Automatic feeders are the best solution for feeding your fish for you if you go away. They can deliver a set amount of food at the same time each day, or even several times a day, keeping your fish just as well-fed as when you’re there to feed them yourself.
A must-have for fishkeeping holiday-makers automatic feeders are even useful for extra feeds when you’re at work, helping to keep weight and growth on fish like Anthias, Discus or fish fry, that need to feed several times throughout the day.
How automatic fish feeders work
Most Automatic fish feeders work in the same way. They consist of a rotating drum where you put the food, a motor that turns the drum, and a timer that turns the motor on and off. You set the timer to feed the fish at say 1pm in the afternoon, set the time on the timer and when 1pm comes the motor turns the drum and fish food falls out through a little window in the rotating drum, into the tank below.
Sit-on or clamp-on feeders
Automatic feeders must be placed directly over the aquarium, so the first deciding factor is how you are going to fit it onto the tank. Flat-topped aquariums with lid flaps may already have a hole for a fish feeder, or you could make a hole, or remove one of the lid flaps and place the feeder so it hangs just over the edge and releases food into the water below.
If the tank has a wooden, piano top style hood and cover glasses the feeder can be placed in the hood, with one cover glass slightly open.
If the aquarium is completely open-topped and rimless, make sure the auto feeder comes with a clamp for vertical tank wall mounting. Some feeders offer both methods.
