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View Full Version : auto feeders???


fishguyxd
05-22-2005, 01:09 AM
How many use them and what kind is the best (I looking ahead here so when out of town should i get a good one).

and also what are the most popular food all are using for fish and corals?

Rikko
05-22-2005, 03:42 AM
For auto feeders I've only really been impressed with the Hagen Nutrafin Nutramatic feeder: http://www.hagen.com/canada/english/aquatic/product.cfm?CAT=1&SUBCAT=108&PROD_ID=01107850010101

They make a cheap 2X model that just rotates twice a day but we had a huge proportion of them come back defective. I've got 2 of them at home that run beautifully and the batteries last at least a year. I think over the years we got one back that was gimpy out of the box, but never heard of one giving up after some use (and come to think of it, I think I took that one home to try it out before we sent it back to Hagen and it worked fine.. That may actually be one of the ones I'm still using).
They work well for flake and pellets, only problem with pellets is that the aperture on the hopper to control how much food is coming out sometimes lets a lot of food out, and sometimes just a little bit.. Best bet is just to calibrate it to the absolute max you ever want to have released and then bet on occasional small feedings.

Penn Plax (I think.. Or is it Pentair?) makes one that actually plugs into the wall, eliminating the need for batteries entirely. I've never used one.

I personally only feed frozen foods to my marine tanks, so the auto feeders wouldn't be of any use at all. If you wanted to use an auto feeder, try something like the Formula One pellets. I did try them once and they were pretty well received.