Auto Feeder recommendations

[FishyJames]

I'm going to be out of town for 10 days later this month.  I purchased an Aquarium Coop auto feeder and want some owners help. 

My fish are mainly about 30 guppies, 5 neon tetras, 5 white clouds and 10 albino cory's.  All in a 29 gallon.  

All my fish love flake food but I don't know how well it dispenses from the feeder.  Is there a good pellet food that dispenses well?  Any other unique ideas?

Any help is appreciated.

Jim

[FishyJames]

Oh yah...their normal foods are flake. Freeze died bloodworms, frozen bloodworms and Hikari mico pellets.

[Odd Duck]

Pelleted foods dispense MUCH better than flakes from the cylinder type auto feeders like ACO’s.  Flake foods tend to clump and stack up more unless you’re crumbling them quite fine.  Most any pellets will dispense well, and you can even do a mix of floating and sinking pellets and a mix of sizes as long as they aren’t too different in size.  When I was growing out a ton of Jack Dempsey fry, I first started using 1-2 mm size pellets/granules when they got big enough to eat that size (I was doing smaller foods by hand before that).  Then gradually switched to larger and larger foods as the fry grew.

The trick is getting the size of the opening just right so the pellets dispense at the right rate plus you get the right total amount.  For smaller fish, get small pellets, open the sliding dispensing window just wide enough to dispense your pellets smoothly, then tape across it to keep the gap that wide and to limit your total amount dispensed.  Do your testing and trials not over the tank until you get just the right amount dispensed each time.

It can be challenging getting smooth dispensing and only the small amount you need for a small tank and low number of fish.  I was feeding around 1500-1600 fry divided between 3 tanks on auto feeders, so I only had to adjust the little window for the right volume, not tape over it.  To only get the small volume you need, you’ll need to tape across part of the dispensing window.  Do make very sure your fish are used to eating the pellets in question, and from the planned dispenser location, before you are using them for feeding while you’re gone.

[FishyJames]

Great answer.. thanks a bunch!

[Wrencher_Scott]

I recommend this thing. It can not over feed, it's impossible. It has 15 slots and can feed 1, 2, 3, or 4 times a day. So it will cover 10 days if you set it to once a day. 

I know nothing or the ACO one but I don't trust the cylinder ones. To many horror stories. 

 

[Torrey]

On 6/6/2022 at 5:35 PM, Odd Duck said:

open the sliding dispensing window just wide enough to dispense your pellets smoothly, then tape across it to keep the gap that wide and to limit your total amount dispensed.  Do your testing and trials not over the tank until you get just the right amount dispensed each time.

This is the BEST advice one can get. Also, @FishyJames I strongly recommend once you get it set up, let it run with you home so you can make adjustments *before* you come home to overfed fish. The Hikari micropellets you already have will work great. Tape the opening at the right size or smaller, and generally too little is better than too much... Especially if you are going to be gone for 10 days. Floating a bowl under the dispenser is a great way to check the amount without spending the next 2 hours doing water changes.😅

My fish can go 2 weeks of me on vacation without needing to be fed, because they will hunt down the scuds, blackworms, and any snail caviar they can find. My Endlers didn't even snack on any fry....🙄 Remember to feed lightly for the first week you are back, gradually increasing the food, so the beneficial bacteria catch up.

May your vacation be uneventful and everything you need!!!!