Advice about automatic feeders

[muecyl]

Hello all,
I graduate with my BA this school year, yeah !!!!
I am leaving to Peru in about a month for a month. I would like to purchase an automatic feeder for my 55g tank, I don’t know anything about them or if they are just a waist? I looked on eBay but I don’t know a good one from a bad one… or if there is even a good one?

Any advice or past experiences would be very much appreciated !

[BB23]

I guess it all depends on what you have in your tank. If theres just fish this wouldnt be much of a problem. And what is your tanks usual diet? If its flake than you could probably trust one of the automatic feeders in a place like petco or something. I, myself, dont have too much experience with automatic feeders but I know you could purchase one that stored flake up to a month for under $50.

hope this helps somewhat

Brad

(If you dont feed your fish or other critters flake then this comment was pointless so....yeah just ignore it then)

[Trickman2]

the eheim one works nicely but I would not depend on it to take care of your fish for a month

[muecyl]

I normally feed my fish frozen food such as krill and occasionally the highest quality of flake that I can find. All the fish will eat flake though. I worry about my Condylactis but I will have the neighbor come and feed it once a week and make sure the tank is not leaking or anything crazy.

...oh and I have the tank already on light timers

Anyone though, I would love to hear your input !

[imagine7070]

How about your top off? Or algae build up on the glass? A month is a long time to be away! I can never pull myself away from my tank for more than 7 days, and even then I start to panic WHILE on vacation.

[imagine7070]

I use to have the AquaChef Automatic Feeder. Worked great for flakes.

Current USA AquaChef Fish Feeder - Marine Depot - Marine and Reef Aquarium Super Store

Could even possibly hold food for a month, if you set it on the lowest possible release.

[muecyl]

I know! I can't go more that 12 hours without messing with the tank or tending to it. I left for Christmas break and that was 4days, I could not stomach wondering how it was doing. I turned the skimmer down almost all the way to insure it would not fill up… But it was always on my mind.

This really sucks, I cant turn down a trip to here: (see pic) machu picchu.

I need all the advice I can get on long term leave…. HELP!!

[muecyl]

So, it comes down to a AquaChef Automatic Feeder vs. a Eheim?
Anyone else have any imput on this????
Thanks!

[sssnake]

I bought this one for $40, when it first hit the market it sold for $90 .... it's considered a very good unit:

Eheim NORTH AMERICA

It feeds a minimum of once a day and you can adjust it to the quantity of food it will drop. There is also a built-in fan to help keep humidity out (as much as possible). This way the food won't stick together. I haven't tried it yet though. You have the luxury of having someone come in and check things out every once in a while so it should be OK.

Good luck and have a super nice trip. This place looks like something out of Lord of the Rings.

[Blade_Runner]

I've used the Eheim for years when I go on vacation and for weekends on my office tank. They make a nice programmable unit. On a 55 you will probably not need to refill it for at least 2 weeks and maybe more.