Automatic fish feeder for aquarium fish.
In many cases, automatic feeders are of great help, especially when fish need to be fed at their usual times in the absence of the owner. Having such a feeder in your aquarium setup, you can safely go on vacation, a business trip, or out of town for the weekend without worrying that the inhabitants of your indoor reservoir will remain hungry. Many companies offer such devices, and prices as well as functionality vary greatly.
Therefore, when buying an automatic feeder, you need to consider what kind of help you actually expect from it. What kind of food will it use? Flakes only? Feeding tablets? Should medications be delivered into the water along with the food? Do you have an available power outlet, or will the device run on batteries? What is the maximum time interval that can be set on the timer? Useful minor features include a miniature fan, which, according to the company’s engineers, is intended to ventilate the compartments and prevent food from clumping, which would disrupt its normal supply to the aquarium.
They are designed for dry foods, large flakes, and pellets. The feeder can be placed either on the hood or attached to the wall of an aquarium of any thickness. The feeder can be installed on the horizontal surface of a glass brace (rib) or hood, directly above the feeding window. There are automatic feeders that can autonomously feed pets in your aquarium for a month without your participation. Its convenience lies in the fact that you can set the required number of feedings per day yourself (from 1 to 8 times), as well as fill it with several types of food to diversify your pets’ diet.
The automatic feeder consists of a timer, according to which the food dispensing device is activated. Depending on the chosen mode, the fish will feast once, twice, or three times a day at the time you set. If single feeding is selected, the first food supply occurs at the moment the feeder starts, with subsequent feedings at 24-hour intervals. The twice-a-day feeding mode implies the first food supply at start-up, and the second after 8 hours. The feeder will operate in the same rhythm on subsequent days. With three-time feeding, the first supply is carried out at start-up, and the second and third at 6-hour intervals in a daily repeating cycle.
Thus, the aquarist can set a feeding rhythm that corresponds to the daily activity of hydrobionts. Good automatic feeders can take on one or two additional connections – for example, top lights. There is a feeder equipped with a special device to turn off the aerator or filter pump during feeding. Since all these devices are in humid air above the aquarium, they must be equipped with a thermal device to prevent the food from getting damp.
However, constantly using automatic feeders at home is not recommended. Firstly, they feed only with dry food, which means monotony. I would not recommend using them. While you are at home, the feeder works normally. If you leave for a week, you get a food infusion in the aquarium. Alternatively, the feeder jams, and the fish go hungry. Communication, maintenance, observation, care, and especially feeding are an integral part of keeping an aquarium.
Let’s look at several models of such feeders and their operating principle:**
A Chinese-made automatic feeder that attaches to the aquarium wall. It can also be attached to the aquarium hood if possible. All modern auto-feeders run on AA or AAA batteries. The advantage of this auto-feeder is that it is relatively inexpensive. But there are a number of disadvantages: it does not have a timer with which you could set the time for feeding the fish in the aquarium. The working principle is like clock hands – continuous rotation. The food compartment rotates slowly around its axis, and food falls into the aquarium 2 times a day.
The second disadvantage is the lack of a doser; the window through which the food falls has a fixed diameter, and it is impossible to regulate portion sizes. And feeding a large amount of food twice a day leads to overfeeding. The third disadvantage is that you have to guess the time when it will feed the fish. This can be done by removing and inserting the batteries.
Here is a very successful model of an auto-feeder from the German company HYDOR. The auto-feeder runs on two batteries. The better the batteries, the longer it works. A special symbol on the electronic display will let you know that the electrical potential of the batteries is almost depleted. After that, you are given 3 days to install new batteries. The feeder timer allows you to set the food supply time at a time convenient for you and your pets.
The auto-feeder can feed your fish once or twice a day. The compartment where the food is placed is quite spacious. There is a convenient doser with which you can adjust the food supply. The feeder is designed for various types of food: pellets, sticks, and flakes. Every aquarium owner has different fish; for some, they are small *Characidae*, for others, huge *Cichlasoma*, so the food size is individual. The doser adjusts the outlet opening to match the diameter of the food you use.
The feeder is installed above the aquarium so that evaporating water does not get onto the battery compartment. If you decide to use the auto-feeder during a vacation or temporary absence, simply slide the covers apart and install it. The kit includes an adhesive strip, one part of which is glued to the feeder itself, and the second part to the aquarium lid. If you want to use the auto-feeder permanently, it is advisable to cut a hole in one of the lid doors.
The hopper of the auto-feeder containing the food rotates around its axis once or twice, depending on the timer settings; the rest of the time, the feeder is stationary. There is a manual feeding button (blue); pressing it will trigger the feeder regardless of the timer settings. However, auto-feeders can only be used for dry foods; live or frozen foods cannot be used in auto-feeders. This model of the feeder has a minor drawback. Since it is positioned above the water, dry food in its compartment can absorb moisture and clump together, turning into a solid mass. To prevent this, it is advisable to use the feeder together with an air pump (compressor).
Feeder from the German company EHEIM. The feeder is multifunctional, featuring up to 4 feedings per day. There is a function to dispense a portion twice during a single feeding (yielding from 2 to 8 portions per day). The food hopper is large and rotates around its axis as many times as the timer is programmed. The doser is very successful and can be adjusted for both the smallest and largest food diameters. There is also a manual feeding button.
But EHEIM has a huge advantage – it does not require a “helper” in the form of a compressor. What is the difference between these two auto-feeders? The difference is significant. In one feeder, using a compressor is required to prevent the food from souring and clumping, while in the other, a compressor is not needed, yet the food does not sour, get damp, or turn into a solid mass.
The HYDOR auto-feeder has an opening for connecting a hose from a compressor. Air flowing through the hose blows over the stored food throughout the day. The compartment is ventilated, and the food remains dry. You can use a dual-outlet compressor; one channel will supply air to the feeder, while the second will provide aeration in the aquarium. If a single-outlet compressor is used specifically for the feeder, it must have a power regulator. The regulator is needed to adjust the air pressure; otherwise, a strong flow will simply blow the food out of the feeder.
The EHEIM feeder has its own small fan. Every time the food compartment rotates to feed the fish their next portion, the internal fan activates. Thanks to it, the food stays dry, and a compressor is not needed. The opening through which air enters the food hopper is wide enough, so the fan does not need to run constantly, saving battery power.
Homemade automatic feeder.
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