Automatic fish feeders

[BAT]

Are there any out there that work? The reviews of all seem pretty mixed. 
 

 

[KBOzzie59]

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/collections/equipment/products/fish-food-autofeeder

No problem with mine.  Cordless & rechargeable.

[anewbie]

On 6/22/2022 at 5:15 PM, KBOzzie59 said:

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/collections/equipment/products/fish-food-autofeeder

No problem with mine.  Cordless & rechargeable.

From reviews the clamp doesn't work well with larger tanks that have thicker rims. 

[KBOzzie59]

On 6/23/2022 at 11:40 AM, anewbie said:

From reviews the clamp doesn't work well with larger tanks that have thicker rims. 

I've got one on a 55.  What size tank do you have?

[anewbie]

On 6/23/2022 at 2:59 PM, KBOzzie59 said:

I've got one on a 55.  What size tank do you have?

120 now and soon a 420.

[Cheryl P.]

I have at least 5 and they've all worked well for me.  The clamp doesn't fit my 90 gal or 220 gal.  I used some velcro to mount those ones so I can remove them when I'm not using them.

[pcb09]

The co-op feeders say dont submerge... but what about rain... could these work on outdoor ponds?

[anewbie]

On 7/1/2022 at 6:57 PM, pcb09 said:

The co-op feeders say dont submerge... but what about rain... could these work on outdoor ponds?

I suspect they do not react to water; so if the rain is hard enough to enter the casing .... also if the food gets wet..... of course i wonder what happens if your angels love to splash the thing.

[Odd Duck]

On 7/1/2022 at 6:57 PM, pcb09 said:

The co-op feeders say dont submerge... but what about rain... could these work on outdoor ponds?

They have an open feeding slot that’s at the top between feedings.  As soon as water gets inside the food is going to clump and not flow.  This doesn’t address the fact that the battery isn’t in a sealed compartment.  If you did want to use them outdoors, you would need to come up with a rain guard of some sort.  Even a plastic container suspended and held upside down over the feeder would help.  I don’t think resting it over the feeder would be good since it a: might not turn correctly or b: it might not turn at the right rate and would dump more food than it should, or 😄 it might wear out the motor early having drag on the cylinder that’s supposed to turn. 

Then there’s the possibility of bugs getting into the feeder via the feeding slot.  If it was short term, not too likely to be an issue.  Long term, not sure how well that would work.

[gardenman]

On 7/1/2022 at 7:57 PM, pcb09 said:

The co-op feeders say dont submerge... but what about rain... could these work on outdoor ponds?

There are outdoor ponds and there are outdoor ponds. For big ponds for koi and the like, there are automated feeders made specifically for them. A few even include sensors that the fish can trigger to dispense food. Typically, there will be a floating ball or ring that the koi can hit to drop more food into the pond. Koi learn this trick very quickly and the food bill goes up very quickly, but you get really big, fat, happy koi. (You need a good filtration system though. Koi will eat a lot given the chance.)

For a smaller tub/pond, you can take a piece of Tupperware or similar plastic container to use as a rain/sun shield for an indoor-type aquarium feeder. You just have to cut the container so it'll fit over the feeder to shield it and protect it. Direct sunlight can degrade the nutrient value of food exposed to it, so a container that blocks most of the sunlight would be ideal. If you don't block the sun then the food at the end of the feeding cycle will be less nutritious than the food at the beginning.