tanks. in case one stoped for any reason. i use the cheep ones They all seem to be about the same to me as far as reliablity.

[rxinc]

I have tried several and wasn't happy until I recently bought the Eheim unit.

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=EH-AEH3581000&Category_Code=Feeders


It worked great on a recent two week trip.

It can do 1 to 4 feeds per day, and with each feed you can decide to have it feed just once or it will do two feeds a minute apart - so that the slow fish realize the food is coming and then can get in on the second helping.

In fact, I ended up buying two, one for my main tank and one for my QT tank.

It worked so well I now leave it on my main tank as a daily small amount feeder of Spectrum pellets for my anthias and other frequent eaters.

The other item I bought with it was a feeder ring http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=ON-FSM&Category_Code=Feeders
- a floating square that holds the food from the auto feeder until it sinks so that it doesn't just go into the overflow. - seemed silly but it works.

[tpenn187]

i second the eheim unit. have been 1 running for about 6 months with same batteries. good unit

[wtac]

I second the Eheim but only the old model. The new, double chamber ones are a PITA. The augers jam using small pellets and battery life (4AA's) is ~4months, where the old models (2AA's) can last up to 2 years.

JM2C

[rishma]

I use two eheim feeders on my tank all the time. My fish get fed a little bit 8 times per day. The eheim feeders are a little more money, but 100% reliable in my experience. One of my feeders is 4 years old and has never missed a feeding. highly recommended.

[gasman059]

eheim 4 me.

[dp0350]

Seems like everyone prefers the older Eheim feeder? I was going to get the larger one for two foods but I guess ill stick with the older one. Its cheaper anyway.

[jeffhaag]

I've tried about every one money can buy, and the Ehiem is by far the best one I have ever had! Absolutely great!

[CDReefLover]

been using eheim auto feeders for over 5 years now, no glitches.

[kdblove_99]

Eheim

[Hesham]

I've been using the new Eheim Automatic Twin Feeder 3582 and love it.

Before, I used the Penn-plax rotary drum feeders during vacations. They are OK but one errant fish splash and water gets into the drum resulting in spoiled food and a clogged feeder.

I haven't had the battery life problem with the 3582 like another poster suggested. I've been running with the same batteries for the last year. Of course, I'm not using the augers in the 3582 to grind meat - just push pellets ;-)

By the way, I much prefer to use pellet foods with auto-feeders. Less chance of clogging.

Regards,

Hesham